Merkle Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process involved a technical test where I had to prepare a presentation on the Merkle Analytics Case Study. This was followed by a technical interview with a Senior/Manager Data Lead, focusing on data engineering aspects like pipelines, ML models, and some general background questions. After a two-week wait, I was informed about a team restructure and that the role was on hold, which felt like a waste of time and unprofessional.

The process is broken down into 4 steps. First, the recruiter will reach out via email to schedule a pre-screen call that lasts about 15-30 minutes. Second, you'll get an assessment to complete and send back to the recruiter, who will pass it to the hiring manager for review. The hiring manager will compare notes and the assessment to decide who moves on. This assessment took me about 1 hour to complete. Third, I made it to this round. It was informal, just to talk about my work history, interests, and why I want this role. I got to learn more about the team and company, and really enjoyed the conversation. The VP said they enjoyed it too and wanted me to move to the final round to meet my hiring manager and another team member. Fourth, I had another virtual meeting for about 20-25 minutes with 2 team members. They wanted to know how I'd approach certain scenarios, my past experiences, and how they'd translate to this role. I got an offer the next day.

It started with a call from a staffing agency, where they asked a lot of personal details, even about hobbies. Then I was sent a link for an online test with multiple-choice questions on SQL and statistics. After finishing the assessment, I was immediately invited to a virtual technical interview. This was a really bad experience. When I introduced myself, the interviewer seemed uninterested from the start. They gave me two SQL questions. I wrote the queries using window functions, and I was sure they were correct, but the interviewer insisted I provide another solution for the same problem. I explained that people approach problems differently, but they seemed to deliberately try to corner me. I clearly explained the steps for Machine Learning, but in the end, I got an email from HR saying I wasn't selected after round 1. It's heartbreaking to receive that rejection email when I know I answered over 80% of the questions correctly.

This was a really unprofessional interview experience with major red flags. I got referred and went through three rounds: a technical interview, a hiring manager technical interview, and an HR discussion. I passed all the interviews and submitted my documents. The HR person told me they'd send the offer letter after confirming my salary expectations with their seniors. But the next day, they called and said they could only offer me 40% less than I expected. I had been upfront about my salary, so it was disappointing to be lowballed after all the interviews. I didn't decline and was ready to accept their offer. The following week, when I tried to follow up, the HR team was super unresponsive to my calls and emails. Then, I got a TEXT MESSAGE saying the position was on hold! It's crazy how the HR and Hiring Manager don't know the hiring status and interview candidates just to waste their time. Please treat candidates like humans and call them to tell the truth instead of texting.