DeNA Interview Questions
& Process

A recruiter reached out to me about a role at DeNA. First, there was a 20-25 minute chat with the internal recruiter where I went over my experience and skills. Then, I had a technical phone interview. It felt more like a one-sided discussion where the interviewer talked a lot and sometimes answered their own questions. They seemed to be looking for someone to help with some immediate work issues. After that, I was invited for an onsite interview. The first part was a whiteboarding session for a scripting problem. The second part was a discussion about processes with a long-term employee who seemed very knowledgeable. Later, I met a senior person for what I later learned was an executive round; this discussion was vague and seemed behavioral but without clear context. Finally, I spoke with HR about company culture, as they didn't have specific questions for me. I was told I'd have another executive round, which happened a few days later with the same senior person, but it didn't lead to anything concrete. My take is that while the people are nice, they might not have clear goals or know exactly what they're looking for, or they're just being very picky. Even though my experience closely matched their requirements and I could address their technical problems, it didn't impress everyone I interviewed with.

It seemed like they interviewed pretty much everyone. The interview was arranged by the San Francisco office, but when I got to the Vancouver office, the person who was supposed to interview me wasn't there and the reception area was locked. I had to ask about ten random people walking by to find out who was supposed to be interviewing me. The interview itself wasn't anything special. I didn't hear back for a few days, so I followed up with the recruiter in San Francisco, who said they'd let me know as soon as there was any news. A few days after that, I followed up with the interviewer, who told me they had decided to go with someone else. Then, about two weeks later, the San Francisco recruiter emailed to say they weren't moving forward with my application. It really seems like the offices aren't communicating with each other.

I had a phone screen and two on-site interviews. The first interview went pretty well, the interviewers were nice and answered my questions. I got called back for a second interview where I met another person and then had a Skype interview while still at their office, which was a bit odd. At the first interview, I asked about the next steps and was told they would pick two top candidates from round one and then one final candidate from round two. It's frustrating to take time off work for interviews and then find out they're still screening other applicants later that week. They should be more considerate of candidates' time.

The interview process, from the initial call all the way to the first in-person interview, was really well put together. I met with four people from the team and they made me feel super welcome. The interview kicked off right on time, and each person talked with me for about 30 minutes. I chatted with a producer, a public relations manager, a marketing manager, and an HR manager.