I was given a take home assignment which was an essay format.
I didn't make it further than the first round.
It was a paid interview - I got $150 for it - A happy exchange.
The salary offered was great.
Multiple stages, 3 paid projects, some of them multiple days worth of work. Extremely long process, and you'll be rejected without feedback. There's a minimum word limit here apparently so let's work around this.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Describe a past project and the project management aspects you performed.
I applied online. The process took 3 months. I interviewed at DuckDuckGo in Jan 2025
Interview
They say their process delivers significantly better results than the usual interview processes - and I believe them. They measure what you'll actually need on the job. No leetcode or artificial time pressure. But do expect it to be tough and thorough, requiring long periods of focused effort.
It was about 3 months for me and included 4 interviews and 3 take home assignments, with rounds of feedback for each.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
They'll measure each area of competence you'll need on the job. Expect to describe a major project that you drove to success; a meticulous tech design; a similarly meticulous implementation of said tech design; and fit interviews with HR, team, manager, and (if you make it all the way through) the CTO.