I completed an application and I then received an email from an internal recruiter asking me for a cover letter. I wrote and sent the cover letter and I was asked for potential dates for a phone interview. I gave dates and then the recruiter left me hanging for two weeks (after my dates of availability had changed). I was contacted with a time and we then had to reschedule the proposed time.
I talked to a lead on the curriculum design staff in my field who didn't seem to have a very good idea of their product or its direction. She also didn't betray any real interest in me working at IXL. She did, however, seem very interested in how I would or could improve that product from my position. I answered many questions about what I might do to expand or change the product. She took many notes, did little to dialogue, and was very dry. The entire time it seemed like the call was more about getting feedback from another subject matter expert than it was about hiring me or seriously considering me for employment. As some have alluded to, based on their constant job postings (I've seen postings for the job I applied to for over a year) it seems that they're seeking free advice and expert input on their product and "interviews" are a means of getting feedback without paying to convene a panel of PhD-holding experts in a formal focus group.
If there is any interest in hiring someone for this position, I couldn't tell. I would have declined to follow up based on the demeanor of my interviewer anyways. As she had no personality or sense of enthusiasm for the product, the company or her position, I didn't exactly leave the call thinking it would be somewhere that I would want to work. She also departed from the call with "contact the recruiter if you have any questions" and never once stated my name after an initial introduction, leading me to believe that the call had ended before it started. Perhaps it was a fact-finding mission with no job at all on the other side. Hard to say. Even if there was a job, it must be a pretty "meh" place to work given my interaction with their personnel.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What would you do to improve the product? How would you change the current product? There were many follow-ups about specific curriculum elements and even design elements.
Pretty straightforward. The recruiter will call you and ask some pre-screening question then you will be asked to complete a task within a week. The task consists of grammatical correction, alignment and information clarity.
Had a phone screening which went well, followed by a work product. The instructions on the work product were overall very vague, and took a lot of guessing/assuming what they were looking for. It took me about 5 hours total, and I received a rejection email stating that no feedback would be given and with no further explanation.
The interview consisted of a recruiter call. Then a 2nd call. Then a remote meeting via zoom where I was drilled with questions that didn't seem to math the role I applied for. Zero emotions shown. No smiles.
