Typical process. The phone screen was done via an online questionnaire, which was convenient. That was followed by a 1-hour technical phone screen, then a 5-hour interview after that. The 5-hour interview included system design, project coding, debugging and a hiring manager chat.
I marked this review process as negative because the 5-hour interview felt like a big waste of time, not because I didn't get an offer, but because I found it very hard to communicate with their engineers. I was very excited to meet a potential new team, but I got the sense none of them wanted to be there interviewing. They spoke very little during the introductions, and asked virtually no questions about my background. 99% of the interview was coding, where they stare at your screen and say nothing. In the past I've found technical interviews to be a back-and-forth process, where you demonstrate your technical ability, and they interviewer gives feedback, input or questions as you go so that both sides get a feel for how they'd potentially function as a team. This felt like an exam where the interviewer was nothing more than a mere proctor. This includes the 1-hour technical screen that came before as well. The segment with the hiring manager at the end was a little better. I felt like I was finally having a human conversation and was able to put a face to the company. But that 1 conversation was not enough.
The technical portion wasn't too difficult, with the exception of the debugging portion. But again, my impression was that the panel was not interested in giving an interview that day at all. During one of the sections, the interviewer was barely paying attention to my code and explanation as I kept hearing his email notification go off and saw him clearly looking at another monitor and typing.
If communication skills and good work culture are important to you, I'd avoid this company. I'm glad I didn't get the offer so I wouldn't have had to turn down any potentially higher salary than what I currently have. From my experience, it seems clear DoorDash selects for technical talent only and does not care for company culture or communication skills.
