Groupon Interview Questions
& Process

I was contacted for an initial screening with a recruiter. I followed up on Monday after and was sent a project to complete for the role - 8 slides analyzing the performance of a category and the strategy I would use to improve it. They provided a 5 business day turnaround - I appreciated being able to work on it over the weekend since I am employed FT and have a family. I submitted the project the week of Christmas, so I was not surprised that I didn't hear back right away. I was, however, very upset that it took 3 emails over 3 weeks to the recruiter to recieve an AUTOMATED rejection email. When the project was sent to me, it stated "If the case study does not meet our expectations, we will share the final feedback with you." I didn't get any feedback. I put hours and effort into a project and couldn't even get a follow-up or a chance to present.

I applied online for the Commercial Business Intern position in the Paris office and heard back in a few weeks. The whole process was smooth and well-organized. First, I had an HR interview with an HR representative. It was a pretty relaxed chat where she asked about my background, what motivates me, and my availability. She also gave me an overview of the internship, potential tasks, and what's next. This call was mainly to check my general profile and communication skills. Then, I had a 45-minute interview with the team lead I would have potentially worked with. This chat was more in-depth, focusing on my past experiences in business, marketing, or sales, and how I'd handle specific situations in a fast-paced environment like Groupon. It wasn't a technical interview, but they were looking for someone proactive, good at analysis, and able to adapt quickly. Team spirit was also a key point. Both interviewers were professional, friendly, and clear about the job expectations. The process felt quick and efficient. I also liked the time they gave me to ask questions at the end of the interviews, and how transparent they were about the next steps and timelines.

This interview experience was terribly managed, with no heads-up on what to expect. I even emailed the recruiter for clarity on whether it would be Flutter or DSA/LeetCode-style questions, but she didn't reply. I had to call her to get confirmation: one DSA question and some Flutter questions, each about 30 minutes. Well, surprise! It was all Flutter, zero DSA. I wasted over a week grinding LeetCode, which is just unprofessional. The actual interview covered basic Flutter concepts like keys and widget lifecycles, state management, and testing (unit, widget, integration). I also had to do a small app coding task on DartPad, allowed to use Google but NOT ChatGPT. There were also weird moments, like when asked how to layer widgets, suggesting a `Container` with decoration instead of a `Stack`, which felt like a hack. Other questions also didn't spark good discussions. To top it off, the interview went 80 minutes instead of the planned 60, and the interviewer just rushed to end it without acknowledging the overrun. As expected from a company that doesn't seem to care, no feedback form was provided.

I went through four interview rounds for a position at Groupon. First was a Java coding round, which was easy to medium difficulty, and I cleared it. Second was a framework development round, which I also cleared. Third was a managerial round, but I received feedback from HR that I seemed less enthusiastic. HR suggested I show more passion for Groupon and scheduled a fourth round. The fourth round was an interview with the director, where he mainly asked if I had any questions, and eventually, I ran out of questions to ask. After these rounds, HR told me my profile was on hold. My suggestion for Groupon is to maybe change their interview process by doing the director and managerial rounds first. This way, candidates can show their enthusiasm early on and not feel disheartened after putting in so much effort into the technical rounds.