Too many steps, three separate technical interviews, each requiring LeetCode-style problem-solving and a full system design discussion. The process feels overly complex and repetitive. On top of that, it’s not even clear which specific position I’m actually being interviewed for, which makes it difficult to prepare effectively or understand what the expectations are. The lack of transparency and the heavy interview load make the entire experience unnecessarily exhausting.
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Datadog (Paris) in May 2020
Interview
The recruiter contacted me directly for a Data Engineer position.
I did the following interviews in order :
- Programming interview on Zoom and Coderpad : two fairly simple programming exercises to do
- Take-home project : Simple project on how to retrieve data from HTTP link and compute top 25. The company requires you to do as if you were working on a real project (so with code, documentation, unit tests, code formatting), and asks you what you could improve. They tend to be picky on this one, so make sure you did everything right
- Design interview : they will ask you to design an architecture for a precise application.
- Coding interview: same as interview #1 but with only one problem to solve and a lot of tricky cases to handle
- Fit interview with a Director
The recruiter contacted me after the 3 last interviews and told me I was rejected because of my performance in the design interview. She did not go into detail on why I was rejected which I thought was frustrating.
I spent one month on this process, and even if it was a waste of time, this is not what I am the most angry about.
If you want to be demanding with the candidate, it is perfectly fine, but you have to give a proper feedback. You may have a candidate that has spent the month on this process and did not even get a good feedback on why he was rejected.
I would advise other candidate to avoid applying for this company, they are obviously very aware that they are an interesting company and use this power to just dispose of candidates as they would do with paper towels !
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Implement a function that checks if a pattern matches a word
I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Datadog (New York, NY) in May 2022
Interview
The interview process was a little long but they were incredibly friendly, helpful and motivated. They were very interested in getting to know me while also helping me understand more about the role and teams.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Efficiently Working with Data
Data Structures & Algorithms Style Questions
I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at Datadog
Interview
First round with recruiter - a few behavior questions and resume
Second round with 2 engineers - 15 mins on resume, past projects, 45 mins for 2 coding challenges
Third round - take-home assignment
I did not do well at 2nd round but they still offered me 3rd round b/c what I am doing at my current role is very similar to the role they are recruiting for.
My submission for take-home assignment did not meet their expectation. However they got back to me with detailed feedback.
In all, an interview process with great experience, even though I did not make it in the end :)
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Classical dynamic programing
Smart linear interpolation (doesn't seem to exist in Leetcode)
Thanks for taking the time to write a review about your positive experience interviewing at Datadog. We appreciate the time and energy that you've invested in our process and we wish you the best of luck in your job search. Hope we have a chance to reconnect with you in the future!
Best wishes,
-Your Tech Recruiting Team
