I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Surfline\Wavetrak (Huntington Beach, CA) in Mar 2018
Interview
Overall, a smooth interview process. Phone screen, another call with the hiring manager, an at home project assignment and then a final onsite interview. In regards to the assignment; Personally, I am happy to complete these types of assignments to showcase my work, however, when I received the instructions, I realized that this actually included 4 separate projects. (1. Analyzing Surfline product performance 2. Provide two new product proposals with business insights 3.) Provide a formal analysis of a product that you use 4.) Provide a comparative analysis between two new Surfline products.
This is quite a bit of work to ask of a candidate. I believe that Surfline could have got just as much (if not more) out of asking me to complete one of these projects.
When it came to the interview, only one person asked about the project, so I am not sure how much of an impact this had on the decision making process.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Pretty standard interview questions. (Why are you interested in working here? Describe you management style etc...)
I applied online. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Surfline\Wavetrak (San Diego, CA) in Apr 2025
Interview
The interview process was overall positive, although quite long/drawn out, consisting of 5 interviews total, including an assignment. I was impressed with each member of the team that I got a chance to meet, as everyone was very thoughtful and intentional with the way they conducted interviews--from the first HR screening to the last session with the CEO, I felt my time was respected and appreciated. Unfortunately it didn't work out in the end, which caught me a bit off guard after the feedback and communication I received along the way. However, I have a deep respect for the way the Surfline team handled the process: they reached out in person and provided extremely thoughtful and thorough feedback, which was valid and also constructive.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How do you balance investing in new features and innovation with addressing technical debt or platform stability? Can you share an example of how you've prioritized between the two?
I applied online. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Surfline\Wavetrak in Jan 2022
Interview
Lengthy interview process with 5 total rounds. 1st round is with recruiter, 2nd with hiring manager, 3rd is a case study project, 4th with two members on the team, and 5th was a panel that was 2 hours long. After each interview I was told I would be moving to the next round immediately. When getting to the 5th round, the questions were very behavioral. Overall, the process was very time consuming just to be told at the end they wanted someone with more experience.
