Simply Wall St interview questions

The initial contact was great. The Founder sent a personalised video to provide more insight into the company and the role, which was a thoughtful touch and helped set the stage well. I had prepped significantly for this interview as I was incredibly excited for the opportunity. Unfortunately, the interview itself wasn’t a great experience. Emer appeared tired and unprepared to take the call, mentioning that it was early morning in their timezone (UK). The interview started with an obscure question and then moved into a general discussion about my experience. I asked a number of questions to better understand the company, the role, and the culture — and to help express my fit more clearly — but it didn’t feel like there was much clarity or depth around what they were actually looking for in the role. Many of the responses were vague or didn’t directly address what I was asking. I understand that in early-stage of a new team or function, roles can be ambiguous and it's often up to the right person to navigate that ambiguity. But in saying that, the HR representative didn’t seem familiar with the deeper questions that come with hiring for a strategic product role, communities in general — or what would indicate someone’s ability to handle those unknowns. They explained the process, that they would like to progress all candidates simultaneously, and mentioned there would be a challenge involved in the next step. A week later, I received a polite rejection, but no specific feedback. They are still hiring for the role and have renewed their job listing last week. Overall, it started strong but lacked structure, depth, and role clarity in the interview itself.

The main part of the whole process is the take-home assessment which I prefer over the useless leet code questions that other companies have. I received very detailed feedback on the code, it was very clear that someone put a good amount of time into reviewing the code! This is followed by a deep-dive interview with two senior engineers which was quite enjoyable. It just felt natural to talk to two easygoing and passionate developers. It gave me a good glimpse of the tech culture and the devs I could work with. The last interview was with the CFO and EM both seemed to be polite & sharp. Main takeaways: 1- Everyone I talked to seemed nice & professional 2- The CFO was very transparent and answered some of my spicy questions honestly which is rare and I really loved that! 3- Feedback was shared throughout the whole interview process Overall it was a pretty good and seamless experience, I would rank it as the second-best interview experience I've had in my career. Unfortunately or fortunately my existing workplace have given me an opportunity I could not refuse so I decided to decline SWS offer