Trace Interview Questions
& Process

Got reached out to by an outside recruiter on LinkedIn and we started coordinating schedules. But within 2 days, they said the role was paused. I checked the company site and the job was still up, so I applied. Got an initial interview set up in less than 24 hours. The first interview was with an internal recruiter and they asked some basic stuff about my experience. The second interview was with the CFO. He was a bit late and seemed irritated. He asked a lot about my background but kept cutting me off when I was answering. He also bashed my last company, which is a major competitor. When I asked him questions at the end, his answers were really brief, like he just wanted to end the call. It was a bad experience. Never heard back from anyone at the company after that.

The interview process was really bad, especially coming from a sales background where I was a top performer. In the second round, I met with two managers who were arrogant and abrasive when I asked tough questions about the role, like asking about lead conversion rates. They responded unprofessionally, telling me to ask a better question. The next round involved a mock discovery call. They gave very little guidance on how to prepare, which seemed intentional to make me ask questions. When I did ask, their answers were vague. During the mock call, one manager actively tried to stonewall me in a weird way. For an entry-level SDR role with low pay, they need to chill out. Honestly, I wouldn't have taken the job anyway. This experience left a bad impression, especially since it was one of my first interviews. I found more professional and transparent companies in Austin that offered me positions. My sense is this startup has young, arrogant managers with unrealistic expectations, and a niche, expensive product that's hard to sell. There are many sales jobs in Austin; I'd suggest interviewing with more established companies like CrowdStrike, Disco, or Oracle.

Great interview process. First, a recruiter call, then an interview with several team members where they go over your resume and assess your skills. After that, you're given a project to work on for a few weeks (they compensate you for your time regardless of the outcome). You'll then discuss your approach and results with the team a couple of times. It's a great way to get a sense of the scope of work and what it's like to work with the team.

I talked to a recruiter about my personal projects. Then I had a 1on1 with the hiring manager. The hiring manager didn't ask any technical questions. They started by talking about coding with generative AI and how easy it is now. Then they mostly asked about UI style and design, which was weird for an engineering role.