Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America Interview Questions
& Process

Got ghosted. I got the recruiter call. Recruiter said, I would receive an invitation for a video call with the hiring manager in two days. I started to intensely prepare for the interview. The recruiter, however, never got back to me... Looking into the recruitment company: mostly IT recruiters with no automotive background and not located in CA either. You will also never get their actual contact information which is also very unusual. An applicant should also be aware of the comparably low pay ranges here and that this isn't "Mercedes Benz" that makes the cars you see driving around. It is a separate company...

I had an HR interview which went fine. It was a standard HR phone interview, and they were polite and respectful. Then I moved on to the Hiring Manager round. I was 5 minutes late, but it was generally within expectations. Communication was pleasant. But after that, the company went completely silent. I followed up with the hiring team several times, but never heard back. Their treatment of applicants is unprofessional and disrespectful. It felt like a waste of my time.

I put in my application online back in Nov 2021. Around the middle of the week towards the end of Dec, I got an email asking about my availability for that week and the next for an interview. I replied the same day but heard nothing back that week, nor after I tried following up for the next two weeks. Then, about one or two weeks later, I got a 'confirmation' for a phone interview at a time they picked, saying I'd get a call from someone directly. On the interview day, no call came, and there was no number to call them back, even though I sent several emails about it. Total waste of my time.

The interview process was on the slower side, taking over a month, though they did apologize frequently for the delay. A recruiter initially contacted me via LinkedIn, and I only got a response after sending a reminder. This was followed by a phone screen that delved into real-time systems. The subsequent in-person interview involved three separate panels. The interviews focused on assessing analytical and algorithmic thinking as applied to real-time connected car architecture, a general discussion of technologies listed on my resume, and how I navigate organizational dynamics with colleagues, managers, and subordinates. The company seems to value long employment tenures, so if you come from a fast-paced tech background with only a few years of experience, expect some in-depth questioning. This appears to be a more traditional company, somewhat resistant to change, with technical direction and stack decisions originating from Germany, while the US team handles implementation and maintenance. They don't seem to have fully adopted cloud or open-source technologies yet. The technical interviewers from Germany were great to connect with, unlike some of their US counterparts.