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Interviewing at ThoughtSpot
Best Practices, Advice, and Tips
If advancing in the interview process, the next interview steps vary based on the role you're applying for. Be prepared to demonstrate how you meet the qualifications of the job by sharing specific examples from your past or ideas about how you would accomplish a specific task.
Be sure to share how skills you have gained throughout your career will translate to the role for which you are interviewing.
The hiring team gets a chance to get to know you—and you get the chance to get to know the team. Post-interview, your aligned Recruiter can help you understand the specific timeline of when you can expect to hear back regarding the hiring decision.
Note: TS conducts a standard pre-employment background check in accordance with local labor laws.
Table of Contents
Pg. 1 Interview Process
Pg. 2 Pre-Interview Preparation
Pg. 3 Interview Types
Pg. 4 How to Use the 'STAR' Method to Ace Your Interview
Pg. 5 Decision and Offer
Pg. 6 Why work at ThoughtSpot?
Pg. 7 Life at ThoughtSpot
Pg. 8 Employee Testimonials
Pg. 9 Your Feedback
Interview Process
Depending on the role or team, the interview process may vary. Not all of these may apply, but here are ways we assess candidates in our hiring process in general. If you have any questions throughout the process, please feel free to reach out to your aligned Recruiter.
Pg. 1
Initial Screen
If your application meets the requirements, a member of our recruiting team will reach out to schedule an initial call, either by phone or Zoom. During this call, the Recruiter will get to know you and walk you through the role. We encourage you to use this as an opportunity to ask questions regarding the role and the remaining hiring process.
Interview(s)
If you advance to the next step in the process, a Recruiting Coordinator or Recruiter will reach out to you to schedule your next interview(s). In general, most of our open jobs have the following interview steps:
- Recruiter Screen(s) (30 - 45mins)
- Onsite / Video Interview(s) (15 - 60mins)
- Hiring Manager
- Spotters
- Panel Interview (if applicable, 30 - 60mins)
- Cultural Fit Interview (30 - 60mins)
- Challenge/Assessment Presentation (60 - 90mins)
- Only applicable to Customer Success / SE / CAE / AE / SDR roles
Decision Stage
In the final stage of the interview process, the hiring team will assess your candidacy for the job and make a decision. We are committed to keeping you informed throughout the process, we will notify you of our decision once a decision is made.
Note: there may be additional steps during the interview process depending on the role.
Engineering / RD / IT - Hiring Process Overview
The recruitment process for Engineering/ Product/ SRE/ UX roles consists of four - fives stages depending on the level, and can take anywhere from 1 - 2 weeks (subject to change). Depending on the role or team, the interview process may vary. Not all of these may apply, if you have any questions throughout the process, please feel free to reach out to your aligned Recruiter.
Initial Screen
If your application meets the requirements, a member of our recruiting team will reach out to schedule an initial call, either by phone or Zoom. During this call, the Recruiter will get to know you and walk you through the role. We encourage you to use this as an opportunity to ask questions regarding the role and the remaining hiring process.
Interview
If you advance to the next step in the process, a Recruiting Coordinator or Recruiter will reach out to you to schedule your next interview(s). In general, most of our open jobs have the following interview steps:
- Recruiter Screen(s) (30 - 45mins)
- Onsite / Video Interview(s) (15 - 60mins)
- Hiring Manager
- Spotters
- Panel Interview (30 - 60mins)
- Technical Interview(s) (60mins)
- Coding
- Design
- Cultural Fit Interview (30 - 60mins)
- Challenge/Assessment Presentation (60 - 90mins)
Decision Stage
In the final stage of the interview process, the hiring team will assess your candidacy for the job and make a decision. We are committed to keeping you informed throughout the process, we will notify you of our decision once a decision is made.
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Pre-Interview Preparation
Preparing for an interview might seem intimidating, but there are proven steps you can take to prepare yourself for a successful interview.
Carefully examine the job description
During your prep work, you should use the posted job description as a guide. The job description is a list of the qualifications, qualities, and background the employer is looking for in an ideal candidate. The more you can align yourself with these details, the more the employer will be able to see that you are qualified. The job description may also give you ideas about questions the employer may ask throughout the interview.
Consider why you are interviewing and your qualifications
Before your interview, you should have a good understanding of why you want the job and why you’re qualified. You should be prepared to explain your interest in the opportunity and why you’re the best person for the role.
Perform research on the company and role
Take some time to learn about ThoughSpot, get to know our culture, and “meet” a few Spotters.
Consider your answers to common interview questions
While you won’t be able to predict every question you’ll be asked in an interview, there are a few common questions you can plan answers for (i.e. what are your greatest strengths?). You might also consider developing an elevator pitch that quickly describes who you are, what you do, and what you want.
Practice your speaking voice and body language
You may want to consider spending time practicing with friends or family and/or in front of a mirror.
Prepare thoughtful questions for the interviewer
You should take time before the interview to prepare questions for your interviewer(s) that show you’ve done your research and are well-versed about the position (i.e. what does a typical day look like for a person in this position?).
