I applied through an employee referral. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Shopify (Toronto, ON) in Feb 2017
Interview
I first had a call with a PM. It was really difficult to hear them over the phone since the room they were in had lots of echo, and they sounded muffled. He also did a poor job of explaining the new initiative that they were hiring for. He didn't really ask me any questions.
Next, I met with another PM and a recruiter. With the PM, we spent half the time getting to know each other (e.g. tell me about yourself, why Shopify?) and the remaining time brainstorming about the future of e-commerce. We bounced around some ideas, and talked about implementation and debated pros/cons. With the recruiter, I shared with her my life story (something they apparently ask each hire). I thought I did a good job at both telling the story, and establishing a rapport with her.
Overall, the interviews were easy and I expected to move onto next steps. I had done much worse at other interviews and still made it forward. But then I was told I wouldn't be moving on. I asked for feedback, and was told everything was positive. They just found other candidates... which seems like BS to me.
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
What do you think the future of e-commerce is? What does it look like 5 years? What are some ideas? How could Shopfiy implement some of them?
If you are American, do not interview with Shopify - lowest ROI in the industry. Apparently, they are a big deal in third-world Canada fraught with egregious unemployment and they interview with this in mind. It's a tedious loop of company lifers and failed devs. They seem anxious and risk-averse. Scrap it - re-evaluate your time - literally any mid American company is a better return on invested time (look at the salaries). I think the process was like 3-4 months - absolute mental illness for this caliber of company.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Root cause questions with some Shopify-specific product. Learn RCA frameworks.
Too many rounds of interviews. The last round is a case study interview which is not a great format for assessing if a candidate would do well in the role.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
They ask for your life story which I felt was a great way of learning about a candidate, their journey, and how it has shaped them to excel in the role they're applying for.
the initial call was a screen with the recruiter who was very friendly and explained the position. after that it was an interview for 45 minutes with the hiring manager who was also very friendly and approachable.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
the interview was structured as a case study with a question related to how one might use data science to determine how to solve a particular customer problem
