Recruitment process
maart 2023It’s our people, the “Trusties” who work here, who make Trustpilot such a special place to work. We want to continue to build our team with amazing people, who are not only awesome at their jobs but are motivated by our values, excited by our mission, and ready to build on our culture.
We have a structured interview process designed for us to get to know you, assess your skills and experience, and understand what you can bring to the team — and for you to learn more about the opportunity and decide if Trustpilot is the right place for you. We know this is an important decision and want to get it right.
As each role is unique, the process will differ slightly based on the needs of the role, but generally the process will have the following steps.
Need any adjustments? If at any stage during the process, you feel that you would benefit from any adjustments, just let us know and we’ll do everything we can to accommodate.
Application review
One of our Talent Acquisition Specialists will review your application with the hiring team to decide who to progress to the next stage. We’ll be back in touch with an update as soon as we can!
Not the perfect fit right now? That happens, but it doesn't mean it's a no forever. There are lots of reasons we may decide to go with other candidates to address specific business needs at that time, but do keep an eye out for other opportunities that come up. There may be something else that’s even better for you in the future, and we'd love to hear from you again.
Discovery call
This will be an initial call with the Talent Acquisition Specialist to discuss the role in further detail. They will be interested to hear more about your experience and how this relates to the role you’re applying for at Trustpilot. They’ll also be interested to find out what drew you to the role and Trustpilot in general, and why you’d be a good fit for this opportunity.They'll be able to give you more information about the role and life at Trustpilot, along with answers to any initial questions you have. Finally, they’ll also let you know what to expect from the process and when you can hear back.
Interviews
Every role is unique so we tailor the process each time, but generally, you can expect a 2-3 stage interview process. Over these stages we’ll be assessing both your ability to do the job, and how you’ll add to our culture — both are equally important to us. The interviews will consist of a mix of technical and behavioral competency questions. Our values are really important to us, so these will also feature heavily during the process and will be key assessment criteria for us.Cognitive and behavioral assessment
After the first interview, we’ll ask you to complete a short cognitive and behavioral assessment. The cognitive assessment will assess how quickly you pick up and process information and the behavioral assessment indicates your workplace behaviors. These assessments are short and give us more insight into how you like to work and learn — you can think of them as tools we use to set up prospective and current employees for success. We’ll give you more information about them at the time. We can also make reasonable adjustments, so chat to your Talent Acquisition Specialist if you feel you may benefit from this.Feedback after the interview
Following each of your interviews, the Talent Acquisition Specialist will be in touch to see how you found it and let you know about the next steps. Depending on how many other interviews are booked, they will either be able to give you full feedback and a decision about the next step or let you know when you should expect to receive this. Either way, they’ll check in and share any updates.We understand that waiting to hear back can be nerve-racking, so we’ll always get back to you as soon as we can. In the meantime, if you have any questions you can always reach out to your Talent Acquisition Specialist.
Offer and onboarding
Woohoo, the final stage! Following all the interview rounds, our team will review the feedback and decide on their successful candidate. If this is you, the Talent Acquisition Specialist will let you know all the details of the offer. If you decide to accept, we’ll be busy getting everything ready to welcome you to the team and get you up to speed with all things Trustpilot and your new role.The interview is a chance for you to get to know us, and for us to get to know you. Over the different stages, you’ll get to meet a number of people from the team, and learn more about Trustpilot and the opportunity you’re applying for. Typically, interviews are about an hour long and you’ll meet with 1-3 people.
The interview team will have a set of questions to learn more about your skills and experience. They will spend time discussing your previous experience and deep dive into specific examples aligned with the requirements of the role. Through their questions, they will be aiming to understand more about your previous experience, how you manage situations, and what you will bring to the role and the team.
Over the course of the interview process we’ll be assessing:
- Can you do the job?
- How do you like to work?
- Do you align with our values?
- What can you bring to Trustpilot?
- Are you excited about working with us?
- What motivates you?
Competency-based questions
These are questions assessing the key technical and behavioral skills required for the role.Here’s an example of a competency-based question: Describe a situation that demonstrates your skill in building and using effective relationships and networks.
Value-led questions
These are questions to assess how you align with our values and will help build on our culture. You can read up on our Values on our careers site.Here’s an example of a value-led based question assessing our 'Open to All' value: What is your approach to understanding the perspectives of colleagues from different backgrounds?
We tailor the process for each role so your Talent Acquisition Specialist will give you more specific information about what will be covered at each stage and how to best prepare.
