I applied online. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Apollo GraphQL in Aug 2022
Interview
Recruiter Call followed by 6 hours of interviews with various parts of engineering org. Very well done, great levels of questions were asked throughout the interview process. Everything from problem-solving, to technical questions, to what you like to do for fun.
The interviews themselves and the panel were all very professional, interview process was going great right up until my initial final interview, it was canceled 2 hours before it was going to start. An email from the head recruiter was sent saying sorry we have selected another candidate. This person had worked with the manager before, so I get it. On to the next one.
About a month later the recruiter reaches out saying that person had not taken the offer and I was asked to have my final interview with the hiring manager. We did so and got a message from my recruiter the next day asking if I had time for a call. I responded yes, and never heard back.
While I'm not upset I didn't get an offer, I am more upset about the recruiting process in general, not with just Apollo but everyone in tech. Apollo is one of the better recruiting experiences I have had. But follow-ups need to happen with potential candidates. Not a fan of companies sending a blanket rejection email with 0 info, how is someone supposed to improve moving forward with 0 feedback? While I didn't get one of those emails from Apollo it just leaves me with questions. Were they just checking a box to wrap up the interview process without me even being a viable candidate for this role?
I have now invested an entire day of interviews into something I may have never been fit for. I guess I'll never know. Apollo will go on to do great things, I believe in the product, the team, and its viability. But Recruiters make or break a candidate's experience. Button up your recruiting practices, don't fall into the trap of the way the rest of the industry does this.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What was one thing that you wish you could have done better at a previous role?
I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Apollo GraphQL in Mar 2022
Interview
HR team was very professional and so was the Director of IT. I believe the reason that I was not chosen for this position was due to being overqualified. I had enough qualifications to help setup an IT dept. but maybe the Director felt threatened that I might end up replacing him or they just wanted an entry level IT manager. Either way everyone involved was professional throughout the process.