Research in Motion Interview Questions & Reviews in Waterloo, ON (Canada)
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Updated May 21, 2012 – Interview questions and reviews posted anonymously by interview candidates.
Ratings are reflective of location and job title.
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Difficulty Rating [?] Based on 52 ratings 
“Average” Interview
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Interview Experience [?] Based on 52 ratings
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| 41–50 of 52 Research in Motion Interviews | Sort by |
Data Network Assistant Co-op at Research in Motion
Posted Feb 11, 2010 — 1 of 1 people found this helpful
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4.0
Difficult Interview
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Overall Neutral Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Feb 2010 in Waterloo, ON (Canada) (took 2 weeks)
Applied online to IT positions and their HR applied me to the data network position. A week later I was contacted for a phone interview with them and there were about 3 people on speaker phone interviewing me. They asked a lot of technical questions which I wasn't ready for, they asked things I had gone over in class but I couldn't give them proper answers off the top of my head. So if your applying to a RIM position just make sure you do your homework, study and review course material related to the position because they will test you.
Interview Questions
Lots of Cisco IOS routing questions like describe VLANs, internet protocols and trunking, switch ports. Difference between tcp/udp, osi model etc.
Other Details
I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a Group/Panel Interview and a Skills Test.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Security Analyst at Research in Motion
Posted Jan 1, 2010
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2.0
Easy Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Received and Accepted Offer
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Interviewed Jul 2008 in Waterloo, ON (Canada) (took 3+ weeks)
The hiring process consisted of two phone interviews followed by an skills test; the skills test was technical in nature and evaluated skills that could be used in the position applied for. This was followed by an in-person interview with several managers and team leads and a background check. The job offer was extended shortly after the in-person interview and the contract delivered via courier three days later.
Interview Questions
Negotiation Details
Yes - there is always room to negotiate. Based upon discussions with those dissatisfied with their salaries, their offers were significantly lower than the average salary for others in the same field and they simply accepted the offer without negotiation.
Do some research and know your worth before you interview; do not be afraid to negotiate as the pay bands are rather wide and OD (HR) won't argue with you if you fail to argue for a proper salary.
Other Details
I got the interview through an Employee Referral and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a Skills Test and a Background Check.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Support Associate at Research in Motion
Posted Dec 17, 2009
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Nov 2009 in Waterloo, ON (Canada) (took a day)
I applied on their website and got an interview few weeks later. It was an in person interview, and there were two interviewers, both seemed nice enough, although I didn't get the offer. They asked typical interview questions like "tell me about strength and weaknesses", "where do you see yourself in 5 years", "tell me about your experiences with modern high-tech devices, and how you would tweak their functions to make them work for you (asking for creativity with high-tech here)", "what do you do in your leisure time", "explain more about this and that experience in your resume", and some behavioural type questions. The position requires a broad range of technical knowledge, from scripting to servers to software development and licensing.
Interview Questions
Other Details
I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Group/Panel Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Human Resources - Oops I Mean Organizational Development at Research in Motion
Posted Nov 27, 2009
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Neutral Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Sep 2009 in Waterloo, ON (Canada) (took 2 months)
RIM has lots of potential to be a great place to work, although their HR team is struggling according to the interviewer. Apparrently HR has such a bad rep that they've changed their name to OD in order to reinvent themselves. The online application process at RIM is horrendous, although it has improved over the last three years. It still takes more than 30 minutes to apply. The most challenging aspect is the requirement that you take your work history - from your resume which you've already uploaded, and now put it in the order which is most relevant to the job that you're applying to. This step involves a lot of cutting and pasting. The interview process is unclear and there appears to be no standard process. The interviewer was friendly, but was unprepared - no copy of my resume, no interview questions. A few weeks later when I recieved the feedback that I would not be moving forward in the process, the feedback was unrelated to any topic that was covered in the interview.
Interview Questions
Other Details
The interview consisted of a Phone Interview and a 1:1 Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Marketing Manager at Research in Motion
Posted Nov 20, 2009 — 2 of 2 people found this helpful
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Received and Accepted Offer
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Interviewed Sep 2009 in Waterloo, ON (Canada) (took 2 months)
Started with a phone call from a company recruiter, who verified my interest in the posiiton, checked my salary expectations, and gave me information about the first real interview, which would be with the hiring manager. The recruiter established that she would be my contact for any questions or issues through the hiring process, which was nice. She was very personable and professional, but warm.
Because I was applying from a distance, my first interview was by phone, though I understand that's their preferred method anyway. Spent one hour on the phone with him, getting background on the opening, the job, and the company. His questions probably only took up about 25 to 30 minutes of the interview. he wanted to know about my relevant work experience (he had obviously spent a lot of time with my CV), my reasons for wanting to work in high tech, my reasons for wanting to work at RIM, etc.
Second interview two weeks later. A conference call with two peers from the team -- another phone call, though if I'd been local it would have been in person. This was more of the same questions, though they also asked a few more personal questions (including whether I was planning to have kids! Not okay!!!). Again, an hour.
Third interview -- two weeks later -- was a brief call with a VP from the company. He spent most of the 30 minutes talking himself, about the company and the team. Asked a few questions, but not anything complex. He too wanted to know why RIM.
Fourth interview -- two weeks later -- I was flown to Waterloo for lunch with the hiring manager. This was to allow him to put a face to the voice on the phone. A few questions, but more of a test of my social skills, I think. This was followed with a brief face-to-face with the two peers I had spoken to previously.
After this, I got the tentative offer, which put into motion the background check (employment, school, references, criminal record check). Within one week I had a formal written offer. Within two weeks of that I started with RIM.
Interview Questions
Negotiation Details
Not given much ability to negotiate. Asked for a longer notice period of layoff -- two weeks is insufficient for a position at this level -- but was told no. Since salary offered was higher than I had stated at the beginning of the process, I didn't try to negotiate that.
