The interview process consisted of a phone screen, an extensive project that took about a week to complete, another 45-min phone call, and a full-day onsite interview with six employees and managers. I'll start by saying that I have an extensive background in educational psychology, and I was shocked that they first rejected without even offering me a first-round interview. I was surprised when a few weeks later, I received an email out of the blue saying that they would like to set up an interview. This was my first hint that the company is extremely disorganized. Though I set up the interview, I also had reservations about this company since I have heard that they are largely a sales-driven organization and care mainly about making products that will please school districts and other administrators rather than teachers or students who actually use the product. After the initial call, I had to complete a very lengthy homework assignment where I had to design new features for their product, as well as a follow-up call about my designs.
During my final round interview in the office, I knew from the first five minutes that I would NOT want to work at this company. Three out of the six interviewers were incredibly awkward, barely gave eye contact, and could not keep a conversation going. I had to do most of the talking and I felt like I was being interrogated rather than having a conversation, unlike every other interview I've ever had at other companies. One of the six interviews was a technical interview, which I felt was unfair because they did not tell me about this even though I asked what to prepare for. I'm sure they were just trying to test my logic skills (they also gave me another tough logic puzzle), but I certainly did not perform as well as I would have with a little preparation since I did not study computer science (they advertise the product designer role as a NON-technical role). I left the interview feeling like I would not want to work with many of the people I met, nor would I want to work on the un-monumental features they told me I would be working on if I got the job.
I ended up accepting another offer before I even heard back from IXL because I was so dissatisfied by my experience. When I finally heard back, I received a very rude email from the recruiter, saying that the team decided I was not a good fit for the company. I certainly agreed.