After a brief call with the interviewer — who appeared extremely tired and disengaged — I was invited to complete a case study. I invested several hours into the exercise, only to be told shortly afterward by the recruiter that the company had already gone with another candidate (who hadn’t even been disclosed to the recruiter).
The way an organization manages its hiring process, and the respect it shows to candidates, is often a strong indicator of its values and long-term potential.
I applied online. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at David Energy in May 2024
Interview
Hiring manager screen, 1:1 interviews with head of sales and product, take-home assignment presentation, final round with COO.
My candidate experience was average overall but the final round with the COO was the worst interview experience I have ever had.
He joined the call 10 minutes late, didn't apologize, insisted he couldn't go past the scheduled timeframe, was very condescending and contrarian, clearly wasn't paying attention, and kept asking me repetitive questions from previous interviews.
After the interview and rejection, I felt like I'd dodged a bullet not working there. Not recommended.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Background, customer success scenarios, working cross-functionally with product
I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at David Energy in July 2024
Interview
1 tech screen, followed by an onsite consisting of 5 back-to-back interviews (4.5 hours with only 15 minutes of break after interview 3). I’ve never had such a long onsite and it was exhausting. During the behavioral rounds, there were multiple questions about how my experience doesn’t exactly align with the culture and expectations at David Energy, as if I had to have worked at a client-facing, product-oriented startup to succeed, and I had to repeatedly prove myself and justify even considering a role at David Energy. On hindsight, why even bother discrediting my past when it’s all laid out on my resume, when you could’ve reached out to a different candidate? Overall a disappointing and alienating experience.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
2 coding, 1 system design, 1 code review, 2 behavioral