Recruiter call -
A quick 30 min call just to share more about myself and motivations. Was quite comfortable and I used this to also check if the company was a fit for me.
Team Interview -
I met the hiring manager (HM) and someone from a different team. Questions centred around working style and how I approached problems, and what resources I reach out to when I get stuck. I also asked about what sort of working culture the team had (collaborative and open comms) and what sort of candidate would be a dealbreaker (someone too structured and uncomfortable with working independently). Received very honest responses, and from there I was told to wait for the next reply which would come with a take home.
Technical Assessment - I was given 2 take home assignments to do, an API integration and a drop-in integration (can be found on Adyen’s Github); with the latter being something I could try my hand at. The HM was very helpful and provided clarifications for any uncertainty I had. Because he wanted to speed up the process, he indicated to focus more on the API integration test. Being my first take home technical assignment for a job and on an area that I had not learnt before, I was nervous at first but was pleasantly surprised that with some youtube tutorials + adyen docs + feedback/clarification from the HM, I manage to complete and present it more confidently than I initially thought. Bonus: I added API testing as another tool in my skillset.
Interview with President APAC -
Going into my interview with Warren, I did not know what to expect, and the session ended up with me asking him questions throughout. I managed to ease some of the uncertainties I had about culture, and when I said that I might want to be a software engineer in the future, I still remember him telling me that I could aim for whatever role I wanted; in Adyen you own your career.
Interview with COO - This was my most nerve-wrecking interview. I got ready hours in advance, and when the interview started, my fears were unfounded. Kamran was so friendly and it was a very casual chat. I also took the opportunity to ask hard pointed questions i.e. Launching fast and iterate means you would make mistakes. To all the questions he gave very balanced responses and at the end I forgot (momentarily) that I was in a job interview.
Advice: be yourself! I could really see that they were really serious on culture. Before every interview, I decided to visualize that I was already in the company and that guided a lot of questions I wanted to ask. Read the latest shareholder letter and watch the most recent Capital Markets Day. A lot of the information inside is accurate helps give you a better understanding of Adyen.
Initial round with recruiter over call just went over position. Completed take home assessment and waited two weeks for hiring managers to grade it and reject my application. First rejection email I have ever got to include [Remove formatting and insert feedback here – e.g., “In particular, we were looking for a more structured approach to the analysis and clearer prioritization in the recommendations.”] in their reasoning.
The process was horrible. Worst experience I've got or heard of. Recruiters that do not show, don't care, are distracted, don't contact you. processes that change in the middle. tons of interviews with people that don't care and just try to look for something insignificant you said to mark you as faulty. Then you have to present a project which I did, and I managed to pass all the rounds despite all the blockings. To be rejected at the end at the C level interview with ridiculous reasoning such as "you didnt show much seniority because of XXX" so we'll promote someone internal that has no such skill or experience, but who cares... If you wanted to promote someone internal don't waste my time and be respectful. There are so many things wrong about the process that I don't know where to start. You want direct language without being rude? you have much to learn.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Adyen formula, adyen formula, adyen formula. but then, they don't even go by it. For example, we womn't people to find their ways, be direct and do the best for the role. But they will reject you if you say something that's thinking out of the box and doesn't go by the book they have.
Average initial interview with the recruiter. He didn't seem so friendly as he didn't smile once during the whole time. overall average experience only discussed about my past experience and he gave a small introduction about the company