Taproot Foundation Interview Questions
& Process

It started with recruiter outreach, followed by a preliminary phone chat with the hiring manager, who was great - very focused and knew what they wanted. Then there was a long, unfocused talk with an executive. This exec didn't ask anything specific about product management practices and didn't seem interested when I touched on key points relevant to their product that are currently being overlooked and likely will remain so. The recruiter had set me up to talk about volunteer/mission experience, but that never came up. No technical questions were asked either. I also didn't get to show them the spec, wire-frame, and product materials I brought. It's a shame because the mission is important, and they're building a technical product for social good, yet they seem to miss the bigger picture on technology and how their mission should really be productized. They'll probably manage okay, but their lack of insight really limits what they can do and harms a good mission that deserves better.

The process was professional and quite manageable if you have the right knowledge. They expect you to contribute your skills voluntarily. You get to select your project from the available openings. During the interview, you can discuss areas where you might not be an expert but can still offer assistance. You also have flexibility with your working hours, and no explanations are needed. However, if your project has multiple team members, everyone needs to agree on the volunteer hour schedule.

I put in my application for the associate consultant role through the website back in January. Around March, I heard back about the first round of interviews. The second round took place about 10 days after the first. I didn't move on to the third round, which was supposed to be a case study presentation. They let me know about two weeks after the second round that they had selected another candidate.

The first initial contact is most likely through video conferencing via BlueJeans app. There are four rounds of interviews including a behavioral exam and a portion where they evaluate your writing regardless of the samples you may have sent them earlier.