I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at Instacart in Apr 2015
Interview
1. Phone Screen w/ Sourcer (great call and good questions asked)
2. Phone Screen w/ 2nd Sourcer (great call and good questions asked)
3. Onsite w/ Recruiting Team (See below)
They didn't really ask me any questions during my on-site besides if I had any questions for them. I felt like the on-site could have run a lot better if they combined people and shortened the timeframe (2:1) or a panel interview. I found myself trying to grasp at questions to ask (or re-asking ones that I had already asked the sourcers) just to keep conversation flowing and not awkward since they weren't asking me any questions about myself. I was a little disappointed since I am such a fan of their product and I had prepared to have great conversation with their recruiting team. I left the interview feeling like it was a waste of time on both sides since there wasn't any useful conversation happening. I knew that they'd probably decline me due to the fact that they didn't learn anything new about me.
I applied through a staffing agency. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Instacart (San Francisco, CA)
Interview
I had a call with a consultant who talked about the opportunity then a call with someone else from the recruiting team. They brought me in for a face to face interview with the team. The team was friendly and I thought I got along with people whether it be from a professional standpoint or personal standpoint. I thought that I was did well, but then I was told that I did not get the position which life goes on, but what irked me quite a bit was the reason behind the rejection. If there were better candidates with more experience then I can understand since that is the game, but that was not the reason. They mentioned that I have a friendly attitude and down to earth personality, but they were worried that I would not have a back-bone to the hiring manager or have the professional attitude. I asked the recruiter which question(s) did anyone on the team asked about my experience with hiring managers because if I answered a question poorly about hiring managers then I would like to know what I did wrong so I can improve on it, and she told me they just got "that vibe" from my interactions from the team. I can understand criticism if it makes sense, but I personally think that remark was unfounded now you're just going by assumption. They also mentioned that they thought I needed some professional sourcing development which I'm not going to take offense because I know that I can improve on such things, so that I think that is valid critique. If they gave me another chance at an interview I would do (when they move to a better location) so because I believe in second chances, so I don't think they are a terrible company by any means but the ending felt very shady to me and left a sour taste in my mouth. Don't use this to not interview with Instacart because you should at least get to know the company, but instead take this as a note (or warning) to perhaps not be so friendly and leave your cards close to you because friendliness can be seen as weakness. In other words keep a little bit of a front because now I know that I may never know what people (companies) can use against you.
