Remember, you’re in an interview to ask questions as well as answer them. We always provide some time in interviews for candidates to ask questions, so take advantage of it. What do you want to know about HubSpot? Your questions could be technical questions, business questions, or culture questions.
We have a ton of different teams at HubSpot working on very different kinds of engineering. Think about what kinds of problems you want to solve and products you want to work on and let the recruiters and interviewers know that. If you aren’t sure what teams you are most interested in, ask your interviewers about the different teams!
We don’t ask “brain teaser” questions. We don’t care how many golf balls fit inside a 747, we care how well you can write and understand code, work with other people, and figure out real problems.
If you can, use your own laptop so that you have a coding environment you are comfortable with. Also, feel free to use Google/Stack Overflow to solve the problems during the interview.
What have you done that you’re really proud of? What are the toughest problems you’ve solved? What background do you have to give the interviewers to show just how tough that project was?
Think about the question and talk through your thought process. Verbalize every step of your solution. How do you interpret the problem? What tradeoffs are you considering? If you need more information, say so! We’re less interested in what you know and more interested in how you think.
Of course it’s a good idea to be professional in an interview, but that doesn’t mean you should feel like you have to be emotionless. If you’re nervous, it’s OK to say so. If you’re excited, show it!
Ahead of your interview, visit the Zoom Download Center and install the “Zoom Client for Meetings.” Downloading this Zoom application will give you access to features that will provide a smoother experience than the web application.
Technical interviews typically consist of writing code in your chosen language, designing systems, and discussing your background and passions. We don't ask any trick questions or focus on language minutia. We strongly believe that we should test for the practical skills and abilities which are used on the job. We suggest crafting a working solution rather than optimizing first. Keep in mind that there are often multiple ways to answer a question. Please ask your interviewer clarifying questions and work together with them on the exercises.
At the beginning and end of each interview, you'll have time to ask us questions. This is an opportunity to interview us to see if HubSpot would be a match for you, so please use it. Interviews are tailored to the role you're applying for. We focus development interviews on either frontend, backend or more specialized roles like infrastructure operations.
These interview sessions consist of questions about JavaScript, Coding, and Front End Systems Design and we assume you have a strong knowledge of how web technologies work.
JavaScript
This session will be about the depths of JavaScript. We are going to specifically be looking at core JavaScript functions as opposed to leveraging third party frameworks or tools.
Coding
The coding question will look at your algorithm skills and the interviewers will ask you about your selections and if you can optimize and scale the solution. It is no harm in brushing up on the big O notations, etc. They will look to assess your overall problem-solving skills and debugging skills.
Front End Systems Design
In this scenario, you will collaborate with an engineer or project manager to design a system or feature, which will be implemented by the engineering team. Focus areas include data flow/storage, component rendering on the page, and UI updates in a modern JavaScript framework. There is no coding for the Systems Design questions.
We encourage you to use your own IDE as you will be most familiar with any shortcuts and be more comfortable navigating the tools you already know. You will be able to share your screen with the interview through our video chat client Zoom.
Systems Design
Questions will revolve around designing a common web application system from the ground up.The goal is to see if you can think about the big picture and tie technical solutions back to customers problems and can span all sorts of different aspects of a system. Be prepared to discuss data storage considerations, reliability, performance, and how the system will scale. There won't be anything explicitly tricky from an algorithmic perspective, the goal is to just design a reasonable and reliable system.
Coding
The coding question will look at your algorithm skills and the interviewers will ask you about your selections and if you can optimize and scale the solution. It is no harm in brushing up on the big O notations, etc. They will look to assess your overall problem-solving skills and debugging skills.
We encourage you to use your own IDE as you will be most familiar with any shortcuts and be more comfortable navigating the tools you already know. You will be able to share your screen with the interview through our video chat client Zoom.
Technical Deep Dive
In order to become a Senior Software Engineer II at HubSpot, candidates must demonstrate deep technical expertise, and have a track record of autonomously solving complex, abstract problems at scale. They’re able to tackle problems with many unknowns, and are recognized as the go-to person in their team or technical domain.
Candidates will do a deep dive on a highly impactful and technically challenging project that they led to completion during the last few years. Ideally, they played a direct hands-on role in the design, implementation, and rollout. We will look for both technical depth and organizational impact.
To optimize the time you have with your interviewer, we suggest that you prepare with certain material and/or technology that will make collaborating with your interviewer easiest.
Some of our technical interview sessions will require writing down and sharing ideas and designs with the interviewer. Since we won’t have a whiteboard to collaborate on together, there are a few options we suggest experimenting with beforehand to determine what you’re most comfortable using:
We evaluate candidates on their problem-solving skills and their ability to adapt to new information and communicate their thinking clearly in code and in speech. You'll be using these skills daily as a member of the product team. It is definitely okay to say "I don't know" if presented with something unfamiliar — the interviewer is happy to work through the problem with you.
Candidates are not expected to know everything that might be asked — it is by design that we attempt to find the limits of your prior experience. Having limits doesn't disqualify you from anything.
Before you go prep for your interview (you're going to be awesome!), check out HubSpot's Product Blog. Read about the remarkable work we get to do, and the culture we love.