TiVo Interview Questions
& Process

I was contacted by a recruiter about a role in Durham, NC. The first stage was an interview with the team manager, which focused on behavioral aspects. I passed this and proceeded to the second round, a phone screen where I answered core Java questions. This also went well, and I was told it was the final round. The third stage involved three interviewers, two new ones and the person from the phone screen. They asked about my projects, my reasons for seeking a new job, and a simple sorting problem. I wrote and explained the solution in Notepad. The phone screen interviewer seemed satisfied, but the other two were surprised by my choice of editor. The recruiter then arranged one more final round. In the fourth stage, three different interviewers asked about projects, coding, and my job search motivation. I felt the interviewers were looking for reasons to reject me from the start. One interviewer scolded me for writing the code in Notepad instead of an IDE, appearing frustrated. I then ran the code successfully in an IDE, which seemed to further frustrate them as they couldn't find a reason to reject me. The recruiter never informed me of the rejection. After a month, I inquired about the status, and the recruiter stated I wasn't selected, offering to provide a reason, which they never did.

So I had a phone interview with a recruiter, then a week later I talked to the hiring manager on the phone. He then had me come in onsite. I met with the hiring manager, another PM, and two senior people. We talked a lot about past experiences and data analytics. About two weeks after that, I went back for another round with three people from different departments like client services and tech. It all felt pretty good. But then, nothing. After three weeks, I emailed HR, and they said they were hiring a new GM and the role might be reconsidered. They said they'd get back to me, but I never heard from them, even after trying a few more times. It seemed like things were a bit up in the air in that part of the company, but the people I met were smart and seemed dedicated, though their HR communication was pretty weak. It would have been cool to get a clear yes or no. The whole thing took about 3 months.

I had to explain my experience in TV Broadcasting Technology in my current job, and then they asked me technical questions about Broadcasting Protocol. This was back in November 2004 and I honestly don't remember all the details because I had been evaluated up to the Manager level at Rovi and stayed there for 10 years. The interview felt pretty smooth and easy for me because I had previously worked at Sony France as a Software development engineer for 2 years, so I was able to answer all the TV broadcasting technology questions perfectly.

The interview process was great. I had 2 initial phone interviews, one with HR and the other with the marketing hiring manager. Then I went in for an in-person interview with the hiring manager, and while I was there, they had me interview with another marketing manager on their team. They interviewed me and one other candidate for the same position on the same day. I got a call the same day with an offer. The questions were easy, mostly just getting to know you. You don't need much, if any, experience for an internship, as long as you show you are capable and willing to do the job. It's a great company with great pay! I made $20/hr for the internship.