I applied through a recruiter. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Pex (Toronto, ON) in Jan 2022
Interview
I was reached out by a recruiter on LinkedIn. The interview process was smooth and is exactly described on their website.
- First round was a call with the hiring manager to go over my experience and what I am looking for in the next role.
- Next step was take-home assessment
- Next call was with 2 Engineers. One engineer talked about take-home assessment and the other engineer asked to design URL Shortner
- Next step was interviews with the COO and CEO. The interview with the COO only lasted 10 minutes and she didn't try to know if I will be fit for PEX or not. The call with CEO was very laid back and casual, talked about what I like outside of work, etc.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
- Develop 3 APIs - current, next, previous which returns Fibonacci number
- How would you design URL Shortner?
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Pex in Jan 2022
Interview
Started with a recruiter Google Meet conversation that was pleasant and engaging. Afterwards, I felt well-prepared and excited for further rounds. Salary range and job responsibilities were stated clearly up front, which was a nice bit of transparency.
I then moved to the hiring manager interview, which took place over Google Meet. I could have misinterpreted the tone, but there were a couple moments when the interviewer seemed almost sarcastic or cynical. Their attitude was somewhat robotic, like they were going through the motions, so it's difficult to be certain. I thanked the interviewer for their time and later noted that there didn't seem to be a clear, articulable future direction for the team - which is worrying to say the least. This coupled with the demeanor of the person I would be working for lead me to decline to continue the process.
Next steps would have been 2 or more rounds of interviews, including a technical interview and a C-suite interview.
I was told that I would be receiving feedback on my interview performance, but it seems that declining to continue negated that offer. It seems small, but how we treat people we don't have to treat well says a lot.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Questions in both rounds were mostly around personality and expectations to gauge how I approach working in a team environment and solving problems.
I asked about work/life balance, since it's a startup and they're notorious for being bad at this, and I felt somewhat satisfied with the answer I received. They offer a good deal of PTO and benefits, but I never found out the specifics on benefits. The interviewer stated that there are currently 2 individuals on the team and that working time periods and durations are left mostly to the individual, due to the results oriented culture.
I asked about the team's process and methodologies, and the interviewer said that they would like them to move to more agile methodologies, and that a mark of excelling in the role would be coaching the team in that direction.
Pex has a very personable approach to interviewing. The interviews felt conversational and focused on a culture fit. The coding assessment was clear and open-ended enough to let you show your strengths in whatever languages/technologies you choose.
Late to the reply here but thank you for your kind feedback on our interview process and we're glad to hear you had a positive experience! We hope we can reconnect at a time when we have more opportunities.
