Good interview process, mine was three stages in total. First with the Talent Acquisition Manager who asked a few questions and explained the recruitment process. The next was with my actual manager, so i got to learn more about the role and then was quizzed on my experience and at the end asked a few more technical questions. Found out quickly from each stage that i was onto the next and final one was a back to back interview, 30mins with two people and then another 30mins with two other people, this was good to help with bias but also felt myself repeating myself. Communication throughout was good on when i would hear back, and got the job offer the day after my final interview :)
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Lots of questions about my past experience and technically what i had done before, as well as a few technical questions such as how i would model data
Thank you for taking the time to leave us feedback.
Application
I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at Trainline
Interview
Initial conversation with HR was very positive. The recruiter came across quite friendly and gave a good overview of the company and interview process
First interview round was with one of the managers. The discussion covered relevant areas such as data modelling and data engineering experience. While the content of the interview was insightful and technically relevant, the session was quite rushed and heavily time constrained, which made it difficult to fully explore topics in depth. The interviewer seemed more focused in going through the full list of questions, which made the flow feel structured rather than conversational
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell me about a time where you got feedback. What did you change and why?
I applied online. I interviewed at Trainline (London, England) in Mar 2025
Interview
I had two interviews during the process.
The first was a call with a recruiter - a standard one, with typical questions about my experience.
The second interview was supposed to be a technical round, but it ended up being quite uncomfortable. Two interviewers joined the call. There was no proper introduction, just a brief "hello" before asking me to share my screen to solve some tasks. It took about 20 minutes to complete them. Only after that did they introduce themselves.
Instead of asking about my experience, the focus shifted unexpectedly to the company I was currently working for. I explained my role and responsibilities, but the interviewer commented, "You didn't sell me your company," which felt off-topic and confusing - I'm a data engineer, not a salesperson. They had my CV in front of them, but he still asked for the company name so he could "Google it." When he couldn’t find it, he asked, "Do you really work there, or did you make this up?"
At that point, I decided to end the interview, as I didn’t feel the conversation was respectful or professional. They did try to continue with a few Spark-related questions, but I had already made it clear I wasn't comfortable proceeding.
Three days later, the recruiter sent me an unexpected rejection email - surprising, given how the interview ended. Overall, it was a disappointing experience that raised concerns about the company's interview culture and professionalism.
