Discover Interview Questions
& Process

I went through the interview process for the Senior Business Data Analyst role at Discover. It was all very organized and professional. The recruiters communicated well and sent over a detailed interview schedule ahead of time so I knew what to expect. The last part had four video interviews on Microsoft Teams over two days, each lasting 30 to 45 minutes. I talked to a different person in each one, from senior managers to a principal analyst, which was great for getting a good sense of the team and the job.

So the process was pretty standard at first, like a recruiter screen, then the hiring manager, and then other stakeholders. But then the C1 merger happened and it all got kinda messed up. I was initially asked to provide my availability for the next two weeks for the stakeholder interviews. Then, after that time passed, I'd send another two-week availability. Then the recruiter was out for like a month and got back to me saying thanks for your patience, the merger is making things hard.. then got a rejection 2 days later.

I applied for this job and a few weeks later the recruiter reached out via email. She mentioned the position could be remote, which was convenient as I don't live in IL. She also said they could offer an additional 10k on top of my requested salary and warned me about a company buyout, though she assured compliance roles wouldn't be affected. So, I continued with the process. I interviewed with the manager, who thought I did great, noted our similar experience, and rated me a 'yes.' He also mentioned I was in the top 5 out of 40 applicants, with 3 candidates being considered for an offer, which sounded promising. He wanted me to interview with two of his colleagues. However, I learned these colleagues wouldn't be people I'd work with directly, making me question why their opinion mattered. I interviewed with them anyway; one colleague was very cold and seemed disengaged, as if her time was being wasted. The other colleague was fine. I sent thank-you emails to everyone. A month passed, and I received an automated rejection. A few days later, they reposted the job. Months went by, and they reposted it again. This led me to believe they were never actually hiring and the whole process was a sham.

I was initially excited about this opportunity, even though the recruiter mentioned the interview process would have four rounds, which felt like a lot compared to similar roles. Still, the job seemed promising, so I moved forward. The first interview was with a Quality Engineer from the team, and honestly, it felt more like an interrogation than a conversation. There was a pretty noticeable language barrier, which made it hard to understand the questions. When I asked for clarification, the interviewer just said, "I don't know, I'm just reading your CV." At that point, I got the sense that this wasn’t going to go anywhere. Sure enough, the next morning, I got an email from the recruiter saying they wouldn’t be moving forward. I was disappointed because I had been looking forward to meeting the hiring manager and learning more about the role, but after that first round, I’m not sure it would have been the right fit anyway. Overall, I just wish the interview had been a bit more professional and engaging instead of feeling like a rushed checkbox exercise.