Shab here—and I’m a content marketer, not a recruiter. But for this article, I talked to Alice Guo-Albright, who is in charge of hiring new employees at Dialpad and is part of the human resources team. (In other words, an actual recruiter. ).
If you’re trying to find the best employees, keep reading to hear Alice’s tried-and-true hiring tips and tricks!
Getting a job at a fast-growing tech startup like Dialpad is an exciting opportunity. However, the interview process can be daunting. In this comprehensive guide, I’ll share insider tips to help you ace your Dialpad interview.
Overview of Dialpad’s Interview Process
The Dialpad interview process typically consists of
- A 30-minute phone screen with a recruiter
- A 45-60 minute technical interview
- A 45-60 minute culture interview
- Occasionally a final interview with the hiring manager
Dialpad values culture fit, so expect behavioral and situational questions in addition to technical queries Come prepared to show both your hard and soft skills
I’ll now break down how to ace each step of the process, from practical prep tips to the types of Dialpad interview questions you can expect.
How to Prepare for Your Dialpad Interview
With preparation, you can enter each interview full of confidence. Here are my top tips:
Research the Company and Role
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Read up on Dialpad’s products, mission, and company culture. Check out their About Us page and blogs.
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Review the job description carefully. Highlight must-have qualifications and skills you should emphasize.
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Search for Dialpad employees on LinkedIn to learn about their backgrounds. This will help you assess the right experience and education levels.
Polish Your Knowledge of Key Topics
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For engineering roles, study core competencies like Python, JavaScript, AWS, Agile methodologies, and REST APIs.
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For sales and account executive positions, brush up on SaaS sales principles, prospecting, pipeline management, and CRM tools.
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Use Glassdoor to find common technical, behavioral, and situational questions for your role and practice answering them aloud.
Prepare Questions to Ask
Come armed with thoughtful questions that show your interest in Dialpad, such as:
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How would you describe the work culture here? What makes it unique?
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What are the day-to-day responsibilities of this role?
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What are the key skills and attributes you look for in top candidates?
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What are the biggest challenges facing the team right now and in the next year?
Dress Professionally
Though Dialpad has a casual vibe, you want to make a polished first impression. For men, wear a pressed suit and tie. For women, opt for a professional dress or blouse and trousers.
What to Expect During the Phone Screen
Your first interview will be a screening call with a Dialpad recruiter to assess basic qualifications. Here’s what to expect:
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Questions about your interest in Dialpad, relevant experience, required skills, salary expectations, and availability
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Be prepared to walk through your resume and background in detail
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The recruiter will explain the interview process and potential timeline
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It’s also your chance to ask questions and determine if Dialpad is a fit
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If there’s a match, the recruiter will move you to the next round
To stand out on the screening call:
- Speak clearly and confidently
- Answer questions directly without rambling
- Convey genuine enthusiasm for the company and position
Now let’s look at how to master the all-important technical interview.
Acing the Dialpad Technical Interview
The technical interview will focus deeply on your hard skills and problem-solving abilities.
Expect Coding Challenges
Engineers should absolutely expect to write code on the whiteboard or computer. Some examples of coding questions are:
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Implement a specific function, like reversing a string
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Optimize or debug a section of code
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Design architecture for a hypothetical feature or product
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Write tests for a code sample
To prepare:
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Practice coding algorithms and data structures in your language of choice
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Re-implement common functions and methods
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Use platforms like LeetCode and HackerRank for coding interview prep
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Explain your thought process clearly as you code
Anticipate Technical Knowledge Questions
You will also face questions testing your technical knowledge, such as:
- What are your favorite programming languages and frameworks and why?
- Explain how you’ve used core tools like Git, Postman, and AWS
- How do you approach debugging a problem? Walk through your process.
- How have you optimized web or mobile app performance in past roles?
To ace it:
- Give specific, detailed examples from past experience
- Don’t get stumped if you don’t know something; talk through how you would find the answer
- Ask clarifying questions if needed to ensure you fully understand
Talk Through Technical Projects
Expect to discuss technical projects from your resume in depth. Be ready to answer:
- What was the objective of the project and your role?
- How did you approach designing and developing the solution?
- What technical and coding skills did you utilize?
- What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?
- What lessons did you learn? How have you applied those lessons since?
Prepare by:
- Picking 2-3 robust projects to discuss and practicing talking through them
- Highlighting skills learned, challenges faced, and key contributions
- Quantifying achievements like traffic, revenue increases, or costs reduced
With practice and preparation, you can showcase both your hard and soft skills during the technical interview. Next let’s look at nailing the culture interview.
Excelling in Your Dialpad Culture Interview
Dialpad prides itself on its close-knit, fun culture. The culture interview will focus on assessing your teamwork skills, work ethic, and values alignment.
