I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at Shopify
Interview
I interviewed before with Shopify a few years ago, and had progressed to onsite interview stage. I had nothing but positive experiences with Shopify back then, and the recruiter I worked with was extremely friendly and professional.
However, I was extremely surprised at how unprofessional the recruiter I worked with this time around was (different person!)
1. I applied for a senior software engineer role.
2. I heard from a recruiter to interview for this particular role. Was also asked if I'd consider interviewing for a senior SECURITY engineer role.
3. I made it clear that I was NOT qualified for the security role. I have never worked as a security engineer.
4. Asked to do two phone interviews consecutively, one technical and one cultural with the recruiter, ended up having to take half a day off from work.
5. Bit into technical interview, I noticed that questions all revolved around security. I asked the interviewer if I was interviewing for the security role, and the interviewer confirmed this.
6. ... why?
7. I never actually ended up interviewing for the role I had applied for and was interested in.
I felt bad for the engineer who interviewed me - I'm not a security engineer and only know basics and high level concepts. It became clear to me pretty quickly that the technical interview was a waste of time for both sides.
I'm curious as to why I was forced to interview for a role that I didn't apply for and was not qualified for - and was pressured into taking time off from my current job. If I was asked to be flexible with my time more than what could've offered, the least the recruiter could've done was to make it CLEAR to me which role I was interviewing for BEFORE the interview took place.
A no before the interview would've been perfectly fine with me - but this isn't.
I applied online. The process took 4 months. I interviewed at Shopify in Dec 2017
Interview
Recruiter call, one life story and another technical interview with hiring manager. The biggest problem is the recruiter does not reply at all for days. Took 10 days to schedule the first round and another 10 days for second round. The interviewers were always late. After that i tried to get the result or output of the previous round no answer. Just tell the candidate result let it be a NO. I am still waiting for the result. Shopify might be a good company but they need to be good at their first impression. Its so frustrating.
I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Shopify (Toronto, ON) in Sep 2017
Interview
It was great overall.
Basic process was:
* Stage 1: Email
* Stage 2: 30 min call with recruiter to discuss what I current do and why I'm interested in shopify
* Stage 3: 60 min skype call with recruiter to do the life story
* Stage 4: 60 min skype call with director to discuss the role, my background, etc.
* Stage 5: full day interview at their Toronto office:
** pair programming (pick 1 of 3 options to work on i.e. code Sudoku)
** skype call with Product Manager
** Lunch with potential team member
** pair programming (pick 1 of 3 options i.e. code four in a row)
** skype call with director
The full day at the office was amazing but long. Meeting lots of people, talking, trying to see if you fit in to the role and then the pair programming. It just takes a lot out of you I found.
The pair programming was great and lots of fun. But, I did find it hard to actually pair program. The other person isn't really there to help or discuss to much, they're trying to evaluate your coding level for the role and how you work. This makes sense but I did find it a bit hard to treat it like a normal pair programming session with a co-worker.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Not really any typical questions but lots of discussions.