WordStream Interview Questions
& Process

The interviews themselves were great. Super professional and laid-back. Everyone was a joy to speak with. The process falls apart a bit in how long it took between rounds. Overall my interview process was about 3 months and ended in rejection. They seem to have high standards as the final technical round really grills you with technical problems and as far as I could tell, I only messed up on one of them despite the sheer number of questions I was asked. It took a bit for them to get back to me and I had the impression I was very close to getting the job. I did 4 rounds: HR screening, background questions from the team lead, technical interview, and a final 3-hour gauntlet of technical questions at their offices. All technical questions asked were very average, but the number of them is where the difficulty lies. It can be tiring.

The first step was a phone call with the Sales Training Manager, lasting about 30 minutes. We discussed my background, my interest in the role and company, and seemed to connect well. I was enthusiastic about the chance, especially since he mentioned they'd never hired externally for this specific role before. Then, I went into the office for in-person meetings with him and the VP of Sales. Each of these meetings lasted around 30-40 minutes. During my talk with the VP of Sales, it became clear he wasn't open to hiring someone from outside the company. He expressed skepticism about hiring a manager without prior Wordstream sales experience. I tried to persuade him about my potential contributions and how I'd handle that learning curve, but it was evident he had no plans to hire externally. It seemed odd I was even considered, given my lack of prior Wordstream sales experience. It was a disappointing process overall.

The HR person was really disorganized and missed my call a few times. The recruiter sounded really pretentious on the phone and had this perfect image of a candidate in her mind, not listening to anything I said if it didn't fit. Even though I manage over a billion dollars in assets, she didn't care because I didn't manage 200 accounts for 'Bob and Sally.' She was solely focused on numbers and didn't get that there are other ways to measure success. I earn 10k more than the role I applied for, yet she suggested I look for more entry-level positions instead of the one I was interested in.

We started with a phone call to see if it would be a good fit for everyone, about 30 minutes. They gave me a case study to look at before the in-person interview. The case study was about a made-up customer wanting to improve their marketing. I had to do math-based critical thinking questions about it for the in-person meeting. Then I met with the VP of Sales, the Training Manager, and a Sr. Team Lead for about an hour in person, around 20 minutes with each person.