This interview process took roughly around 6 weeks. It sounds long, but believe me when I say it’s a learning experience in itself about the company and its culture. They’re extremely thorough which shows they care about the people that join their team.
1. I applied through the Sprout Social website and got an email about a week after that I was being considered for the position. I was given an assessment to complete and submit within 2-3 days.
2. I got through to the next round which was a phone screening with a recruiter, Haley. The call lasted around 30min and she was great! She asked me basic questions about my current role, how it can apply to Sprout, and the Customer Advocate position. I got an email later that day saying I was moving to the next round.
3. The 3rd round was a phone screening with the hiring manager Jen (who I later found out is no longer with Sprout Social) and it lasted about 45min. She was also really nice and made the screening feel like a conversation with a friend. She was very clear about the role and what I would be doing day to day and asked lots of competency questions. I was really nervous and she noticed but tried to make me more comfortable which I appreciated. I really thought I wouldn’t be moving forward after this call because I was sooo nervous BUT about an hour later I got an email that I would be moving forward to the next round.
4. This round was another assessment specifically for the Bilingual position. I answered 2 questions 200-400 words each in Spanish and had 2 days to submit. Once I submitted the assessment, it took about a week & a half to be contacted again about the next step. That’s only because the recruiter Haley was out of the office for the week, though— understandable. I got an email that I was invited for an on-site interview to meet with 4 employees with Sprout (2 managers, 1 lead and 1 current bilingual customer advocate).
5. The interview was set a week out so I had plenty of time to prepare and the on-site interview confirmation email gave me a lot of details on how I should prepare. They told me this interview would last around 2hours. I met with Haley who showed me around the office and this is when I knew this place was the real deal. The office is spectacular to say the least! Shortly after this, I met with a manager and team lead who asked lots of competency questions. For example, “Tell me about a time when...” They really focused on getting to know me and my work, took turns asking questions, and made it more of a group conversation as opposed to an interrogation. After that, I met with another manager (who was on Skype since she’s based in their Seattle office) and the Bilingual Customer Advocate. Questions were similar to those of the other meeting. I had a one on one interview with the Bilingual Customer Advocate in Spanish to test my fluency. We talked about the job itself and the last question was a simple “tell me how to make your favorite food” question to ease the conversation. We then kind of bonded over how knowing Spanish has helped us in the workplace.
After my on-site interview, I was really excited about the opportunity to possibly work here and had my heart set on this company. I didn’t hear back via email or phone for a week & got worried so I reached out to Haley, my recruiter, for status. She set up a time to talk on the phone and unfortunately told me they would be moving forward with a different candidate. She gave me some critical feedback about their decision & ultimately said it was a tough choice but the other candidate had more direct experience. I was really bummed out after getting this far along but was grateful for the experience. I took a lot away from the interview, the feedback and hope to reapply in the future.
