The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Shopify (New York, NY)
Interview
My interview process started at the beginning of 2019 and ended about a month later. Here are the things that I appreciated and didn't appreciate.
Things I didn't appreciate:
1. My recruiter was quite unprofessional. They were located in west US, but the position I applied to were in Eastern Canada. Interestingly this led to my recruiter screwing up the time zone, which I thought would be a pretty basic task... in addition to that, they also tried to play it cool and act like a buddy, but they came off condescending and patronizing by asking a lot of questions in an exam-like way or a psychologist way. ("what makes you want to leave your current job, and why can Shopify keep you interested?")
2. The "Life Story" interview was strange. They claim to use this as a way to tell if someone is a cultural fit, but I saw it as a way for them to peek through your privacy window. I was deliberately leaving out personal details when I was telling my professional story, but I was asked anyway.
3. My interviewer (not recruiter) asks very open-ended questions, and because of the limited time, I picked a few aspects that I saw would be the best match for the job. After not getting an offer, I was told that those aspects are not what they were looking for. I wish he had told me, at least on a very high level, what he was looking for, so that I could tell him corresponding stories in my current work experience. Or steer the conversation into the direction he wanted with follow up questions. The product role is so versatile, it's a bit unfair to make the candidate guess the job description.
Things I did appreciate:
1. They were a clear on the interview process. I know exactly how many interviews I have left during any step of the interview process.
2. My interviewer, although I didn't enjoy my conversation with him (see above), is knowledgeable in the product space. As we talked through my product ownership experience is, he is able to ask follow-up questions that encouraged me to dig deeper into my design choices and priority considerations.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
"What makes you want to leave your current job, and why can Shopify keep you interested?"
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Shopify (Toronto, ON) in Jan 2019
Interview
Initial recruiter screening. Followed by video interviews. Unfortunately both of the managers that interviewed me were rude, dismissive, and confrontational in their style. It seems to be a stress interview approach typically used during the 1990s. The interviews seemed inexperienced and not prepared for the meeting.
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
Typical Product Management screening questions, particularly about my specific approach to product management.
Asked for a summary of my leadership experience, what I actually did, the scope of my ownership, and if I am an individual contributor or a team leader.
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Shopify (Toronto, ON) in Feb 2017
Interview
I first had a call with a PM. It was really difficult to hear them over the phone since the room they were in had lots of echo, and they sounded muffled. He also did a poor job of explaining the new initiative that they were hiring for. He didn't really ask me any questions.
Next, I met with another PM and a recruiter. With the PM, we spent half the time getting to know each other (e.g. tell me about yourself, why Shopify?) and the remaining time brainstorming about the future of e-commerce. We bounced around some ideas, and talked about implementation and debated pros/cons. With the recruiter, I shared with her my life story (something they apparently ask each hire). I thought I did a good job at both telling the story, and establishing a rapport with her.
Overall, the interviews were easy and I expected to move onto next steps. I had done much worse at other interviews and still made it forward. But then I was told I wouldn't be moving on. I asked for feedback, and was told everything was positive. They just found other candidates... which seems like BS to me.
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
What do you think the future of e-commerce is? What does it look like 5 years? What are some ideas? How could Shopfiy implement some of them?