phData Interview Questions
& Process

Got a LinkedIn message + email about a PhData gig leading the Pac NW sales territory. Here's how it went down: 1. Phone screen (can you do the job). 2. Talked to my potential boss, an RVP (more questions about my sales background). 3. Met the CRO (felt like a culture check). 4. Work history chat (asked specific Qs about jobs and bosses, highs/lows - just be direct). 5. Sales pitch - I had to demo a common Snowflake use case with slides to the team, showing my sales skills. 6. Lunch - flew out to grab lunch with the RVP, that was the last (casual) step.

The recruiter reached out to set up an initial chat and was super friendly and clear the whole way through. We chatted about the company's values, culture, and what they're looking for in this role. I was juggling a few other interviews at the time, and they were really flexible with scheduling, making sure I could get all my rounds done without any hiccups. Next up was a chat with the hiring manager, who asked some good questions about my background and why I was interested in the company. After that, I met with the department head, who really dug into my experience and asked some smart questions to get a handle on my past work and its impact. Then, I had a meeting with the Chief Revenue Officer to talk about the big picture company goals and how this position could help achieve them. They did a reference check and then made an offer pretty quickly. The whole thing wrapped up in about two weeks. Honestly, it was a really great and engaging experience. The team was responsive, respectful, and showed off the company's core values at every step. I'd definitely recommend interviewing here!

I had a technical recruiter interview. I had some bandwidth issues but the recruiter didn't accept my request to use my mobile device, instead assuming my laptop would help, which it didn't. I think my interview was judged harshly because of this, and I haven't heard back. Recruiters shouldn't disqualify candidates for using their mobile device as a temporary fix for bandwidth issues. Also, having cameras on shouldn't be a requirement, but a courtesy. There were supposed to be 4 more interview stages after this one.

The first part was a pen-and-paper test with SQL questions and a basic coding problem you could do in Python or Java. There were also some computer fundamentals MCQs on a Google form. The second round was a face-to-face interview mostly about my resume. They asked me a data structure question about deleting a node from a linked list, and about Kafka and Spark architecture. We also covered the basic OOPs concepts and real-life uses of stacks and queues. I was also asked to design the backend for Zomato. The last round was more like a manager talking about my skills, some general management stuff, and how I'd fit into the company.