Dapper Labs Interview Questions
& Process

My interview at Dapper Labs was pretty thorough. It started with a chat with a recruiter, then went into some tech and job-specific interviews, then a practical test, and finally some discussions about values. They wanted to see if I had the skills and if I'd fit in, and the recruiters were good about keeping me updated. It felt professional and they were supportive.

This was a great interview process. About 5 rounds, spaced out over a month, each with different difficulty levels. It went like this: first, a 15-min video call with a recruiter to chat about the role and your background. Then, a 30-45 min video call with the hiring manager to dive deeper into the position and your experience. After that, a take-home exercise where you had 6-8 hours to build an app using the NBA Top Shot API. Next, a 2-hour live coding session with two engineers to add features to the app, with time for technical questions at the end. Finally, a 30-minute values interview with someone from another team, discussing your background to see if you align with their values. Companies should look at this method. It takes a bit longer but shows if a candidate is persistent and manages time well.

First there was an HR call, then a take home assignment. After that, I had a technical talk with 2 engineers and a system design interview. Then a values interview and an interview with the hiring manager. Finally, a logistics call. I got a verbal offer, and they said a written offer would come soon. After a week, a new recruiter called with the verbal offer again and told me to wait. A week later, I emailed them about the offer, but got no reply. After more emails, they told me they couldn't offer the position, with no explanation. I emailed everyone I interviewed with to understand why, as the feedback was great and they were still hiring. The response was weird: they thought I'd be a good fit for a team but then decided not to hire anyone for that team. I didn't follow up after that.

My experience with Dapper started out great; however, as things progressed, it began to feel a bit impersonal and not all that considerate. In total, there were 6 calls over 2.5 months. I thought all of them went fairly well (at least that was my impression after being advanced multiple rounds over multiple weeks)... but there was at least a 5 week gap between the last time I spoke with anyone on the hiring team (and 7~8 weeks since I spoke with the actual hiring manager) before receiving a form rejection letter, so I suspect recency bias came into play. Throughout the process, I was assuming the more rounds I cleared, the more the pool was being winnowed; however, in hindsight, it felt like Dapper was on autopilot and may have been moving more people through *all* the rounds than they should have (unfortunate) before making a decision based on rationale which was not provided. Looking back on things, I believe the team should have been more rigorous in vetting and filtering candidates in earlier rounds. The process could have been more compact, thorough, and tighter overall (as the person in this role would be attempting to do w/ their ops). In any case, my personal experience felt like being invited aboard a rocket ship — only to become a fuzzy and forgotten memory — to be lightspeed leapfrogged by newer, fresher candidates. It did not feel, to me at least, like a fair and objective process. Pity because I was dedicated, heavily invested, and raring to go. I received a survey about my experience only after the first round of the process. I think it would make more sense if I received it at the end of the process. Also, I hope Dapper is taking meaningful steps in becoming a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive company, going beyond simple statements "welcom[ing] people of all backgrounds... to apply." Interviewing qualified, diverse candidates is one thing; hiring them is another.