Daybreak Game Company Interview Questions
& Process

I was referred by a former colleague who thought I'd be a good fit for an open role. The first step was a 40-minute phone chat with the hiring manager, which was pretty relaxed. Then, another manager from the Austin studio, who used to be in San Diego, called me a few days later. We had a more detailed Q&A session about the company, and the specifics of products and operations in Austin and San Diego. I appreciated that she was really good at answering my questions. Finally, I was invited to San Diego to meet about 5-6 team members in person. It was a bit tiring, but I get that they wanted buy-in from the people I'd be working with if I got the job.

Applied online and then got an email from HR to schedule a phone interview with two team members. I was anxiously waiting for the call on the interview day, only to find out HR had scheduled it at the wrong time, so I had to email to confirm. Fortunately, I passed the phone interview and was flown out for an in-person, multiple 1:1 interview with the rest of the team. Some of the 1:1s were enjoyable, others were odd. One employee was brutally honest about the company's direction and its challenges, and it devolved into a rant where they advised me against working there. Another was arrogant and seemed like they had better things to do. After I finished the 4 interviews, the last person might have forgotten to tell HR that we were done and went to lunch instead. So I waited 20 minutes in a room before finally calling HR to let them know the interviews were complete. Overall, the company revealed itself. Very disorganized. Please treat future candidates with respect, just as they respect the interviewers.

I applied online and heard back about an interview after 18 days. The first step was a phone call where the interviewer did most of the talking, explaining the role, team, and company benefits. They only asked me to share my experience. The next day, I got an automated rejection email and no response when I tried to follow up. It was a strange experience; I wish they had responded more politely than just an automated email.

The hiring manager kept misleading me about how long the interview process would take and when I'd hear back. I didn't get any real updates for months after my interviews. The interviews with the team members themselves were great though; the staff seemed to really care about their jobs. I can't say the same for the hiring manager though, who I found it strange never even spoke to me on a call.