I applied through an employee referral. The process took 1+ week. I interviewed at Opower (San Francisco, CA) in Oct 2012
Interview
All communications were done through the primary recruiter. He kept me updated and posted along the process. I was on an escalated time table and they were careful to expedite things in order to keep up with it. I had a phone screen with the Hiring manager and the recruiter, followed by an on-site interview with 4 or 5 different people in the company. One of these was done via Skype.
The company as a whole has a great culture and a great goal. The office was very similar to the typical "startup" in the area: Wide open spaces, snacks and drinks, modern looking environment. The culture seemed very collaborative and cooperative.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
A majority of the questions were culturally focused. When it came to technical questions, they tended to be mostly conceptual.
I applied online. The process took 3 months. I interviewed at Opower (San Francisco, CA) in Feb 2014
Interview
1 - Call with HR regarding career interests and position overview.
2 - Online assignment. Mostly consisting of SQL, UNIX commands/Scripting.
3 - 1 Hr Technical phone screen with hiring manager. Some programming questions, SQL concepts.
4 - Interviewed at their San Francisco office. Nice place. Onsite interview consisted of 7 rounds( depends on each individual case). Questions were a mix of Programming, SQL, Unix and other technical concepts related to the job. There were some behavioral rounds as well.
5 - Decision. Mine took around 3 weeks.
As a whole, my interview experience with Opower has been very positive. The whole process was pretty streamlined and efficient. The only issue I had was the time they take to make a decision after the onsite interview. Mine took around 3 weeks. The compensation offered was good for the area(San Francisco). The benefits were pretty good though. But, it was a frustrating wait for me. Ultimately I had to reject their offer because I got a much better offer from another company within this 3 week time frame. But, I think they take their time in making a decision because they want to make sure to hire the best performing candidates.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
They wanted to know more about my work experience and how I functioned in a team environment and as an individual player.