I applied online. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Proper Cloth (New York, NY)
Interview
Super cordial and timely responses. Even promptly accommodated a reschedule, was super understanding about it. Interview was nice didn’t expect to be with CEO right from first round in person but he was pretty friendly. Thru the convo learned about company and it was a pretty insightful conversation on market and ecommerce which was pretty cool.
First spent about 45 minutes talking about background and resume etc. Then it was a technical challenge which required me to come up with an excel formula (had no knowledge on that) but I solved it in python as a workaround.
Unfortunately they quickly got back to me with a “thanks but no thanks” and when promoted for feedback it was because I didn’t have a background in domain of company but my resume was pretty obvious on that fact so not sure why I was invited to interview in the first place.
Overall first round it was straightforward fast process and mostly friendly. Disappointed in result wondering if not solving an out of right field technical challenge in excel was reason.
extremely poor and unorganized way of conducting an interview. Phone call with the founder initially, who after 30 minutes of reviewing my resume with me said he was going to be "transparent" to say I wasn't a fit for the role because the experience on the resume didn't match with the company's missions. This is obviously something that should be been screened before, so that my time isn't wasted. Random questions with awkward pauses from the founder.
They had an unusual process of doing the first interview in person with the founder, instead of a phone screen. The conversation began pleasantly enough, but it was clear that he had not thoroughly read my resume before meeting me.
The job description, which emphasized a need for empathy and attention to detail, did not reflect the questions I was asked nor the technical challenge I was given. There is no mention of Excel or any specific technical knowledge in the job description, yet I was expected to know how to write an Excel algorithm on the spot.
Additionally, I felt there were a lot of presumptuous questions about where and when I attended school and my irrelevant early work experience. That part of the conversation made me very uncomfortable, especially when I was asked what year I graduated from college - no one has ever asked me that in an interview before. I was relieved when this interview ended. It seems like they're still figuring out their process.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Write an algorithm in Excel to sort fabric swatches.