Other Details
The interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview, a Group/Panel Interview and a Background Check.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Software Developer Co-Op at Research in Motion
Posted Oct 30, 2009
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4.0
Difficult Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Received and Accepted Offer
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Interviewed Oct 2009 in Waterloo, ON (Canada) (took 2 weeks)
I applied on 3 developer positions, and upon receiving my resume HR applied me to 11 jobs. From that 11, 5 immediately requested phone interviews. The interviews were for the most part very technical in nature, and were conducted by people in charge of small developer teams. I found there were few questions about the essential skills listed on the job postings, but many from the additional assets section. A lot of questions focused on hypothetical problems, or the nature of past technical challenges. Beware of very strong asian accents, I had a lot of trouble understanding questions because of the interviewer's nationality and their use of speaker phones. I received offers on every job all at once, so I believe you have to wait until every interview has been conducted before finding out how you did.
Interview Questions
Negotiation Details
Students cannot negotiate wages at RIM.
Other Details
I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview.
More Research in Motion Software Developer Co-Op Interviews
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Coop-Software Developer at Research in Motion
Posted Oct 6, 2009
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4.0
Difficult Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Received and Accepted Offer
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Interviewed Dec 2007 in Waterloo, ON (Canada) (took a day)
I was interviewed by multiple people (team lead + technical/future mentors), who were all in a meeting room on speakerphone. I was asked about my resume and previous experience as well as favourite classes in school and maybe 1-2 hr type questions. Afterwards I was asked to solve a software question involving pointers and recursion (some sort of linked list thing). The job was then explained to me and I was offered it
Interview Questions
Negotiation Details
Coop student salaries are fixed based on major, number of terms completed and number of terms of previous work experience. Non-negotiable, but more than competitive. Starting and ending dates may be negotiable, though if you are willing to miss the coop student orientation event.
Other Details
I got the interview through a College or University and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview and a Skills Test.
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Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Project Manager at Research in Motion
Posted Jun 9, 2009 — 1 of 1 people found this helpful
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Received and Accepted Offer
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Interviewed Feb 2009 in Waterloo, ON (Canada) (took 2 weeks)
The interview process was rather straight forward. There was an initial screening and a 90 minute phone interview. The interview itself consisted of describing my past experiences and accomplishments. In addition, I had to elaborate in detail how my past experiences relate to the position I'm applying for. I also had to make mock design/management decisions using fictional metrics. In addition, we discussed project management strategies and their effectiveness in various product development scenarios.
The last 30 minutes of the interview was the standard behavioral questions and an assessment of fit within the team. In all it was a pleasant and stress free process. If you are genuinely interested in project management your enthusiasm will aid you tremendously in obtaining a position at RIM.
Interview Questions
Negotiation Details
The salary is determined based on your work/academic background. I was more than pleased with the compensation I received so I did not negotiate.
Other Details
I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview.
More Research in Motion Project Manager Interviews
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Manager Data Network Labs & Testing at Research in Motion
Posted Mar 24, 2009
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Mar 2009 in Waterloo, ON (Canada) (took 4 weeks)
RIM contacted me based on profile posted with their careers site suggest I might want to apply. Agreed, applied and received a note from HR asking to set up a telephone pre-screening within 1 hour.
Telephone interview with HR was booked within 1 week. Fairly standard stuff. HR rep was friendly and open. Provided a very good description of the position duties and the sort of person they were looking for. Questions on my strengths and weaknesses, 'describe a situation where you did well/poorly', question on expected salary (even though this is part of the online application). HR made a specific point of stating that I would hear either way about being selected for a panel interview within 10 days. They contacted me after 5 days.
Panel interview is set up by a specific interview coordinator (not involved in the hiring process). Set up a date/time and she provided me with a list of those who would be interviewing and their positions within the company. Interview was booked 1 week in advance but didn't get location until the day before.
Panel interview was at RIM in Waterloo. The process to get access to a building (security badge, parking etc.) took about 20 minutes. Front desk notified interview team and when I got to the interview location (early) security was expecting me and let me know who would be coming to get me and when (very professional). Interview itself was pretty low key - everyone was quite friendly and personable and seemed to take some effort to put me at ease. Culture seems to be fast-paced but with a lot of energy. Location was quite nice - buildings look a bit plain and 'frumpy' on the outside but inside are quite nice. Clearly they are pressed for space but furniture was nice and new, everyone seemed to have all the latest and greatest of equipment.
At the end of the interview, was told I would hear a decision either way within a week - it was more like 2 weeks and I had to chase them down for it in the end.
Interview Questions
Other Details
I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview and a Group/Panel Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Project Coordinator at Research in Motion
Posted Mar 18, 2009 — 1 of 1 people found this helpful
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Feb 2009 in Waterloo, ON (Canada) (took a day)
As RIM is in (and has been in for some time) a very extensive recruiting drive it did take a while from the time I submitted my applicatioln for the position and when I actually had my first and second telephone interviews. However it was shorter than the "months" of lead time communicated from a head hunter I had spoken with prior to applying.
Interviews themselves ..... brief and to the point. Not a lot of idle chatter or "getting to know you" that sometimes occurs at the beginning. Was surprised a little when I got into the interview - had been told by the recruiter that I would be speaking with the hiring manager only but as it turned out both the hiring manager and their manager (a Director) were in on the call. This was actually good because I got to ask questions of both. Advice - be prepared for the unexpected and embrace it when it does come. Liked both the hiring manager and the Director from the 30-40 minute conversation we had - both were very knowledgeable and had really spent the time to think about what they wanted in the candidate.
Interview Questions
Other Details
The interview consisted of a Phone Interview.
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Helpful Interview?
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No
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