I applied through other source. I interviewed at SmartZip Analytics (Bengaluru) in Jul 2017
Interview
I had an appalling interview experience with the head of SmartZip India. At the end of a 2.5 hour(Yes! 2.5 hours!) interview, I felt humiliated and crushed.
A job rejection is an experience that you take on your chin, learn from and move on. If he didn't like me, half an hour should have been enough to judge me. Why 2.5 hours? How can a company head find so much time to break down someone probably ten years younger to him in such a relentless manner? No candidate should be subjected to such a prolonged harsh interview experience bordering on ludicrousness.
My best wishes to SmartZip because after all that I went through, it still seems like a good company to work for. I won't judge the company based on an unfair interview. I hope you guys go great guns with your product.
After spending a taxing 2.5 hours with him, I have a hunch he would brand my feedback here as emotional and false. Never has my interview experience been this bizarre. Never.
Ethics and honor lost. Intimidation and bullying won.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Some excerpts from the 2.5 hours I spent with him:
1. His opinion regarding the 3 awards I mentioned about in my CV> I have been in software services industry and have won these awards before. I know what happens behind the scenes and how these awards are won.
My opinion> I think what he implied there was quite dodgy. It is demeaning for an interviewee to listen to such words regarding something he has achieved with his hard work.
2. His opinion on conviction of thoughts - You should stand by what you have said. Even if you said something incorrectly, you should have the conviction to stand by it. You can go ahead and build something wrong now based on your conviction and cover up for your mistake in the later sprints.
I felt that it is unethical for anyone to knowingly build something faulty just because he should be able to stand by his thought process. How can your ego and conviction come in the way of ethics and honor?
3. After I wrote the responsibilities(one of which was 'A Business Analyst should have good stakeholder management skills')of a BA on a sheet of paper, he said this- Which sentence sounds better? A BA should have... Or A BA's responsibility is...?
He went on about this for 10 mins. This was supposed to be my final round with SmartZip India head. How did this become a grammar test for something that wasn't even wrong in the first place?
4. His opinion on how I should interact with the Development team wrt tight deadlines and changing requirements- You must tell them that you are their GOD(Believe me. He wrote it on a sheet of paper and underlined it). Being nice to them and having a good working relationship doesn't help. You are their GOD and they must listen to you.
My opinion - A BA has to be a master of words. Saying something like this is surely going to have a backlash. How can a company head promote such a questionable thought process?
5. He asked me where is a BA placed wrt product, Dev team and the client. I told him that a BA by definition falls in the Product team but has to liaise with both the client and the Dev to make sure the requirements are being delivered in the right way.
His response - When you use the word 'but', it means that you know nothing and have 0 clarity in communication.
It felt like his intent was to not listen to my answers, but to say things that are irrelevant to what he asked.
6. Among the very few questions I was permitted to ask , I wanted to understand how one gets an opportunity to work for a startup. He took offense at that and said 'I am not a Startup. I am a 150 people company. I lead small companies and turn them into big companies. Don't call me a start up.'
My opinion - I genuinely want to work for a startup some day and hence the question. I am not sure what made him take offence at my question which he didn't even answer in the first place and started bragging about his glory at SmartZip.
7. I had spoken a lot about wanting to learn new technologies and techniques that I thought a start up could provide me a platform for.
His opinion - Learning counts for nothing. Delivery does. In your CV, I see only one 'CEO employee of the month' award. Had I seen you winning this award regularly, it would mean that you are a consistent performer.
My opinion - He just mentioned a while ago regarding the dodgy ways in which he has won these awards and now he is saying that winning one award isn't enough. I had even mentioned about two other spot awards that I won on my CV but he dismissed it saying that spot awards count for nothing.
8. Usually when a BA is given a case study in an interview, he is allowed to ask as many questions as possible to make sense of the requirements. One of the parameters a BA is judged on is the questions he asks during the case study.
His cold and curt response to probably only the 2nd or 3rd question I asked - I don't understand you. Am I not making myself clear enough with the requirements?
