Qubole Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process spanned 3 weeks and had 7 rounds in total. It started with a quick HR screen, then a chat with the hiring manager. There were a few more chats with the hiring manager to check for specific traits using some mock exercises. After getting the green light from the hiring manager, I had several onsite rounds where I met most of the team I'd be working with. This was a good chance to see if I'd fit in. They were looking for specific qualities like how quickly I could learn and how responsive I am. Everyone was really supportive and seemed genuinely invested in my success, making for a great experience overall.

The usual scheduling stuff happened. Then, during the phone interview, the interviewer was nice and calm. They even went over the time limit waiting for me to finish the problem. But their expectations are way too high. It's unreasonable to expect a candidate to solve both a Leetcode medium and a hard problem in just 45 minutes. The questions were also designed in a way that providing hints would be almost impossible to answer unless you've already solved the exact problem on Leetcode. If you can solve a Leetcode medium and hard problem in 45 minutes on a phone call without having seen it before, you should be interviewing at top companies like Google or Facebook. I really think they need to adjust their expectations.

Got an email from the recruiter on Feb 20th. Replied expressing interest, and a week later got a Hackerrank test. They mentioned they're hiring fast. I finished and submitted the test the next day. No response for 3 days, so I emailed. 7 days after that, they said they'd check feedback. Turns out the role was filled. 20 days later, the same recruiter emailed again asking if I was still interested. I said yes, but heard nothing. 75 days later, another email from the same recruiter. Again, I said yes. Then I had a ~60 min Zoom call (Round -1) with a tech person, which felt good. Got feedback within an hour saying they're hiring aggressively and want to move fast. Another ~60 min Zoom call with a different tech person, also felt great. The next day, they asked for another Zoom call with someone else before the on-site. This felt like progress. The first two calls were about problem-solving. The third call focused on my current project's architecture and test frameworks, lasting ~80-85 mins. Felt good about it. That same day, the recruiter emailed saying they decided not to move forward. I asked for reasons, given how well discussions went, but got no response. I'm unsure if they hired someone local or if I wasn't a fit. The recruiters are unclear about the process. It seems offers can be rescinded for local candidates or those with lower salary expectations. My advice: take this seriously. Bad reviews are piling up. Be transparent with candidates, give reasons for rejection (profile mismatch, performance, or hiring someone else), and respect their time.

I was first contacted by a recruiter and the whole thing took about a month. It started with two phone calls with HR, just talking about the role and my background. Then, I had to complete an online challenge which involved coding, shell scripting, and some logic problems. Once I passed that, they invited me to the company for an on-site interview. I heard back about the results about a week later.