Tasks
Sometimes there may also be a task that we ask you to complete. For example, technical roles may have the option to complete a code test and other roles may have to prepare a case study to present back during the interview. These tasks will be directly related to the role and an opportunity to showcase your skills and expertise. Again, your Talent Acquisition Specialist will give you all of the information you need and ample time to prepare.Format
Currently, most of our interviews are virtual, but some may be face-to-face depending on where you and the interview team are based. Your Talent Acquisition Specialist will be there to help you coordinate either way. We’re also able to be flexible on the interview format, so just let us know if you require any reasonable adjustments at any stage of the process and we’ll always do our best to accommodate.What to wear
We’re fairly relaxed at Trustpilot and don’t have a strict dress code. As long as it’s workplace appropriate, whatever you're most comfortable and confident in is perfect.Remember
We understand that interviewing is a two-way street and you need to be sure this is the right next step for you, so come prepared with everything you want to ask. We love questions so make sure to ask everything you want to know.Finally, remember this is your opportunity to tell us all the amazing things about you and what you’ve achieved. Don’t be afraid to blow your own trumpet — this is your time to shine!
After the first stage interview, we will ask all candidates to complete a cognitive and behavioral assessment. These are short assessments that you complete in your own time. The results give us more of an insight into your natural workplace behaviors and how you learn and process information. We can also make reasonable adjustments if needed, so just let us know and we'll be more than happy to do what we can.
The cognitive assessment
The cognitive assessment takes around 12 minutes to complete. It’s not an IQ test, rather it assesses cognitive agility and gives insight into how you learn, adapt, and grasp new concepts. The questions span three categories: numerical, abstract, and verbal and the aim is to answer as many as possible in the given time. Don’t worry — there are practice questions you can take beforehand so you’ll know exactly what to expect and have all the information you need.The behavioral assessment
The behavioral assessment takes around 6 minutes to complete and measures your motivating drivers and workplace behavior. It’s an EFPA-certified instrument and gives us more of an insight into you and how you like to work. During the assessment, you will be presented with a list of adjectives and asked to select the ones that you feel describe the way you are expected to act by others and then those which you feel best describe you. Remember there are no wrong answers, it’s a tool that helps us set up prospective and current employees for success through individual coaching and training. You’ll be sent a copy of your results once you’ve completed it — they’re usually quite interesting, so let us know what you think when you see them.Why do we ask you to complete an assessment?
The assessments give us more information about you, particularly how you like to work and your natural workplace behaviors and strengths along with how you grasp new information and concepts. Trustpilot is a collaborative and dynamic business so we want to find the people that will thrive in our environment. We use the results in the recruitment process to build a better picture of you and inform some of the interview questions, as well as onboarding and development when you join. They’re one of many data points we use to help us make an offer decision and will always be considered alongside all of the other information we have collected through the recruitment process.We understand the sound of an assessment may be daunting but please don't worry, your Talent Acquisition Specialist will give you all the information you need and answer any questions.
Prepare examples
Start by reading through the job description to understand what is required for the role and consider how your experience relates to this. Think about what questions the interviewer may ask and what examples you can use to illustrate your answers. Prepare a bank of relevant examples that you can confidently talk through and consider how you can relate them to specific questions.Use the STAR technique to answer questions
The STAR method is an interview technique that gives you a straightforward format you can use to tell a story by laying out the Situation, Task, Action and Result. Using these four components to shape your answer, makes sure your responses are concise and well articulated.Situation: Introducing the situation to set the scene and provide context
- What happened?
- How did this come about?
- Who was involved?
- What was the main issue?
Task: Describing the tasks, what needed to be done, and why
- What were your responsibilities in the situation?
Action: Explaining the exact actions taken
- What did you do first?
- How did the person/situation respond?
- What did you do next?
Result: Describing the end result and the realized benefits
- What were the outcomes of the actions you took?
Do your research
During the interview, the team will be keen to know why you are interested in Trustpilot and what you know about the company — so it pays to do your research. This may include things like what we do, our mission, our values etc. Our company website is a great place to start, you can also look at places like LinkedIn, annual reports and news articles etc. to get a broader view.This research will not only impress the team, but will help you understand more about what we do, and what we stand for so you can decide if you are interested in joining us on our mission.
Prepare questions to ask
At the end of an interview, the interviewers will ask you if you have any questions. Questions are a perfect opportunity for you to find out more about the opportunity and help you decide if it's a good fit for you. They also indicate to the interviewers whether you are genuinely interested in the position so it's definitely worth having some prepared.Be you!
At Trustpilot, we want to build a strong feeling of belonging for everyone who works with us. A place where you don’t feel like you have to fit in, you can just be your awesome self and are empowered to do the best work of your life. We celebrate our differences, and value what makes us unique, so be sure to showcase your authentic self during the interview and help us get to know the real you.Set the scene and test your technology.
If your interview is going to be virtual, make sure you’re in a quiet, comfortable place with good internet connectivity and lighting. Test the link for the video call and confirm your camera and microphone are working.