Exactly as advertised on the Help Scout website. It was long-ish (application to offer was ~3 months, but I'd rather the company take their time and make it a good experience than rush through things. Each individual interview, there were ~5 iirc, was only about 30 minutes long. In addition to kinda general "get to know you" chats there was a technical interview and a paid take-home project. Overall I felt that my time was respected, and that Help Scout really wanted to put the time in up front to hire folks that are a good fit for their culture.

I interviewed with engineering+product executive and we did not mesh well in our communication style. It wasn't a technical nor behavioral interview. First, he was adamant about using this appear.in site to do video chat. It didn't work for me the first time and he immediately went on the offensive to say that it wasn't his issue. Even if his computer is perfectly configured for appear.in and mine is not, this negative comment wasn't necessary. I had been on google video chat twice earlier that day and it wasn't fine, and of course I wasn't so rude as to point out may not be me (it could be that the issue might be coming from appear.in). He did not want to call me on my phone because he needed to take note while talking to me. When we met the second time, I used my boyfriend's computer and also bought a new headset, just in case. Unfortunately, the video wasn't working and we again had to reschedule. As I was speaking and trying to wrap up our call, he cut me off by saying, he needs to get off the call and he sensed some push back from me. His negative perception of people is simply warped. When we chat for the third time, he asked me to describe my background. While I was talking, he appeared immediately annoyed and cut me off by saying "You cannot go into that level of details. You only have 2 minutes to talk about your background." I looked at my time stamp at it was 9:43AM, 13 minutes into our interview. Why would you interview someone if you have absolutely zero interest to get to know them? I question why would this person want to interview me in the first place. He wasn't minutely interested in my background - both as a startup founder and engineer. He didn't ask about what I technologies I had worked on. I had managed to raise $250k the past year for my startup. He asked condescendingly if it was from friends and family, which isn't the case. None of my angel investors is related to me. My conclusion after this interview was that this work environment is full of negative energy. Impatience, rudeness, rigidity, and disrespect make up the culture of this company. Two things I expect if I were to work here: 1. expect to be cut off while speaking because my voice doesn't matter. 2. If bug occurs and things don't go as well as planned, expect myself to be on the receiving end of the blame. Here's a suggestion to Help Scout: You are not required to interview every candidate you see on paper. But if you do, treat us with respect. It's only basic common courtesy.