Confluent Data Scientist Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process involved a tech round over the phone, followed by a case study, also on the phone. Then there was an onsite which was really weird. They reached out to schedule 5 interviews via video. I asked to split it over a couple of days, which they agreed to. The first day had 3 interviews. The first was a tech round with SQL questions on Coderpad. The second was a case study focused on using metrics to address a business problem. The third interview started to get weird. The interviewer said they'd do a case study and asked me to open Coderpad. I typed in a schema and wondered if it was the same as the first round. I voiced over the question and asked them to type it in. They pasted something with prompts that read 'Do not show to candidate'. I started solving it, thinking it might be a different angle, but it was the same question as the first round. At the 42nd minute of a 45-minute round, the interviewer asked, 'Didn't you solve this before?' I said, 'Yes, kind of.' They then asked, 'Why didn't you tell me?' I wondered if it was my problem, and offered to redo it. They said someone would reach out. They did call over the phone to apologize for the mix-up and asked if I'd like to continue with the remaining 2 interviews. I agreed, hoping it wouldn't affect my candidacy, and they said they'd redo the messed-up module if I cleared other rounds. The next day, I had Interview 4 with someone I'd spoken to before. They apologized again, saying the problem was largely on their end. I asked if we could continue with the interview, but they informed me that they didn't find me a good fit and were calling it off. They apologized again for miscommunication and said they weren't planning to conduct the call but joined because it was on their calendar. I then hung up.

I was initially contacted by a recruiter from Confluent on LinkedIn. After a phone call, we decided to proceed. However, scheduling was quite rigid, with both interviews set for Friday at 10 pm IST. The recruiter's communication after the last interview on May 20 was extremely disappointing. Despite my follow-ups, I received no response, which felt disrespectful given the late-night slots I accommodated. This lack of courtesy and transparency has left me with a very negative impression of Confluent's recruitment process in India.

I interviewed with Confluent twice for two different roles. The first time, I got ghosted after two rounds. I interviewed again for a different role after a recruiter reached out about 6 months later. I completed another two rounds before getting ghosted again and was told a month later the role would be outsourced. It was unprofessional.