I applied online and was contacted by a recruiter for an initial call. My background and experience were not aligned with the role, so we did not proceed to the next round.
Unfortunately, the interview experience was not very positive. The recruiter was late to the scheduled call, and the communication style felt somewhat one-sided and pushy rather than collaborative. I would have appreciated a more balanced and respectful conversation.
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 4 months. I interviewed at Databricks in Apr 2021
Interview
The recruiting and interviewing process was one of the most thorough and meticulous I have ever experienced. It was also one of the best run and kindest - yes kindest.
It was about 4 months from first contact from a recruiter to the official hiring. Part of that delay was on me and my availability. The initial vetting included a meeting with the hiring manager to discuss the role, and a technical interview to confirm my background. Following that was an at-home coding test. You could take unlimited time to return the work - I timeboxed it and crunched it out in a weekend. Following that was a full day including a technical presentation to the team to confirm presentation, teaching, and soft skills, followed by additional interviews with about 6 team members.
The entire time I felt welcomed by people who were like me, and took sincere interest in me. They were flexible to accommodate my schedule, and followed up on all my questions and concerns. This was also by far, the most diverse, strategic-minded, and exceptional technical interview panel I have every encountered, and that was wonderful.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
The coding exercise included all aspects of python, spark, and sql within a Databricks notebook, as well as some ML. The technical presentation was on a subject of your choice.
Multiple rounds of interview , take home assessment was not very tough . But panel presentation round was tough , it seems they want candidate who can wow them even though all rounds went fine .
I go the first phone call which went pretty well. Then I passed a first panel round on simple architecture. Did first round technical round, but never heard back again.