Application:
I was sourced by a recruiter, and the process took 8 weeks.
Interview Process:
There were several issues with the interview process and company practices that left were lacking, considering the time and effort I, like others, invested in applying for the role.
First Round Interview:
Acasual 45-minute chat with a technical lead.
Second Round Interview:
This round involved a presentation and a technical challenge with the following structure:
- 15-20 min presentation on a relevant topic
- 10-15 min questions on the presentation
- 15 code review (see below)
- 20 min general questions from both yourself and Olio
(Step 3) During the third stage, the technical interviewer (who was serving notice) questioned my approach. I explained that the task could be completed in a different way, yet my approach seemed to upset the outgoing interviewer. Despite explaining the time constraints (due to preparing a presentation, dashboards, and code while maintaining a full-time job), the interviewer pressed for clarification. I had documented the approach step by step, and if the interviewers had been adequately prepared and reviewed the outputs, expectations could have been clarified ahead of time. I submitted the documentation 10 days before the interview.
I then asked questions about technical debt, and the response I received was, "I have been here for a year and I don't understand what my predecessor has done; either my predecessor is a genius or stupid." I then inquired about how the role would evolve and direct reports, to which the response was, "we will figure it out." A hard stop on the hour meant any further questions would be answered offline, which I followed up with in a note.
After the second interview ended in a farcical manner, I provided feedback to the recruiter. It was suggested to do another interview with a technical lead. However, given the time expended, the interview should have been rescheduled and having already spoken with the technical lead in the first-stage interview, and sharing my GitHub etc., this suggestion made no sense.
After 10 days passed with no communication, I was informed second-hand with vague feedback. The gist was that I needed "hand-holding." Pressing for more detail, this was attributed to the follow-up questions I had asked, as the second interview did not have sufficient time to cover these questions. It suggested I should already know the level of technical debt and tech stack in place.
So, I say all this to provide feedback for future recruiting processes:
- Be clear in what you are looking for; a BI Analyst is not the same as a Database Engineer, with similar skill sets but very different functions and exposure.
- Communicate with transparency; do not give loose and broad language i.e., "take as long as you need," but then state "we need this before Christmas" in subsequent communication. Another example is stating, "this is not a showcase of knowledge," yet requiring the technical assessment to be prepared in a specific way.
- Be organised; never have an outgoing member of staff conduct a technical interview, as it is unprofessional and awkward for all involved, and the bias is clear.
- Lead; if a situation is pointing south and verging on unprofessional, actually reset the situation and reschedule the interview, and secondly, stand on your word.
- Empathy; it seems lost on the hiring process that people have full-time roles and invest considerable time in such processes. The very least is to respond to each candidate at this stage. To ignore an individual lacks empathy and respect for the individual.
Considering my deep passion and respect for OLIO's mission, my extensive preparation for this interview, and my more than satisfactory work experience, I was surprised to receive no formal feedback.
I am disappointed to discover that the values promoted by OLIO on their website may not fully align with the company's actual practices. It appears unethical to advertise a position, consistently change the goalposts without knowing what you are looking for, and have an outgoing employee conduct the interview, which consumes significant preparation time and effort for external candidates and is a waste of internal resources. If my application was deemed unsatisfactory, I believe a more constructive approach would be to provide honest, specific feedback rather than leveraging informal communications to deliver a message.
I hope this feedback fosters a more transparent and respectful interview experience for future candidates.
