Dataiku Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process started with an HR interview that went very well because I had researched the company. Then, a technical interview went very well, with two general questions to propose solutions for problems like counting letter occurrences in a sentence, while considering the solution's complexity. Next was a technical test, which was hard but I passed it, asking about 4 or 5 times the approximate duration the employer expected. This was followed by an operational interview, with feedback on the technical test, questions about my background, and discussions in both English and French. I didn't pass this stage because I didn't explain my technical test solution well and didn't highlight my past projects effectively. The final stage was a friendly HR feedback interview.

So the whole thing started with a chat with a recruiter, just to get a feel for the company, what they do, and what roles are available. I also gave them a rundown of my education and work history. Next up was a technical interview where I had to solve a coding problem. The last part was a take-home assignment. The task was to build an API that finds the shortest path between two spots, making sure to dodge any obstacles. They were looking for solutions using algorithms like Dijkstra’s or maybe A*. It wasn't just about getting the right answer and making it fast, but also about having good code quality, which meant writing clean, easy-to-maintain code, adding unit tests, having logs and secure headers, and generally submitting something that’s pretty much ready for production.

Started with a nice 30-minute chat with the recruiter, then a chat with the Manager. After that, there was a background check, an algorithm question, and a demo of their app (which took an hour). Then came a challenging but fun take-home assignment (be aware, they expect a lot to score you high, reflecting their daily decision-making; I spent 3 days, and they still questioned why some parts weren't complete). Following that was a meeting with VP 1, a fun and enthusiastic guy, who asked long technical questions to check seniority, running over by 45 minutes (1:45 min total). Lastly, a meeting with VP 2, who seemed unimpressed and bored, forcing me to stay an extra 45 minutes to demo their tool again (1:45 min total), even after I politely tried to wrap up, he continued for another 25 minutes. It felt like my boundaries and time were pushed, and as an expert once said, how they treat you in interviews is how they'll treat you in the job, which aligns with what I've heard about burnout and workload.