Takeaway.com Interview Questions
& Process

It was a nice relaxed interview, the questions were more about you and your experience rather than competency based ones. The interview was through Google Meets with friendly team members. Overall, it was a nice comfortable experience.

I applied online and HR got back to me in 2 days. The HR manager was super professional and empathetic. My second interview was with the team elsewhere, it went okay but they seemed unsure about the structure, making it a bit awkward with them discussing questions amongst themselves. It was a straight Q&A, not much interaction. Then I had my case study interview. The two leads were chill and detail-oriented, they might ask about anything on your presentation, so be ready to explain your ideas and reasons. It was professional and relaxed, and one interviewer gave immediate feedback, which was interesting. My case study feedback was positive and they wanted to proceed to the final round. After two weeks, I followed up and was told I didn't get the job because of a sudden organizational change that altered the job requirements, needing someone with different experience. They said I was a 'perfect match' but had to end the process with me. This explanation felt unsatisfying and highlighted a lack of internal structure. I felt I wasted time and effort on a role that changed last minute. Overall, the process was mostly pleasant, and the HR Manager's professionalism saved it. Putting the process aside, I think it's still a male-dominant company with some unconscious biases around diversity. One interviewer asked how I spoke English so well coming from X country, which, while maybe well-intentioned, felt similar to 'oh you're a woman, you code?'. Some suggestions: Be consistent with job requirements. Train non-recruiting teams. Diversity starts from within - raise awareness about unconscious biases and eliminate them in interviews.

It started with an HR call where I stated my salary expectations. Then, I received and completed a take-home assignment, putting in a lot of effort to cover all bonus points. They liked the assignment and invited me for a technical interview, but scheduling it took a very long time because they don't use calendar apps and share details via email. The technical interview had two interviewers who immediately started asking technical questions, making it feel like an interrogation. After one interviewer asked a question, the other would immediately ask another. This went on for an hour without breaks, and I was exhausted. They seemed to be looking up questions online and asking random things, with no clear structure. After this, HR presented an offer that was 10K less than my expected salary. When I inquired why, they said they had considered me for a Lead developer role before the technical interview but decided after that I was only suitable for the Senior Software Engineer role I applied for, hence the lower salary. It was a waste of time and effort, especially when already stressed.

The interview process was a mess. I had an interview scheduled right when Covid lockdown started, and they didn't even tell me not to come. I had to reach out to them myself, and then they said, 'Oh yeah, don't come, we'll reschedule it for when we're back in the office. We will let you know ASAP.' But after weeks of not hearing from them, I got in touch again to see if the interview was happening. I was just told that, no, the position had been put on hold, but that they encouraged me to keep looking at their openings. This was super unprofessional, and I wouldn't apply again to work with Takeaway because they showed me how much they actually care about their candidates. I had to reach out both times as they didn't have the basic decency of letting me know, when we'd already had the initial interview and the next one was supposed to be with the head of department.