Shippo Interview Questions
& Process

First, I had calls with two different recruiter teams. After that, I spoke with the hiring manager, followed by meetings with three department heads. The overall interview process was good. Conversations with the hiring managers were great, but it was obvious the other departments weren't very confident in their interviewing skills. There was a lot of downtime, and many of the leads couldn't really explain what they do.

Me llamaron primero por teléfono para una entrevista corta con RRHH, fue todo bien, fácil, con preguntas generales sobre mi experiencia y trayectoria. Pocos días después, tuve una entrevista por Zoom con otra persona (creo que el manager o líder de equipo) en inglés, también fue bien, con preguntas generales sobre mi experiencia, pidiendo ejemplos de situaciones. A la semana siguiente, la tercera entrevista fue con alguien del equipo de Claims Specialist, por Zoom, donde tuve que responder por escrito a ejemplos de casos reales como si fuera un empleado de Shippo. La entrevista fue bien y no la sentí difícil, pero después recibí un correo impersonal indicando que el proceso se detenía, sin darme feedback. Supongo que no lo hice como esperaban, pero me pareció una forma terrible de responder y una pérdida de tiempo. No entiendo el propósito de una prueba de respuesta a casos reales de clientes, especialmente cuando insisten en que no importa la exactitud de la respuesta, sino la forma o el tono de respuesta como agente de servicio al cliente. Sin embargo, al final no pasas la prueba por no ser un agente de Shippo y no recibes más feedback que la notificación de que no habrá más entrevistas.

I got an email from their senior technical recruiter about an intro call for a senior software engineer role. After that, I set up the first technical round. In the first technical round, I talked to a senior software engineer who gave me a pretty easy coding problem to code up. Then, they asked me some system design questions that were pretty standard for someone with a few years of experience. Next up was a 4-hour virtual onsite. The first interviewer, a senior engineer, dove deep into system design. The second interview was a straightforward react coding task: make an API call and show the data. The third interview focused on database design, specifically how to set up tables for a given scenario. The fourth interviewer was a product manager, and we discussed team dynamics and daily work preferences, along with some situational questions. The fifth interview was with an engineering manager to check for culture fit; it was pretty relaxed, and I got to ask them questions too. The process wrapped up with a summary chat with the recruiter. After the virtual onsite, I was told I'd be a better fit for a different team, which turned out to be a down-level to a Software Engineer II position. The final interview with another engineering manager was casual, covering team culture, handling challenges, and allowing me to ask about the team. Then came the reference check where I had to provide three references, including a manager. For the offer, I had to verbally accept to see the offer letter. The details, especially stock options, weren't fully clear. I initially said yes to see the letter, but the base pay was lower than I wanted, and the stock options didn't seem valuable enough. It would have been a lateral move from a job I liked. I tried to negotiate the base pay higher but they said no.

I applied for a Senior Backend Engineer position and had a really bad experience with the recruiting team. After what seemed like the final coding round, the interviewer indicated the next step was a virtual onsite. A few days later, I got an automated rejection email. When I asked the recruiter for clarification, she said the interviewer felt I was a better fit for a role one level down based on the coding round. I told her I was open to being considered for a lower-level role, but she needed to check with other teams, even though I saw openings at that level on their careers page. After a few more days and another follow-up from me, she informed me they were no longer moving forward with my application. In my experience as an interviewer, we've always proceeded with down-leveling if the candidate agreed, which makes this situation particularly frustrating.