I applied online and got a technical phone screen set up. The problem was simple to solve brute force and didn't require much more thinking to solve optimally. However, for some reason, the interviewer felt I didn't know what I was talking about and began grilling me with questions about my solution. I answered all of them correctly, but he was still skeptical, so he asked me to implement one of the data structures used in my solution. The interviewer had indicated previously that this was to be a warmup question, but due to the follow-up questions, we never ended up getting to anything complex or interesting. I just ended up getting yelled at to explain basic syntax and data structure concepts. I don't understand where the interviewer's arrogance came from considering I have work experience at top companies and a degree from a top school, and I answered all his questions satisfactorily. He even said my solution was correct and optimal after I explained everything to him. It's a shame that the interviewer was so arrogant - Databricks sounded like an awesome company and I would have loved to learn more about it.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
For each index, find the minimum element within k indices prior to that index.
Apologize that your experience was not the greatest, we will check into this and make sure our phone interviews don't come across as a negative experience. Our process isn't perfect yet and we are working on making it better which is normal at a startup, but we do want to make sure everyone has a positive experience with us. Appreciate your feedback.
I applied online. The process took 1+ week. I interviewed at Databricks (San Francisco, CA) in Aug 2015
Interview
Very efficient process. After a phone interview with the head of marketing and two other team members, I met in person with 8 others in the SF office. Office was very nice and centrally located in downtown SF. I appreciated the ability to meet each person individually as it enabled me to better understand each person's role, background, priorities, and work styles. It also enabled me to validate information and ensure everyone was on the same page. Each interviewer was very personable, organized, and asked quality questions.
The thorough process gives me confidence Databricks will carefully vet additional team members as the company grows. If you interview with Databricks, you will immediately notice how smart and motivated each interviewer is. They want team members who are excited about the mission and see the opportunity. The CEO was very personable, asked fundamental questions on driving revenue, and drilled into the "how" and "why" to ensure I possessed both know-how, hands-on capability and was a good cultural fit.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Based on what you know about the company where do you see the low hanging fruit ?
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Databricks (San Francisco, CA) in May 2015
Interview
The interview process at Databricks was similar to most other technical interviews at other technical companies (e.g. Google, Amazon, Microsoft, etc.). After the initial technical phone screening, the onsite interview spanned most of the day with five different interviewers (and a lunch break) on a wide range of technical and business topics.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Explain how and why you had built your Data Sciences solution (end-to-end) using Spark?