I applied through a recruiter. The process took 1+ week. I interviewed at Thumbtack (San Francisco, CA)
Interview
Overall a negative experience.
I was first impressed by the recruiting process which seemed very timely and informative. However, when I arrived for the in-person interview, the role was actually for a different position than described by the recruiter. This set the tone for what was ~3 more hours of an unprepared and unorganized interview.
The first meeting was with a large group panel (about 5 people in the room) asking me generic question after question. I had very little time to respond appropriately before getting interrupted by the next question. It seemed like there was little thought or intent behind the asking of these questions given that they were so short, so it was hard to gauge of how sincere an answer I should give. All of my conversations with the panelists were very brief, and it seemed like the interviewers had little experience interviewing. It's never a good thing to hear "I'm not sure what to ask you next. How about this...?"
What alarmed me the most is that in my private interview with the hiring manager, when I asked them "what are you looking for in a candidate for this position?" They simply could not give me a direct answer. It made that person seem very dishonest, and covering up for the fact that they had no clue of what they wanted.
Needless to say, I didn't get an offer. But, in all honesty, I would not have accepted if I did.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Why would you work at Thumbtack over any other place?
I applied through an employee referral. I interviewed at Thumbtack (San Francisco, CA)
Interview
Phone screen with the recruiter. Chat with the design manager onsite. Onsite interview (portfolio review, 1:1s with designers/pm, total 4-5 hours of session). Waited a couple days to receive the final feedback.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Describe your design process & thinking in each project. How did you collaborate with the stakeholders?