NielsenIQ Data Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

I had an initial recruiter call with someone from PETRAS, a third party. I thought I did well, but I didn't get any further calls. I'm not sure what they were looking for since the recruiter was non-technical, and even though I explained things in detail, they didn't seem to understand.

HR contacted me after I applied on LinkedIn. Since I'm serving notice and the Hiring Manager had already reviewed my profile, they mentioned I'd only have 2 technical rounds instead of 3. My first round was directly with the Hiring Manager from the US and a Lead from the US, both working on the product I'm interviewing for. The interview focused on handling large data files using Python, Pandas, and Spark. They mentioned the current architecture uses Python, Unix, and SQL, with plans to migrate to Databricks, Snowflake, and Hive. There were also questions about Unix. The manager was satisfied and skipped the second round. After that, I had an HR discussion where they were clear about the compensation and even compensated for my two offers. The whole process was fast, finishing within 2 weeks.

So, interviewing at NielsenIQ. It began with a 1-hour chat with the recruiter about my background and what they're looking for. She mentioned they were targeting a junior to mid-level person. Their interview process has two parts: first, a 1-on-1 with the hiring manager that was supposed to be conversational but technical, and then a separate coding round, all done online. The first interview was set for Tuesday, but 20 minutes before, the recruiter emailed to reschedule for Friday because the hiring manager had an 'emergency.' I was pretty annoyed but agreed. We finally had the interview on Friday, and I noticed the hiring manager wasn't making eye contact, which felt weird and made me uneasy. About 12 minutes in, he asked if I'd used DataBricks. I told him no, and he said he had to end the interview because DataBricks is essential. I pushed back, pointing out that the job description listed DataBricks as 'preferred' and that I hadn't put it on my resume. He then claimed they were actually looking for someone Senior. I reminded him that the recruiter had assured me in three separate conversations that it wasn't a senior role. We debated this for about five minutes, and I ended the call. I immediately emailed the recruiter about the session, and she called me. She explained that the hiring manager had decided just a few hours prior that he wanted a senior person, which really ticked me off because he basically wasted my time twice.