I applied online. I interviewed at D. E. Shaw Research (New York, NY) in Apr 2023
Interview
I have applied to this company 4 times in the past few years (2020-2023), with increasingly more experience each time I apply, but I have never gotten past the application screen for a single full time position. I have no idea what they consider as qualified vs unqualified. The first time when I applied for an internship was the only time I somehow landed a first round interview (back in 2020 oddly enough when my background was very inexperienced). The interview was a bit awkward with one of the scientific associates who paused the interview a lot and posed many direct questions about me and some questions about my research project in undergrad. Since then I've not heard back a single bit of good news from their strategic growth team.
I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at D. E. Shaw Research (New York, NY) in June 2026
Interview
First round interview was a bit informal and interviewer was slightly cold/scatterbrained, but overall OK experience. Mostly questions relevant to project that they were working on and a few non-technical questions.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
At your job, with the project you're working on, why did you do things in XYZ way. How do you set up ABC system.
The communication and follow up from the recruitment team was great from the beginning. The scheduling was smooth and the interviewers were pleasant to talk to and courteous. Some common generic questions and a couple real life use cases or challenges the team was working on. Overall positive experience. However, it has been two plus weeks and I haven’t heard back yet.