Come prepared
If you’re doing a virtual interview, take some time to prepare your space. Find a quiet area with a reliable internet connection where you won’t be disturbed. Check your mic, your video, and your Wi-Fi, to make sure that everything is in working order. Be sure you are well versed with your resume and have a copy on hand, as well as a notebook or laptop to take notes on.
Interview Types
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Be prepared for the following types of interviews throughout the process:
Recruiter Screen
The recruiter for the role will set up time to learn more about you and answer any questions. The primary goal is to measure your likability, professional communication, match for requirements, overall cultural add, and to verify your salary requirement is in line with the role.
Cultural Fit
Our approach to cultural fit interviews is about hiring team members that bring something new to the table instead of perfectly matching the current team. We assess how well a candidate can contribute to the collective intelligence of our team, rather than nebulous ideas of fitting the status quo. During the cultural interview, questions will aim to uncover new perspectives and experiences.
Panel Interview(s)
This is where you’ll meet with a group of individuals at once and will answer questions posed by all of them. It’s important to note that panel interviews are different from back-to-back interviews where you meet with one person after another on a one-on-one basis. Instead, a panel interview means meeting multiple decision makers at the same time and it’s designed to do three things: expedite the process, assess how well you handle pressure, and ensure that the hiring decision is a collective one.
Pro Tips: Engaging the panel both collectively and as individuals is a great way of showing that you’re able to communicate effectively with everyone on the team. Try to memorize everyone’s name and titles. It will help you navigate the interview more effectively and ensure that you’re connecting with all the members of the panel.
Technical Interview(s)
Technical interviews are problem-solving–based and cover technical excellence and core competencies. You’ll be assessed on your knowledge of technical principles and methods, as well as on how you approach problem-solving, your technical agility, and your ability to think strategically to solve complex problems. The interview may also include other competency-based questions and questions about your resume.
Our interview process will evaluate you on all the following:
Problem Solving: Interviewers want to see how you break down information and navigate through problems. We also want to learn more about how you think, how you put yourself in the customer’s shoes, and how you make choices.
System Design:
Like everything else, our focus here is on your thought process. For example, how you operate within system limits, design for scale and longevity, tradeoff availability and consistency,
etc. An important element of the interview will be clearly explaining the tradeoffs you are making. Also, we prefer to see first principle solutions instead of delegating to existing proven architectures, e.g. "will use a database, run an app over it, and that's it".
Coding:The coding interview will cover data structures and algorithms, make sure to refresh your memory in these areas. E.g. trade-off between different sorting algorithms, graph theory and implementation, recursion, and basic computational complexity calculations.. We also place emphasis on correct-by-construction, so make sure to cover how you'll validate assumptions, test your code, etc. Demonstrate best practices and ensure your code is clean, concise, and bug-free. You’ll be asked to code only in the language you’re strong in. You'll be using a third-party coding tool, Glider, where you can run and compile your code. Practice, practice, practice. We can’t overstate this enough. This is a critical part of the interview.
Pro Tips: With having limited time to prepare for a technical interview at times, we recommend reviewing computer science fundamentals and practicing coding outside of an integrated development environment. This will likely yield the best results for your time.
- Think Out Loud: More than the final outcome of a problem, we are more interested in understanding your thought process, how you arrive at a problem definition, iterate, validate your assumptions, etc. Trying to articulate it as you are working on the problem helps with this. It also helps you clarify your own thoughts, if you are unable to describe your approach concisely in a few minutes, then it's likely too complex.
- Clarify the Problem Statement: When starting on an interview question, spend time upfront to get clarity on the problem. Ask clarifying questions, seek examples, etc. Often, interview questions are left deliberately open ended to explore your approach to solving real world problems.
- Iterate: A golden rule of any problem-solving exercise is to have an unambitious start and improve through iteration. Trying to arrive at a clever solution upfront is unreliable, so always bias towards iteration.
If you need any accommodations, please reach out to your aligned Recruiter. We will reach out to discuss how to best support you.
Assessments / Challenges
***Only applicable to Customer Success / SE / CAE / AE / SDR roles**
TS uses assessments/challenges as one way to help us get to know you better. We design them to measure key characteristics required for success in a role and as a means to and demonstrate your problem-solving, prioritization, and interpersonal abilities.
These allow us to assess applicants consistently and equitably, as every individual is provided with the same experience and information needed to complete the assessment. Depending on the position, we may ask you to take an assessment during the application process or send it to you separately after you’ve applied. The type and number of assessments/challenges will depend on the role you apply for and in some cases, must be completed within a certain timeframe. Additionally, you may be asked you to interpret data from a chart, answer a customer question, choose how to resolve an issue, multitask, or find the right information from multiple sources.
Pro Tips:
Presentations are always nerve-wracking, but remember that the audience wants you to succeed. Here are a few tips on how to ace your presentation:
- Know what you’re working with - understand the topics you are to present on, how much time you have, what technology (if any) you’ll have access to, and to whom you’ll be presenting.
