Most hiring processes follow these stages:
Application & Resume Screening
You submit your resume and (often) a cover letter.
HR or a recruiter screens your profile for basic qualifications.
Initial Interview (Recruiter Call)
Usually 15–30 minutes.
Focuses on your background, availability, salary expectations, and overall fit.
Technical or Skill Assessment
Could be a take-home test, coding challenge, writing sample, case study, or portfolio review.
Sometimes done before or after the recruiter call.
Hiring Manager Interview
More in-depth — focuses on your work experience, problem-solving, and alignment with the team’s goals.
Panel or Final Interview
You meet multiple team members or senior leaders.
Covers behavioral questions (“Tell me about a time when…”) and culture fit.
Offer & Negotiation
If selected, you receive an offer — sometimes conditional on background/reference checks.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
“We’re thrilled to offer you the Marketing Analyst position at BrightWave Media!”
I applied through university. I interviewed at HubSpot (London, England)
Interview
I went through several rounds, including an initial screening, a technical assessment, and follow-up interviews. The process was well structured, but I found the technical part challenging because it required both problem-solving and clear communication under time pressure. The interviewers were professional, and the questions were relevant to the role. Although I did not receive an offer, the experience was still valuable and helped me understand the company’s expectations better.
Coding assessment with multiple levels. levels open up as you pass them. Time constraints looked tight. I could not get through all levels. It was related to Designing banking system.
I applied through an employee referral. I interviewed at HubSpot (Dublin, Dublin)
Interview
Consists of an Online Assessment, followed by 3 rounds (2 System Design, 1 coding)
One of the System Design interviewer was less experienced (with an experienced shadow interviewer). I feel like they didn't drive it correctly, didn't ask me the right follow-up questions and eventually gave negative feedback.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Online Assessment: Multi-part question involving incremental development of a memory cache database
System Design 1: Design a weather widget to get data from upstream and display to customers
Coding Round: Incremental question involving API calls to get data, parse and do calculation
System Design 2: Design video streaming system (like Netflix)
