I applied through a recruiter. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at DigitalOcean in July 2023
Interview
It was super smooth, I had 5,6 virtual interviews, no assessments, no onsite visit. Every interviewer was punctual, prepared and full of energy. They were flexible and gave me enough buffer time between interviews, and considered my availability.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
They needed strong technical knowledge and strong reasons to join DO.
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 6 weeks. I interviewed at DigitalOcean (New York, NY) in Jan 2016
Interview
I was introduced to DigitalOcean by a series of introductions through people I used to work with. It began with an email intro and exchange of text messages between the Director of Recruiting and I during the slow Thanksgiving - Xmas holiday season. Eventually things were sorted out and I began a series of phone screens.
First screen with the Director of Recruiting (45 minutes) dove into my previous recruiting experience. Next up was another screen (30 minutes) with the recruiting lead. Both were fairly casual conversations if you've ever had a phone screen with other recruiters. After a few days of deliberation on their end they invited me to a series of Google hangouts. I was still in San Francisco at this time, so it made sense. I had to reschedule that first round of hangouts -- probably for the best. I was going to be in NY the next week, so I'd be able to meet everyone in person.
I arrived at DOs HQ in Soho a day or two after my cross-country flight to NY. Their coordinator greeted me and had me order a lunch to be ready for a break in between meeting everyone. I then had a 1:1 with the Brand Design Manager. Fairly straight-forward interview about my experience working with previous hiring managers and recruiting designers.
Next up was a group interview with two Technical Recruiters who dove deeper into my partnership with hiring managers, what I look for, how I recruit, and all the other fun recruiter-recruiter questions. I then met with the VP of People and we had a high-level conversation about each other's experience and where DO is/going. At some point in the mix I had a super casual lunch with the two coordinators. We intro'd each other, talked about NY, how they liked DO -- very much a cultural add interview.
I came back into the office a few days later to connect with the Director of Recruiting who was out of office previously. Later that week I had two separate hangouts with the recruiters I interviewed with and was scheduled for two more with the co-founders (CPO + CEO).
The recruiters checked in immediately (nice job recruiters!) after my hangouts with the co-founders to see how it went on my end. Turns out the People Team had an off-site while this was going on and that's the reason for a slight delay in communication. A few days after the final hangout the Director of Recruiting and VP of People reached out to make an offer for me to join.