I applied through university. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Alarm.com (Vienna, VA) in Oct 2012
Interview
I first heard about the company through an on-campus information session. During that session, I met an HR representative along with a few of my school's alumni who are currently at the company. The HR rep was very friendly and collected my resume on the spot. A few days later, I received an email from Alarm.com stating that I can skip on-campus first round interviews and advance into the second round interview at their office in Vienna.
The company was very accommodating to my schedule when booking the second round interview, and booked me a nice hotel and flight (with reimbursement for food and cab fare) for the trip to Vienna. The on-site interview lasted an entire day, with six 45 minute one-on-one interviews and a one hour lunch with some employees and other interviewees in the middle of the day. The interviewers were either current MDPs or senior-level employees. They all asked questions about my previous work experiences, why I want to work at Alarm.com, and ended each interview with a brain teaser. The brain teasers were all unique and fairly challenging, but the interviewers were all supportive and willing to guide me through them. Every individual I encountered during my day at the office was very friendly and demonstrated a genuine enthusiasm for the company.
The day after my on-site interview, I received an email stating that I got a job offer. HR sent me the formal written offer soon after, and was very willing to speak to me over the phone regarding any questions I had and directed me to current MDPs whom I could talk to about job specifics and day-to-day details. The company was very willing to discuss my salary requirements, and we ended up negotiating a starting salary that both parties were satisfied with. Overall, the process went much more quickly and smoothly than I had anticipated, and I am very satisfied with Alarm.com's hiring and interviewing process.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
The brain teasers were all appropriately challenging. The interviewers made it clear that it was important for me to express my thought processes out loud, and were all willing to guide me in the right direction if they saw me struggling.
I applied through university. I interviewed at Alarm.com in Jan 2021
Interview
It was pretty straightforward and questions were all pretty general - why Alarm.com, our products, your career goals, describe past experience.
Structure: 15 min phone screening with HR, 1:1 phone call (30-45 mins), final round (4 hrs, multiple panels, written assessment).
Overall very laidback process; all the interviewers were super friendly.
I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Alarm.com
Interview
Very unprofessional. I applied to this position because Alarm.com came to my university and I was looking for a more management position verses a software engineering position. Fortunately Alarm.com was one of the few companies that did have this kind of opportunity. However, communication was horrible throughout the process (so far). Recruiter had reached out to me to schedule an initial phone interview. This took a week as he took forever to respond. Then when we did set up a time, he asked for a particular time which was difficult for me as I work full time on top of college. During the time of the call, the recruiter initially called me late and hung up on me after a couple of seconds. I try calling back a couple times and left voicemails but no response back. I emailed him as well but doesn't get back to me in a timely manner. Eventually he gets back to me and asks me to reschedule (all in a very demanding way as if I missed my phone interview). Out of the 50+ interviews/recruitment processes I have been involved, this was the most messy, unfriendly and rude one I have experienced. It would also be nice if they called me by my preferred name that I told them instead of butchering my name every time.
I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Alarm.com (Washington, DC)
Interview
First round was an HR screen, second round is a more in depth interview with other MDP associates or MDP alumni, third round is a day long on sight interview with several associates.
First round was fairly simple and non-technical. Questions like "Tell me about this experience".
Second round was a bit more challenging as it included a deep dive into your resume. There were also 1-2 round(s) of brain teasers. It's important to note that they want to see you work through the brain teasers. There is less importance on getting the right answer and more importance on staying calm and suggesting different ideas.
Third round was difficult in that it was a full work day (~8 hours) of interviews. All the interviewers were extremely kind and interested in my background. In addition to the interviews there is also a written test that you will have one hour to complete, a presentation on your background and a case study. The test is fairly simple but challenging to do in the alloted time. A few sample questions listed below. The case study is done in conjunction with another candidate (so someone you are competing against) which can tend to be a bit awkward. The presentation is on the broader parts of your background and you will have ample time to prepare it.
Overall, it was a great experience - the people were all interesting and genuinely seemed to enjoy their experience working at Alarm. The case study, while a good idea in theory, felt a bit uncomfortable for all candidates involved.
