Dattner Architects Designer Interview Questions
& Process

It was a pretty standard process. They looked at my portfolio and we talked about the studio I was applying to. They asked some general questions. I was fresh out of college, and this was a while ago, before COVID. The interview was in person with the studio director and HR.

Submitted standard corporate paperwork, portfolio, resume, and cover letter by email. About a month later, they requested interview availability. I interviewed with a principal, an assistant principal, and an HR rep. They seemed distracted and inconvenienced by the meeting. The principal was off-putting and direct, immediately diving into job details without introductions and often interrupting to ask questions already answered. The assistant principal was more conversational. Although the work is interesting, they weren't enthusiastic about sharing project details. Only the HR rep answered questions about office culture and mentoring, which was strange. The interview concluded with a quick 'we'll get back to you in a few days.' Despite follow-ups, no response was received.

I had a 3 stage interview process, including an initial virtual meeting (30 mins), a virtual Revit assessment (30 mins), and a final in-person meeting (1 hour). Scheduling was a bit tricky, as only one slot was offered at a time. My final interview got rescheduled by the office due to calendar conflicts, and two of the interviewers I was supposed to meet were replaced with new people on the day. After getting to the reference check stage with pretty regular communication, I didn't hear anything for several weeks. It took several follow-ups to find out I wasn't selected. It would be awesome if the hiring team would let candidates who've spent time and effort scheduling these interviews know the outcome sooner.