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AOL Interview Questions & Reviews
Getting the Interview 78 Interviews
Interview Experience 74 Ratings
Business Development Manager at AOL
Accepted Offer – Interviewed in Dulles, VA – Reviewed Jun 6, 2013 New
Interview Details – Applied on LinkedIn and received an email to set up the phone interview on the very next day.
Interview Question – None really. Answer Question
Negotiation Details – Pleasant. They wanted to make sure I received a fair wage.
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Android Engineer at AOL
No Offer – Interviewed in Dulles, VA Apr 2013 – Reviewed May 31, 2013
Interview Details –
You get a phone screen, then if you pass that you get another phone screen. It you pass that and ask for update they send you a take home assignment and give you a week to complete.
The assignment was to build an Android Client for the redbox API. The take home assignment instructions that I got lacked key information that I had to ask for which took two days to get an answer back after sending an email.
After I completing the take home assignment and turning it in via email, I got an email from the hiring manager saying that it looked good. Then I didn't hear anything else for about two weeks. I sent an email to the hiring manager asking the status. I got back an internal email chain with comments from the team that reviewed my code.
In the email they mean spiritedly nit-picked my working code and made comments that I could easily refute if given the chance (which I didn't get to do). Some of there comments where a result of them not understanding how a truly decoupled Android app should be laid out and function. The comments also contradicted the assignment instructions in many cases. Makes me wonder if the reviewers read the assignment at all.
The moral here is that there is more than one way to correctly do things. Open your mind a bit and you may learn something.
Interview Question – Nothing difficult if you code in Android Answer Question
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Senior Research Engineer at AOL
No Offer – Interviewed in Palo Alto, CA Apr 2013 – Reviewed May 23, 2013
Interview Details – They talk very nice during the interview process, but no communication whatsoever after that.
Interview Question – They just have a set of prepared questions. Interview will be based on that. Won't ask anything about your previous work or anything of that sorts. Answer Question
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Marketing Coordinator at AOL
No Offer – Interviewed in New York, NY Mar 2013 – Reviewed Apr 25, 2013
Interview Details – Applied online and was contacted by a recruiter. Had a 30 min phone chat with recruiter-- basic questions and some behavioral stuff. Came in for in person interview next week, hiring manager was super swamped and overbooked only had about 15 min to speak with me when I was told I'd be there for close to an hour. Asked to continue interview by phone at later date but never heard back.
Interview Question – Why Do You Want This Job? View Answer
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Intern at AOL
Accepted Offer – Interviewed in Palo Alto, CA Apr 2011 – Reviewed Apr 16, 2013
Interview Details – Interviewed with director first. Then onsite interview with the team 1 week after that. Then HR calling for pay rate in 2 days. done.
Interview Question – What is advantages and disadvantages of a PID controller? (the intern position was for data analysis and my background was in control). Answer Question
Negotiation Details – They have an instruction. For internship the negotiation wont go to much or even any change to the original offer.
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Legal Administrative Assistant at AOL
Accepted Offer – Interviewed in Dulles, VA – Reviewed Apr 17, 2013
Interview Details – I was originally hired via a temporary (staffing) agency to work there, so my interview process wasn't the normal process I expect. But there wasn't anything unusual about the process either. Standard questions asked about one's experience, how one handles certain situations, etc. It has been several years, so I do not remember specific questions at this time.
Interview Question – Toughest question remains salary request for me. Answer Question
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Marketing Manager at AOL
No Offer – Reviewed Apr 11, 2013
Interview Details – Interviewed for a Marketing Manager position. Process took 11 weeks, speaking with over 10 different people throughout. Was told after 5th interview that it was the final round, and then 5 additional people were added on over the course of another 5 weeks. Extreme lack of transparency through entire process.
Interview Question – The final interview is with a "cultural ambassador" who asks questions to ensure that your values align with AOL's mission and values. Completely unnecessary.... Answer Question
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Marketing Manager at AOL
Accepted Offer – Interviewed in New York, NY Feb 2013 – Reviewed Mar 20, 2013
Interview Details –
I was recruited through my school's job board. They were actually very friendly and sent me an e-mail asking me to interview with them and I gladly accepted.
