DataLab USA Interview Questions
& Process

It was a 5 round interview process. First was a 30 min phone call with the recruiter, asking about my resume and experiences. They then explained the next step, a technical screening. The technical screening was a timed SQL assessment on CodeSignal, which was harder than expected and taken in a text editor without the ability to run commands. After that, there was a 30 min Teams interview with the recruiter and team, a behavioral interview where they discussed the role and my career goals. This is where I felt deceived because they brought up my technical assessment score (which I didn't know) and questioned my experience. They also clarified that the role was a solo position needing a year of training, contradicting earlier information. Then came the project presentation and in-person interview. I presented a project and answered questions. The team lead gave constructive criticism. Because the prior interview ran long, I had to wait. After about an hour, I expected it to be the final interview, but the recruiter informed me of a final round with an executive over Teams where live pseudocoding would occur. However, I was unexpectedly asked to code live on a whiteboard right then, which I wasn't prepared for given the role's nature. The recruiter said it wouldn't impact my score, but it likely did. I didn't reach the final executive interview. Overall, 5 rounds felt excessive for an entry-level role at a small company. I had long waits between rounds and received inconsistent information about the role throughout the process. They had unrealistic expectations for an entry-level position, especially given their claims of providing training. They were not upfront about the role's requirements from the start. The in-person interview felt unnecessary as there was no office tour. The team members were nice, though. Expect limited coworker interaction and ensure strong SQL and pseudocode skills.

The interview process included a phone screening, some assessments, and then an in-person interview. I took a timed SQL assessment before they even called me for an interview, and it felt too short for the number of questions. Even though I did poorly on it (people would talk about it vaguely but never tell me my score), they still invited me to interview. I tried my best to answer the behavioral questions, but eventually, they became repetitive, and I felt like the interviewers weren't really engaged with me, even though they extended the interview. After that, I had to do an Excel assessment, and again, no feedback was provided. If you get a chance to interview with this company, be warned. They made me invest time and effort, only to waste my time and mock my lack of technical skills during the interview.

The hiring process took about two months and was pretty interesting. First, there was an HR call to see if I was interested in the job, knew about the company, and would be a good fit. After that, I had to do an online SQL test with 9 questions that I had 45 minutes to complete. It was okay, but some questions were unexpected, so I only got 7 done. The last part was an in-person interview at their office with the Director and a team member. They seemed more interested in me as a person than just my technical abilities, asking mostly behavioral questions to check my team fit. The vibe was really good and made me want the job even more. About a week later, HR told me I didn't get the job because another candidate was stronger technically, even though my interviews went well. Overall, it was a good experience, and I liked the vibe of the place.

I applied online and was contacted by DataLab USA for an in-person interview three weeks later. I attended two interviews. The first was with HR, the Senior Manager, and the CEO. The second interview was a meet and greet with a Director. The interview itself wasn't too hard, and the staff seemed pleasant. They made the company sound very welcoming, but I later discovered a cutthroat culture. The HR rep described the environment as friendly and supportive, which turned out to be the opposite. DataLab did extend an offer, but when I countered, I got a hostile email from HR citing false shortcomings and undermining my expertise. I responded professionally, questioning why HR would attack my integrity after an offer. A few days later, without further negotiation, HR sent an abrupt email stating that my counter offer and emails showed I wasn't a good fit. I'm relieved I didn't accept, as this showed their unprofessionalism and disregard for employees.