I interviewed at Fidelity Investments (Merrimack, NH)
Interview
The scheduling process was smooth, and communication before the interview was prompt and professional.
Unfortunately, the recruiter screening was not a positive experience. The conversation felt more like a terminology check than an opportunity to discuss my actual experience. I also found the interview style to be more confrontational than conversational.
One aspect I found particularly frustrating was that several questions were repeated multiple times even after I had answered them. For example, when asked about stakeholders, I explained that I worked closely with the Editorial team, who were key business stakeholders in my organization and heavily involved throughout the project lifecycle. Despite providing that explanation, I was asked essentially the same question multiple times without any clarification as to what additional information was being sought. This became distracting and made it difficult to maintain the flow of the conversation.
Similarly, when asked about integration testing, I answered based on how my previous company categorized testing activities. Looking back, much of my work involved validating interactions between systems, APIs, and data flows, but I wasn't given an opportunity to elaborate before being told I wasn't the right fit.
I believe the interview process would be stronger if recruiters asked follow-up questions to better understand a candidate's experience rather than relying primarily on specific terminology. This would provide a more accurate assessment of candidates from different industries and organizations.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
I explained that my background is primarily in QA and end-to-end testing. I answered based on how my previous company categorized testing activities and initially said I didn't have dedicated experience in integration testing. Looking back, much of my work involved validating interactions among systems, APIs, and data flows, but I didn't have the opportunity to elaborate on it during the conversation.
The recruiter appeared to rely heavily on specific terminology rather than exploring equivalent experience through follow-up questions, which made it difficult to demonstrate how my background aligned with the role.