- Start with a structure - you’ll want to make sure you have the basic components of a well-structured presentation, including a captivating introduction, a compelling argument in the body, and a memorable conclusion.
- Prepare aids - highlight the key points you want to get across.
- Practice, practice, practice - you should run through it enough times so that you’re comfortable with delivering it and can consciously avoid ‘nervous habits’
If you need any accommodations, please reach out to your aligned Recruiter. We will reach out to discuss how to best support you.
How to Use the 'STAR' Method to Ace Your Interview
Pg. 4
The STAR method is a technique used to answer behavioral interview questions in a structured and compelling way. Behavioral questions will prompt you to give specific examples of how you’ve handled past situations or challenges by discussing the Specific Situation, Task, Action, and Result of the situation you are describing. This method will help you prepare clear and concise responses using real-life examples.
Keep in mind, TS is a data-driven company. When you answer questions, your focus should be on the question asked, ensure your answer is well-structured and provide examples using metrics or data if applicable. Reference recent situations whenever possible, if applicable.
Pro Tips:
- Ensure each answer has a beginning, middle, and end. Describe the situation or problem, the actions you took, and the outcome.
- Prepare short descriptions of a handful of different situations and be ready to answer follow-up questions with greater detail. Select examples that highlight your unique skills.
- Have specific examples that showcase your experience, and demonstrate that you’ve taken calculated risks, succeeded, failed and grown in the process.
- Specifics are key; avoid generalizations. Give a detailed account of one situation for each question you answer, and use data or metrics to support your example.
- Be forthcoming and straightforward, don't embellish or omit parts of the story.
Pg. 5
Decision and Offer
If we decide that you're the best candidate for the role, your Recruiter and / or the Hiring Manager will reach out to you to extend a verbal offer.
Once you've accepted the offer verbally, the TA team will send you an offer letter for your review and signature. After which you are on your way to becoming a Spotter!
Pg. 6
Why Work With ThoughtSpot?
ThoughtSpot is the Modern Analytics Cloud company. Our mission is to create a more fact-driven world with the easiest to use analytics platform. With ThoughtSpot, anyone can leverage natural language search and AI to find data insights and tap into the most cutting edge innovations the cloud data ecosystem has to offer. Companies can now put the power of their modern data stack in the hands of every employee, extend the value of their data to partners and customers, and automate entire business processes. ThoughtSpot’s web and mobile applications improve decision-making for every employee. With ThoughtSpot’s developer-friendly platform, customers can also embed consumer-grade analytics into their SaaS offerings or build entirely new interactive data apps that engage users and keep them coming back for more. Organizations like Walmart, BT, Daimler, Medtronic, Hulu, Royal Bank of Canada, Nasdaq, OpenTable, Workato, and Nationwide Building Society rely on ThoughtSpot to transform how their employees and customers take advantage of data.
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What makes ThoughtSpot a great place to work?
Life at ThoughtSpot
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Our Culture
At ThoughtSpot, we like to sum up our culture in two words: Selfless Excellence. Selfless Excellence means we strive for excellence in everything we do, while always putting the customer and team ahead of the individual. We prioritize humility and actively discourage office politics of any kind. It's our secret sauce to building a diverse team and innovating world-class products. Every quarter we nominate a Selfless Excellence champion that embodies our culture and core values.
Diversity and Inclusion
Building a diverse and inclusive team isn't just the right thing to do for our people, it's the right thing to do for our business. You can’t solve complex data problems with a single perspective. It takes many voices, experiences, and areas of expertise to deliver the innovative solutions our customers need. We’re committed to being real and continuously learning when it comes to pay equality, recruiting, and creating space for underrepresented groups to thrive.
Employee Resource Groups
Each of our employee resource groups, ¡Adelante!, Rainbow Room, Veterans and Allies and ThoughtSpot Women's Group, exist to foster community and a sense of belonging among our global community of Spotters. They help drive organizational change, improve the overall quality of an our culture, and play a fundamental role in making ThoughtSpot a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace.
What our Spotters say about us
Testimonials
"ThoughtSpot is an amazing company. I work with passionate and intelligent people, and we care for and help each other do the best work of our careers. I love working with this world-class team and building the next generation of BI tools. We’re working to change the way leaders gain business insight through the power of search and AI. It’s a huge opportunity and ThoughtSpot is up to the challenge!"
"Love working at ThoughtSpot because in addition to having great colleagues, we have an awesome executive team who actively seek feedback & engage with employees so that you feel welcome. It’s a great place to work, as you get the opportunity to be involved in a lot of projects."
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"Humble, kind, hardworking, wonderful people. Camaraderie, inclusive, diversity. Competitive pay and the best health insurance and benefits! A company that truly cares about it's people."
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ThoughtSpot Interview Experience Feedback
Your feedback matters!
We strive to provide the best possible interview experience for our candidates and your feedback is essential in helping us to achieve this goal. We would appreciate it if you could take a few minutes to provide us with your feedback via the link below. Please be assured that this survey is completely anonymous and will not influence your candidacy for any current or future roles.
ThoughtSpot Interview Experience Survey