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      Technical Writer Interview

      7 Nov 2020
      Anonymous interview candidate
      San Francisco, CA
      No offer
      Negative experience
      Difficult interview

      Application

      I applied online. I interviewed at Upstart (San Francisco, CA) in Oct 2020

      Interview

      Upstart isn't looking for a Technical Writer. They're looking for a Data Scientist who has knowledge of quantitative mathematics, can contribute to conversations involving AI/machine language, and can communicate all of those ideas to stakeholders. It's fine if this is what they need the role to be, but this information should be communicated to applicants. Their job description is vague, including one single line of "Act as an interface between Data Science, all of compliance, product, bank partners and facing functions," with the rest of the description including typical language about communication and ability to work across multiple teams. Maybe they're looking for a wide array of applicants with a description like that. What that does is waste a lot of people's time because they find out they're not "a good fit" or don't have the necessary qualifications, despite the job description mentioning nothing of the sort. Setting up the initial phone screen with the recruiter was a pain. They reached out to me asking for times to talk. I gave them my availability, and they stopped responding for a week. Two reminder emails to them later, they finally scheduled the initial phone screen. Conversation with the recruiter was fine, except she also had no idea what the role entailed, citing that the co-founder, Paul Gu, would have a better idea because he's been doing the writing work so far and the role would report to him. No problem. I give them my availability once more, and after telling me she would schedule a call by the end of the day for me to meet Paul, she goes missing once more. Two more weeks go by, with me providing my availability for each week, and she says she can get back to me by Wednesday. Wednesday comes and still nothing. Don't make commitments you cannot keep. On Friday, I send a reminder email, and she doesn't respond to that one either. By the following Monday, she emails me saying Paul is doing interviews next week and says a recruiting coordinator will reach out to me asking for my availability. I wait, and nothing again. I ask for the coordinator's email and reach out myself, and I am finally confirmed to speak with Paul. Paul is late to our Zoom call. He's a co-founder. He's probably a busy person. I get it. It's clear during the conversation that he doesn't want to talk. Maybe he's tired or stressed, but he doesn't spend any time talking about my background. Immediately jumps in to ask whether I have ever documented highly technical systems and wants a deep dive into that. I was given no indication that that's what he would want to talk about. Recruiters should mention this to applicants beforehand. He then asks if I have any knowledge of quantitative mathematics, and when I say no, he says that will be important because the role needs to work with Data Scientists and needs that working knowledge. The job hunting process is not easy, but Upstart definitely does not make it any easier.

      Interview questions [1]

      Question 1

      Can you describe a writing project in which you documented a highly technical system?
      Answer question
      3