Mercari Interview Questions
& Process

The process started with a bring-home coding assignment that was supposed to be done in a week but they expected it to be finished in 8 hours. After that, there were 3 rounds of interviews: one with a team member, then the team manager, and finally the director. The interviews were entirely in Japanese and were not technical. They focused on past experiences and the scale of previous projects. They also specifically asked about company values and whether I was a user of their service, going into detail about my usage. One of the interviewers also asked about my OSS contributions. The team member and manager focused on specific things not mentioned in the job description. I found out that in that particular team, 2 out of 5 people had quit within a year. The team member and manager seemed short-sighted and lacked compassion, which led me to decline the final interview.

The interview process had 3 steps. First, an initial call with an HR rep to discuss the interview process, the company, and the Design Team. Then, a 1st interview with the Director of Design, followed by a 2nd interview which involved a review of a submitted 'Design Challenge'. The 3rd interview was supposed to be a Culture Fit round, but it never happened. The initial HR call was fine. The interview with the Director of Design was pleasant, and we connected well. The Director mentioned how my experience could help Mercari's Design Team with their current challenges. As other reviews mentioned, there's a week-long 'Design Challenge' where you have to propose improvements for an existing app feature. This is often seen as unethical, resembling free consulting. I usually avoid companies that use such questionable methods. I was concerned after reading Glassdoor reviews (and I was right to be). I hoped a large company wouldn't do something so unethical or would have improved based on feedback. A week after submitting my Design Challenge, I got an email saying my submission was 'good, but we expected something else,' along with the standard 'we regret to inform you...' message. That was it, and you never hear from them again. They didn't even take an hour to review the submission, which is a major red flag. They keep a copy of your work and essentially reject you, following their 'ghost declined applicants' policy. It's insulting, but I was warned by Glassdoor reviews and friends. I was still optimistic and decided to proceed, spending several days on the assignment. As a Senior Product Designer with experience interviewing designers, I always focus on understanding a candidate's thought process, design principles knowledge, curiosity, and analytical skills, rather than just the final solution. I provided a complete solution with detailed analysis and sources. However, Mercari's design team has a flawed approach. They dismissed my thorough submission and disregarded the crucial design process aspects, showing a surprisingly immature and rigid view on design. Expecting polished solutions without valuing the design process is misguided and disrespectful. It feels like they exploit candidates for free consulting via assignments. This experience felt insulting and disillusioning. — Proceed at your own risk. Their current interview experience rating for designers is 100% negative, even from those who got offers.

I applied for this job via referral. The interview process had 5 rounds. The first round was a 30-minute domain-specific phone screening. Then there was a 1-hour round on data structures and algorithms, which involved standard questions. The third round was a 1-hour coding round where I was given a project with bugs to find, identify architectural defects, and suggest improvements. The fourth round was with the Engineering Manager, focusing on scenario-based questions like conflict management. I was rejected in the final round because my answer wasn't exactly what the hiring manager had in mind; I think it was subjective and depended on the interviewer.

I interviewed for Mercari JP in Tokyo, and everyone was super nice and patient, giving me a great impression of the company. The whole process involved four interviews, and they were really quick with feedback and scheduling, usually only 1-2 business days between each. It took about a month to get a verbal offer, followed by a reference check and team matching, which took another 1-2 weeks for the written offer. They kept in good touch and gave regular updates. Round 1 was a coding screen with three LeetCode questions (easy, medium, hard) in 60 minutes. I managed to get most tests passing, around 85-90%. Round 2 was a 120-minute technical interview with three engineers, split into a coding skills part and a system design part. It felt more like a relaxed chat and brainstorming session. After that, a recruiter contacted me, offering great help with feedback and study resources for the next interview. Round 3 was a 60-minute manager interview about my experience and why I'm interested in Mercari. Round 4 was a 60-minute director interview, similar to the manager one. After the verbal offer, they set up team matching and then sent the written offer a week or two later.