There was three interview stages, and they ran for a total of about 1.5 hours. Many of the questions were behavioural, and they wasn't anything too out of the ordinary.
Interview Question – The cultural ambassador wants to assess your attitudes about dyanamic work environments... asks many behavioural questions that must be tied back to AOL's values Answer Question
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Managing Editor at AOL
Accepted Offer – Interviewed in Dulles, VA Feb 2011 – Reviewed Mar 15, 2013
Interview Details – Recruited from LinkedIn Profile by New York HR team. That led to phone interview, and in person interview locally; then to panel interview in New York office. Very professional and positive experience, although it helped they were recruiting me more than me applying to an opening.
Interview Question – Among interviewers is someone serving as cultural ambassador who primarily wants to assess your attitudes about change...which makes sense because AOL is a place where your cheese can be moved quickly. Answer Question
Negotiation Details – They had their salary limits, but there was an honest exchange and effort to give me more than I was making in the market to bring me in. I was in a stronger position since they were recruiting me. W ould be differently if one was applying for opening.
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Analyst at AOL
No Offer – Interviewed in Dulles, VA Nov 2012 – Reviewed Feb 6, 2013
Interview Details –
I was just reading through some of the Glassdoor reviews on AOL and one poster mentioned that the company lacks standard policies and procedures. I can see why this statement was made based on my experience.
I saw the initial job post online and applied (resume and cover letter). About a week later I heard from a recruiter requesting a phone screen. A few weeks later we finally got on the phone. I felt that the recruiter was using somewhat of a combative tone when discussing my perceived lack of experience related to the job and my salary requirements. I got off of that call feeling that I had little chance of getting a call back. I got an email the next day stating that the hiring manager wanted to talk to me.
I spoke to the hiring manager later in the week. It was a pretty straightforward conversation…quick walk through my resume, questions around what I wanted to do in my next position, and more information about the position. I received an email the following week to schedule in-person interviews on the Dulles campus a couple weeks later.
I was scheduled for 6 onsite interviews (some were actually video interviews with people offsite). The interviewers were in adjacent groups and from the manager through VP level, including another talk with the hiring manager. The interviews mainly consisted of me talking about my related job experiences and what I was looking for in a new position. There were some questions about AOL, it’s product offering, and my impressions of how the company should proceed moving forward. Make sure you know some of the basic facts of the company like CEO, stock price, product offering, competitors, etc. A couple of the interviews also had case-like questions with one breaking out into a full-blown case. Be prepared for the possibility of case questions, bring a pen/paper and be ready to do some math…nothing too strenuous though.
A few days later, I was scheduled to do another phone interview. That call was pretty pleasant as most of the time was spent with me asking questions. I got off of this call feeling pretty good and expecting to hear next steps pretty quickly. A week, then 2, then 3 went by with no word from AOL. At the 4 week mark I decided to email the recruiter and ask if I was still being considered for the position. The recruiter immediately responded and said that they would circle back with the team to get more information. That was 4 weeks ago…so it has been a total of about 8 weeks since I have heard anything official.
At this point it’s safe to assume that I am off of their radar, but it’s very TACKY and UNPROFESSIONAL of them to put me through all of those interviews, then not have the decency to communicate with me and let me know what is happening with the process, or at least keep me in the loop. It says a ton about how things probably operate internally there.
The people that I interviewed with were all nice, pretty laid-back, and seemed to really enjoy working at AOL. The offices were well-lit and colorful…more of a start-up environment than that of a company that has been around for decades.
Interview Question – What is the P/E ratio of AOL? Do you think this is high or low? View Answer
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AOL – Why Work for Us?
AOL consumers were shopping, chatting, getting news and information and playing multi-user games online at the dawn of the internet. We were the cornerstone of social media long before anyone knew what a social network… — Full Overview
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