Summit Racing Equipment Interview Questions
& Process

I applied to a Senior Application Engineer role that had a vague job posting. The posting lacked detailed responsibilities or expectations, just a broad overview without technical specifics. I decided to apply anyway. The next day, I got a text from Summit HR asking if I was interested, which I found odd since I just applied. They scheduled a Teams interview for a few days later, giving only the interviewer's name. However, someone else showed up for the interview without prior notice. He started the meeting a bit late, which felt unprofessional. I had no prior information about either person. The interviewer described the position as an "informal" interview, mainly a discussion about the job and to address my questions. I felt the discussion went well; he was friendly and seemed to enjoy his job, and we had a few laughs with no awkward silences. He confirmed the job posting didn't fully cover the role's responsibilities but explained it well enough. While I felt mostly qualified, I didn't meet 100% of the criteria. I focused on demonstrating my technical skills and eagerness to grow into the role's requirements. I thought I had a good chance of proceeding to a more formal interview. However, I received an automated email stating my application was not selected, with no explanation or feedback, just generic wording. This "informal interview" felt like a waste of time and was quite strange. It's unclear how companies conduct these informal interviews and then reject candidates without a proper screening process, especially when they could have screened based on the resume beforehand. Summit Racing's recruitment process appears disorganized and their decision-making criteria are opaque, as they don't seem to thoroughly vet interested applicants. I don't necessarily need this job, as I currently hold a similar senior-level technical role at a prominent IT company. My interest stemmed from living near Summit Racing's HQ, being a regular customer, and my passion for cars and racing. I was initially excited about the opportunity and the prospect of working there, but this experience has been disappointing. For serious IT/Engineering professionals, I advise against wasting your time here.

I sent in my application via email. There wasn't a recruiter call. I was invited to come in for an interview with the hiring manager at their office. It was a typical interview, but they were really interested in my leadership abilities. About three weeks later, I had another interview at the company's main headquarters. I met with several senior managers and executives, and spent about an hour with each one. These interviews were also typical, but the executives seemed more focused on why I was interested in their company. I got a verbal offer about three weeks after that. They didn't give me a written contract or offer. Honestly, the whole thing felt really slow and drawn out, and I didn't get a great vibe from it.

Found the job opening on a third-party board and their main site. Emailed my resume and cover letter to HR, and got a call back in about 3-4 days. They asked me to come in for an interview with the direct supervisor the very next day. (The dress code is business casual, but for this interview, wearing a suit is appropriate.) About a week after the first interview, I was called for a second interview, which happened a few days later. In the second interview, I met the direct supervisor again and some upper management members. I also took a personality test and had a brief HR interview. About a week after that, I got a job offer.

Interviewed with several of my would-be peers, my would-be manager, in-house recruiter, director of HR. They called me back for several interviews. I thought things were going really well. Took aptitude and honesty tests. Still looking good, I thought. Then they asked to see my high school diploma. Now, I'm of the over 40 crowd with a college degree. Why would they need to see my high school diploma? So they could see what year I graduated. Is that even legal?