XPRIZE Interview Questions
& Process

I applied online after seeing a job posting on their site. HR contacted me about two weeks later for an initial chat, focusing on personality. The next round was with peers, not my potential manager, via Zoom for about 30 minutes. It was pretty relaxed, with more focus on relational and personality fit rather than technical skills. They told me two weeks later they selected another candidate, but it was a positive experience overall, feeling more like a personality assessment than a skills test.

Had a phone interview with HR and then a 30-minute Zoom with the hiring manager. Both got rescheduled once because of scheduling issues on their side. The HR person was nice and helpful during the interview. The hiring manager interview seemed okay, but then I was ghosted. No response even after I followed up multiple times, which was really unprofessional. I was already leaning against it anyway after asking about the bad Glassdoor reviews for company culture. They said, 'we fired everyone with a bad attitude and now the culture is great, fixed everything.' Didn't seem truthful or aware of company issues.

I applied and had a phone interview. Then I had a 35 minute on-site interview with the CEO where we sat in bean bags. The CEO didn't ask much about my career or achievements. He talked a lot about his background at Kellogg and Deloitte, and about the company's recent marketing challenges and the current team. He's already got a new marketing positioning and strategy, and he's very involved in daily marketing tasks, like hiring agencies. He said he's not interested in branding until the marketing department's operations and processes are in place, which might take a year. He also mentioned the CMO wouldn't be the public face of the company. It felt like the CEO is a micromanager who thinks he knows everything and will be driving all marketing efforts. He seems to be looking for a Marketing Operations person focused on processes, reporting, project management, and staff management, rather than a true CMO.

I interviewed with the external recruiting firm that was hired for this role. They were quite busy and had to reschedule a few times. Our phone conversation was very collaborative. They asked me to go over my resume and give examples of how my experience might align with the job requirements. They indicated that they thought I'd be a good fit and intended to submit my resume and provide updates. I didn't hear back, so I eventually followed up to see if the position was still open. I was informed they decided to hire someone else internally, a candidate recommended by the board.