I completed six interviews total including a phone screen, portfolio presentation, hiring manager interview, and a series of three focused interviews with different disciplines. Aside from the portfolio presentation, the interviews focused almost exclusively on "Tell me about a time when..." questions, so be sure to have a high volume of examples prepared. Time investment is quite high, and they typically reject multiple candidates after final interviews.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell me about a time when you got bad feedback on a design and had to pivot.
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at HubSpot (Cambridge, MA) in Nov 2024
Interview
I interviewed with Hubspot starting in late November 2024 into January 2025. The process was 2 months long. Hubspot was off for 2 weeks around the holidays so all-in-all they took 6 weeks to interview and provide a decision, which is way too long in my opinion. I did a half hour call with the recruiter, a 1-hour interview with the hiring manager which required a 15-minute case study, a 1-hour case study walkthrough that had to be a different project, and then THREE 45-minute behavioral interviews with different people on the same day. They got back to me two weeks later and said they went with a different candidate. The recruiter told me at the beginning of the process that they always send a feedback survey to all candidates and offer a feedback call. I didn't get either of those things. I felt this interview process was unnecessarily long and unethical.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell me about a time you received critical feedback and how you handled it.
TLDR; The interviewer never showed up
I was SO excited to interview for Hubspot! For context - at the time I got my interview I was deeply depressed in my current position and desperate to find a role where I could find joy in design again. So when I got that email from Hubspot saying I've got through to the first round interview I was ecstatic!
I prepared thoroughly, researching all different sides to the company, what excited me, where I could shine in the role. The day of the interview came. I was incredibly nervous, my palms were sweating, my stomach was doing somersaults. I joined the zoom call, still trying to calm my nerves but knowing that I did more than enough preparation. Then I get an email from the interviewer: I'm so sorry something came up, could we reschedule to the same time tomorrow?
I know how things are so no hard feelings! We rescheduled to the next day. Well the next day came, same nerves, same somersaults in my stomach. I joined the zoom room and waited. And waited some more. Well it turns out I waited the full 30 minutes (the amount of time our interview was) and the interviewer never showed up. I emailed her to check in after 5 minutes, then again at 10, and once more at 30. Did I ever hear back? Surprisingly yes! A full month later I heard back from my interviewer, with no apology and no explanation for wasting my time, only interested in rescheduling for another interview. Well at that point I'd given up entirely.
I try not to judge companies too much on their hiring processes because it's not indicative to the actual job once you're onboarded, but I experienced a level of disrespect during this hiring process that I'd never expected before.
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at HubSpot in Sept 2025
Interview
Overall, my experience interviewing with HubSpot was positive. I took part in three stages: an initial recruiter screen, a case study panel review, and a interview where I presented a different project. If I made it to the last round, there would have been an interview with non-design stakeholders.
The recruiter was absolutely lovely - friendly, transparent, and helped me prepare for each stage with clear guidance on what to expect. The interviewers themselves were kind and easy to talk to, and the conversations felt thoughtful rather than overly formal.
There was a small mix-up with Zoom links and timing before one of the interviews, which meant the session started late and I had less time than expected to present. It was handled professionally, but it did add a bit of stress on the day.
It also took around two weeks to hear back after the final interview, which left things feeling a little up in the air. Still, the overall tone of the process was respectful, and everyone I spoke with was kind and professional. I came away with a positive impression of the team and culture despite not being selected in the end.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Hubspot are big on behavioural questions in the STAR format, i.e. ‘Tell me about a time you had to balance user needs with business goals — what was the situation and what actions did you take?’”.
