D. E. Shaw India Recruiter Interview Questions
& Process

So the first round was a test where I had to think about three questions for about a minute and then speak about them for about 2-3 minutes. If I passed that, I moved on to the interview round. The interviews varied because some people got basic HR questions about their goals and their pros and cons, while others, like me, were given actual recruitment cases to solve. I had to come up with a plan to increase the number of women in the company, and also to outline the entire process of recruiting finance graduates from the top 10 business schools for 2021.

The recruitment process was quite disappointing. I went through three interview rounds, and then in the fourth interview, they stated that experience in finance-related hiring was mandatory, which wasn't clear before. Profile checks should have been part of the first screening call, making the whole process a waste of time. After being rejected, I received numerous calls for the same role from various consultants and the Deshaw team. This suggests they either lack an ATS or don't track candidate history, tarnishing their company image. Data management is fundamental for any TA team. Their actions indicate internal team issues, and joining this recruitment team could be detrimental to one's career. It's notable that this isn't the only negative review for their TA team on Glassdoor, and they haven't addressed these concerns. My advice to the Deshaw team is to sort out internal issues first, implement basic systems like an ATS, data management, and manage social media responses related to the TA team before anything else. Also, educate and provide agencies with a tracker of processed candidates, as they are causing more harm than the internal team.

I applied on the company website and got a call within a week asking about my background. After that, I was told they'd contact me in a few days. Another week passed, and then I had a phone interview with a talent acquisition consultant. This interview was very structured and focused on my leadership skills using specific behavioral questions. A week later, I had a web-based (VC) interview where they asked about my knowledge and relevant experience. Each interview lasted about 1 to 1.30 hours. It was a very tough, structured, and in-depth interview process.