I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at DuckDuckGo
Interview
I was contacted via linkedin by the recruit. Then we planned the interview twice, which could not be held. I had to relaunch him so that we set a third date. During this meeting, he briefly told me about the company and then made me understand that I will be given a test in the form of a project, to be returned in seven days. It was a project management project. Nothing technical. Following this paid test of $ 250, my application was not accepted without reason.
The interview process is very clear and transparent and I genuinely appreciate that the take-home assignments are paid — that’s rare and a big plus.
That said… the process is painfully slow. Think 2–3 months from start to finish. So if you’re applying, brace yourself mentally. They can move faster in some cases, but don’t count on it.
After submitting the assignment, you might wait weeks before hearing back. During that time, it honestly feels like you’re just in a holding pattern while they continue reviewing other candidates, possibly waiting to see if someone stronger comes along. That part is frustrating.
The interviews themselves are heavily centered around company values and project management thinking rather than deep algorithmic grilling, which actually makes them easier to prepare for — but the emotional stamina required for the long timeline is real.
Overall: structured, respectful and fair — but very slow and at times, discouraging.
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
You get an assignment which asks you to describe a significant project you led or contributed to, focusing on your project management skills and individual impact. You must explain the rationale, key decisions, trade-offs, outcomes (with data), and reflect on delivery, scoping, and lessons learned within specific word limits. It also requires you to walk through one major decision in depth, discuss how you de-risked it, and share your biggest learnings
You get an assignment which asks you to produce a ~10-page technical design document for adding a tracker-blocking MVP to an existing android privacy browser. The solution must download and manage Tracker Radar data, implement third-party blocking, support per-site protection toggling through an allowlist and provide a screen listing all disabled domains.
The document should outline multiple approaches, trade-offs, architecture, testing strategy and clearly define scope with enough detail that another engineer could implement it independently. The goal is to de-risk the project, demonstrate sound technical judgment, and build buy-in through structured reasoning and async-friendly documentation.
I applied online. I interviewed at DuckDuckGo in Jul 2025
Interview
The interview had 3 home projects, each of them paid and 3 interviews in between, one with the team, one with the directors of engineering and one with the CTO. The process was longer and was quite complex, but nice overall. They are looking for a person that is not only good technically but is also a good fit for their culture and their way of working.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Many questions were behavioral, to see how I would handle various scenarios that would occur in my day to day job. Didn’t really get technical questions about Android, maybe just 2-3, but it wasn’t really a theoretical interview, it was more practical.
I applied through a staffing agency. The process took 3 months. I interviewed at DuckDuckGo in Feb 2023
Interview
The full process looks as follows: - Initial screening with HR - First test project. This is focused mainly on project management skills - Interview with people from your same discipline - Second test project. This is a more technical one, and is divided in two stages, design and implementation - Final interviews with CTO and CEO There is constant feedback and communication throughout the process, and there’s a chance to ask a lot of questions to your future colleagues. As a fully distributed company, the process relies heavily on async communication and writing/communication skills
