Below is a guide written by Matthew Whyte, 2022 Summer Marketing Intern at HubSpot. Through interviews with recruiters at HubSpot, Matthew developed this resource to provide insight into the internship interview process and what they recommend to succeed in getting an internship. For reference, Recruiters advocate for candidates and serve as the point of contact for open roles.

HubSpot offers Marketing, Sales, People Operations, Engineering, and Associate Product Management (APM) internships. While these tips come from HubSpot’s recruiters, they could apply to interview processes at other tech companies.

Marketing - Kate Kearns

The Process

• 1st round: If you pass the resume/application review, you will be invited to record a brief asynchronous video. You will have approximately 5-6 minutes to submit a video recording wherein you answer a few prompted questions with 2 minutes for each question. This is extremely similar to the format of other platforms like Hirevue. The video will ask questions like “Tell me about yourself” or “Why are you interested in this role?”
• 2nd round: If you pass the video interview stage, you will be invited to a 30-minute phone interview with the recruiter. This is a behavioral interview to determine if you are a good fit for the company where you will answer questions like “Why HubSpot?” or “Tell me about a time you worked on a team.” 
• Final round: The recruiter will invite you to three or four 30-minute Zoom conversations with HubSpot employees across the Marketing department. Your conversations will focus on behavioral questions and how you can add to the Marketing Department's team culture. You want to be prepared to answer questions like “Why HubSpot?” or “Why Marketing?” as well as situational questions so that interviewers can gain insight into how you think. Keep in mind that these conversations are a two-way street where you are also learning more about HubSpot to inform your decision about whether or not you want to work here.

• Make sure to do your research beforehand. You want to have a good understanding of what the company does. Furthermore, avoid regurgitating the Google search results, and instead, offer your own take on the company’s services in a sentence or two. A good place to start is the Investor Relations website, which can give you an idea of how the company works.
• Be prepared for the interview. Odds are the recruiter will ask you questions like “Why this company?” or “Why this role?” so you will need to understand how you think you can make a unique contribution to the Marketing team. You need to display genuine interest in the company and be able to explain what you want to get out of the experience. 
• Keep in mind that the HubSpot marketing internship is for anyone interested in marketing. Before you start the internship, you will go through a placement process for a specific team/role that aligns with your interests and goals. The interviews are an excellent opportunity to learn about the different marketing teams and show the type of work you are aiming for. Before your interviews, research the marketing organization and some of the teams. 

• 1st round: If you pass the resume and application review, you will be invited to complete a technical assessment that will test your coding ability. These will be typical software engineering questions across tech companies testing your knowledge about the fundamentals of data structures, algorithms, and software architecture.
• 2nd round: Your recruiter will schedule a 15~30 minute phone call to discuss the role with you and ask various behavioral questions. You will also be able to ask questions regarding the company, role, timeline, etc. 
• Final round: The engineering team will host a ~ 2-hour technical interview. The 1st hour will focus on coding, while the 2nd hour is specific to back-end or front-end work. Your recruiter will schedule a preparation call beforehand to help you better understand the interview process and answer any questions you may have. 

• For software engineering, the recruiter is looking for students who are involved in extracurriculars, demonstrating that you are trying to get involved on campus. These activities can be anything that interests you, like the robotics club.
• Personal coding projects are super important, especially for those who don’t have a lot of experience. This can be something like an online tool to help you register for classes.
• The recruiter wants to see that you can adapt and learn from your mistakes. You can show this by preparing for behavioral questions like “Tell me about a time you made a mistake” or “Tell me about a time when you missed a deadline.”

• 1st round: In the first round, you have a 15~30 minute phone interview with a recruiter. This phone call will focus on fit through behavioral questions, which clue your recruiter into how you act in specific professional situations. These can be questions like “Tell me about yourself” or “Why this role?”
• Final round: You will have a video interview with the hiring manager for approximately 30 minutes~1 hour. This call will be a more in-depth version of your first round so that the manager can gather more insight into how you could add to the Sales team and your work ethic.

• You want to show that you are competitive and love to work towards goals. Athletes are a perfect example because they love to achieve goals. Additionally, competing in case competitions is another way to show that you are competitive.
• The sales team is all about being able to ask questions to identify the customers’ needs. To that end, asking thoughtful questions to the people who interview you is crucial because you can show how you approach problem-solving. 
• Sales roles are prevalent at any company, so make your responses as specific to HubSpot as possible.

• 1st round: If you pass the resume and application review, you will be invited to a call with the recruiter to assess fit. Your recruiter will schedule a 15~30 minute phone call to discuss the role with you and ask various behavioral questions. You will also be able to ask questions regarding the company, role, timeline, etc.
• 2nd round: After the first round, you will have a 30-minute phone interview with a HubSpot Product Manager. This interview will include behavioral questions.

• Final round: The recruiter will invite you to three 30-minute Zoom conversations with HubSpot employees working in the Product department. Your discussions will focus on product and behavioral questions. There will also be a case study within the second interview with topics such as defining a customer segment. 

• Doing your homework is super important, especially in APM. Whatever company you are applying for, you need to know the product as best as possible. Product knowledge shows the recruiter you are prepared and care about the product at hand. 
• Ask challenging questions in your interviews. Working in APM involves heavy problem solving that necessitates asking challenging questions to get to the solution.
• The best way to prepare to work in Product is to work on many different projects. Having various projects enables you to obtain experience from different angles at different stages of the product life cycle.

• The process follows the marketing internship recruiting process, except you will interview with People Operations employees. 

• You want to show that you have strong people skills and can interact with people. You can demonstrate this by discussing your on-campus involvement and experience in group projects.
• Be able to articulate your involvement in extracurriculars. Showcase organizational and event planning skills to demonstrate that you have strong communication skills.
• Show a natural curiosity in your resume by articulating how you’ve gotten involved in different activities. Think about how you would expand your perspective on campus.

I hope you found this interview guide helpful as you prepare for internship recruiting. You have an exciting journey ahead of you! For further advice, I have linked some additional resources that I have personally used below to help you throughout the recruiting process. 

• First Round Recruiter Interview Tip Video
• How to Best Prepare for a Job Interview Video
• STAR Method Interview Guide

Visit HubSpot's student careers page to learn more about upcoming intern and co-op opportunities.