While I appreciate the opportunity to interview, I encountered several issues that I believe warrant attention:
1 Interview Preparation:
◦ There was no initial call with the recruiter to discuss interview expectations.
◦ The preparation document provided did not accurately reflect the actual interview content, which the hiring manager acknowledged as an error.
2 Communication:
◦ Following the virtual on-site interviews, there was a two-week period of silence despite my follow-up emails.
◦ After an additional interview was requested and completed, I experienced a complete lack of communication for four weeks.
3 Overall Experience:
◦ The lack of consistent communication and follow-up has been disappointing, especially considering Databricks' reputation in the tech industry.
◦ This experience falls short of the professional standards I would expect from a company of Databricks' caliber.
I respectfully suggest that improving these aspects of the recruitment process would greatly enhance the candidate experience. Specifically:
• Ensuring accurate pre-interview information
• Maintaining regular communication with candidates
• Providing timely feedback or status updates post-interview
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Typical EM questions - behavioral interviews and system design.
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Databricks (San Francisco, CA) in Feb 2026
Interview
Standard interview process; but you need to get yes in all of them. System design was hardest. Even if you get green light from everyone, the packet needs to get approved by the hiring committee, and will need references from your current/prior companies.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
leadership & vision, system design, hiring, team management, etc.
I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at Databricks (Amsterdam) in Aug 2025
Interview
Interview process significantly broken and unpleasant.
I interviewed for an EM role in Amsterdam. 'System-programming' interview question was more appropriate for a 2-3 hours home-assignment than for a 1-hour interview. Surprisingly I passed. Management skills interviewers seemed openly antagonistic. Cut me every few words; Where evidently not really listening. Between the lines it seemed their culture is extremely focused on the tactical and short-term, with zero tolerance for any type of medium or high-level leadership.
In general, it felt like they were not interested in my skills at all, and were just going through the motions of the process. Ultimately got ghosted.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
SD: Design an object-store system. A highly simplified version of Amazon S3.
HM interview, panel presentation with directors and staff engs, and then several rounds of technical competency and architecture. It was well organized but a little stiff. They encourage you to have other offers and prefer candidates who are still in their current roles.