Expect Situational & Behavioral Questions
You will face situational questions testing how you would handle workplace scenarios, such as:
- How would you handle a disagreement with your manager or an executive?
- One of your teammates is not pulling their weight on a project. What do you do?
- Tell me about a time you failed and what you learned from it.
To stand out:
- Draw on real examples instead of hypotheticals whenever possible
- Focus on positive resolution and team collaboration
- Highlight lessons learned that made you a better coworker
You will also get behavioral questions aimed at understanding your work style:
- What would your coworkers say about your work style?
- How would you describe your approach to teamwork and collaboration?
- Tell me about a time you showed creative problem solving. What was the outcome?
Prepare by:
- Identifying 3-5 strengths to emphasize with examples
- Recalling situations that showcased teamwork, ethics, perseverance, and aptitude for learning
Showcase Culture Add
Share what attracts you to Dialpad’s culture, for instance:
- The mission of empowering the modern workforce with AI-powered communication
- The collaborative, transparent environment
- Products you’re excited to work on
- Perks like remote work flexibility
Convey genuine enthusiasm for the company’s goals and values. Ask insightful questions to show alignment.
Expect “Day in the Life” Questions
Be ready to discuss:
- How you would prioritize tasks and manage time in this role
- Your preferred work style (individual vs collaborative projects)
- How you like to get feedback and coaching from managers
- Ideas for contributing above and beyond day-to-day responsibilities
Thinking through a “day in the shoes” of your potential role shows passion and vision.
By showcasing both your technical expertise and cultural add, you can ace the Dialpad interview process. Let’s wrap up with some final tips.
Final Tips to Stand Out
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Express passion for the role: Convey genuine excitement both verbally and through body language.
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Ask thoughtful questions: Prepare queries that show your understanding of Dialpad and desire to contribute.
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Follow up promptly: Send thank you notes reaffirming your interest and fit.
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Be yourself: Relax and let your qualifications, personality, and values shine through.
With preparation and practice, you can nail your Dialpad interview. Show them you have the ideal mix of skills, knowledge, and culture add to thrive in the role. I wish you the best of luck and hope to see you as my future Dialpad colleague soon!
Q: First things first—where do you find your candidates?
A: I find my talent pool in a few different places. It’s a combination of employee referrals through our in-house referral program, job seekers that come in through job boards or our career page, and sourcing candidates through LinkedIn. The latter is a valuable resource for me to do a more targeted search and identify qualified candidates who may or may not be looking.
Q: You found a candidate. Now what?
A: If a job candidate is interested, I’ll add them into Greenhouse, which is our applicant tracking system. From there, it starts with scheduling a call… and that’s where Dialpad comes in. You can make the call through Dialpad, which I love because it can write up a meeting transcript for me so I don’t forget anything:
In addition to going over some interview questions, my goal on that first call is to get to know someone well enough to see if they might be a good employee. Other areas I cover include company culture and what to expect during the hiring process.
To keep in touch, I’ll let the candidate know that they can text or call my Dialpad number if they have any questions or need anything. I’ll get back to them faster than if they email me. A lot of us on the team use Dialpad for texting, calling, and video calling, which is very handy:
Next, if everything goes well, I’ll set up a video call with the hiring manager. Further information about the job posting will be shared at this stage, and the candidate will have a chance to ask questions.
When it comes to getting together, it’s always easier to text or call (which I can do through Dialpad) than to email back and forth. The interview team and I will talk about the candidate’s feedback and decide if they want to move forward with an offer after the interview process is over.
If the hiring manager says yes, I’ll text the candidate on Dialpad to set up a time to talk. This is a good chance to check in and see if they have any more questions or concerns. It’s also a good time to find out how they’re feeling in general and make sure they had a good experience. During this call, I’ll also request references and touch upon compensation again to ensure we have alignment.
If you’re interested, I’ll set up a video call with you so I can show you what the deal is all about as soon as I’m ready to make it official. This helps a lot when I talk to them about the equity part and what it might be worth based on how well the company does and what analysts say about the industry. I’ve found that sharing a picture through Dialpad really helps candidates understand what their pay package is really worth:
And if all goes well and the candidate accepts, HR will connect with them to start onboarding. Before they start, they’ll get information about being a new employee, such as what to expect and how to meet the other people they’ll be working with.
Q: How do you keep track of all your candidate communications?
When I talk to candidates, I love how easy and convenient it is to have all of these different ways to communicate on one platform. Dialpad gives me that. In previous jobs, I had to use different platforms and was constantly bouncing back and forth.
Dialpad takes away the need to do this and instead streamlines my hiring process. This saves me time and makes it easier to keep track of all the details because they are all in one place. It’s also very easy to find old messages—all I have to do is type in someone’s name, and everything is right there.
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