I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Addepar (Mountain View, CA) in Nov 2016
Interview
I applied online. Four days later, I did a phone interview, which was a standard first interview that I don’t remember much about. I was invited to interview on campus two weeks later, and they scheduled my in-person interview a week after that. All in all it took less than a month from when I applied online until I received my interview results. I appreciate that they hustled.
The onsite interview was a kinetic day where they wanted demonstrations of my capabilities. It started with a 30-minute product demonstration, then five 45-minute sessions where I wrote new feature documentation, edited UI text, translated bug fixes into everyday language, and edited with another technical writer.
Here’s what they did right: I liked their kinetic approach. You can’t tell a lot about how people work just by asking them questions, so I was happy to demonstrate my professional abilities. They also had good, ergonomic chairs and sit-stand desks for every employee. They had all kinds of free drinks and lunch was catered. They even had mouthwash in the restrooms. I got the impression the company cares about their people’s needs.
Here’s where they could improve: They seemed disorganized. I didn’t have a good sense of when an interview was supposed to start and when it was supposed to end. I prefer punctual meetings with a clear start and end time. I wish they built breaks into my schedule. I could take a bathroom break between interviews, but I would have to excuse myself while the interviewer waited, which was awkward. I had to answer "tell me about your current role" for every single one of my interviewers. I could tell they were still working out the role of a technical writer in their organization. Everyone here seemed young (40 or under). Hire some old timers because they have good ideas too.
I applied online. I interviewed at Addepar in Sept 2025
Interview
Got to the first interview which was a 15-minute “get to know you” session after which they mentioned there would be a test if I mad e it to the next round.