I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at Shopify
Interview
Overall, the process was disorganized which I'm going to attribute to HR inexperience. For example, they didn't tell me who I'd be interviewing with for the first interview, told me the wrong city location I'd be flying into, didn't have a formal process for travel expense reimbursement (I had to ask), the person who would have been my manager interviewing me didn't even know my name or have any questions prepared, no one walked me out of the interview, they sent me a writing exercise without giving me a timeline, etc. However, everyone was friendly and responsive when I asked them for clarification, and they were quite generous in the amount of time they flew me in. I had 3 video interviews - the first was a "getting to know you" screening, the second a "life story" interview, which really just turned out to be a resume overview with the HR recruiter and then a "content strategy deep dive", which wasn't much different from a portfolio review. Then I had to do a writing exercise. After, I was brought into the office for 3 in-person interviews plus a lunch. One was called a portfolio review and one a content strategy deep dive, but they were pretty much the same thing, just with different people. They did give me the option of whether or not I wanted to present my exercise. Overall, it was tough to get a true feel for what it would have been like to work there. I could tell they were trying to do the right thing, but their process just was still in very amateur stages.
I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Shopify (Toronto, ON) in July 2015
Interview
I made it through the first round of interviews (one with a recruiter, one with the hiring manager) and both were positive experiences, no curveballs.
I was then invited into the Toronto office for a full day of interviews. I was told to "expect informal conversation-style meetings with the team." Most of the people I met with seemed great and we had good conversations about the role and about UX in general. I wouldn't have been surprised if I did or didn't get the job after talking to those people, but I still had a positive outlook on the company and the experience.
However, there was one interviewer who was very argumentative. When I'd asked others how Shopify envisioned a content strategist working closely with the marketing team, I was told that he was the person who could clarify that for me. Instead, he told me he didn't think the position needed to exist at all and tried to argue with most things I said. When not vocally challenging me, he was rolling his eyes and sighing, which led to me feeling insecure and flustered. This was mid-way through the day and it soured me so much on the experience that I wished I could leave immediately after. Another person I met with walked into the room and put his feet on the table, which also seemed disrespectful.
My biggest recommendation would be for Shopify to properly train the people who are conducting interviews so that they can be sure they're putting their best face forward to candidates. I recently interviewed for a role at Google. The process was quite similar, but I learned that Google won't let someone conduct a solo interview until they've co-interviewed several times with a more experienced colleague. This was what inspired me to write this review, because after a more challenging day and interview process, I left Google feeling confident, and it reminded me how angry and insecure I felt after Shopify.
Overall the entire Shopify experience seemed disorganized - I had to give my "life story" starting with high school to two different HR people. I was pretty certain after the interview that I didn't get the role, but that wasn't confirmed until I followed up myself a week later.
I have actively discouraged friends from applying to Shopify after my own and friends' similarly negative experiences.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
"You're going to have to prove to me why this job should exist in the first place."
"Tell me about a time you've failed. [A brief pause while I formulated and answer] Don't BS me, you've definitely failed at something."
Thanks so much for your feedback. We’re constantly looking for ways to improve our recruitment process. Interview training is something we take very seriously. Based on your feedback, it sounds like one or two of the people you met with have not been through the proper training. I apologize for the negative experience, and it’s something we’d like to look into. If you’d like to talk more I’d love to have a conversation – my email is anna@shopify.com
