Booking has extensive physical infrastructure that provides many unique challenges. The services that run need to be able to handle considerable traffic and maintain a high quality of service. The company is distributed around the globe, offering opportunities in many locations.
The company has changed drastically over the past few years. Many senior members in the technology community, as well as management, have left. The replacements at the management level have significantly changed company culture. The allure of working for a company where anyone could make an impact has given way to a strong top-down leadership model where directions, and oftentimes solutions, are dictated to the employees instead of providing those employees the means to impact decisions.
Reversing course, trying to change Booking from its Dutch roots has been a failure. Senior employees are leaving in droves because of this culture clash.
This was the first interview. In general, it was a relaxed conversation with in-depth moments. The main goals were to share information about the applicant and the company, and to see if there was a possible match. I liked the academic nuance, but
It took two to three weeks between the initial call and the live-coding interview. On the live coding, there were two engineers on the call. They were nice and appreciated my effort, even if the solution was not the best one.
- Recruiter’s Call: Motivation, recent experiences, etc. - Live Coding (1 Hour): Code on Hackerrank. No need to run and test the code. - System Design and monitoring (75 minutes) - Cultural Fit (1 Hour): This round was super weird.
This was the first interview. In general, it was a relaxed conversation with in-depth moments. The main goals were to share information about the applicant and the company, and to see if there was a possible match. I liked the academic nuance, but
It took two to three weeks between the initial call and the live-coding interview. On the live coding, there were two engineers on the call. They were nice and appreciated my effort, even if the solution was not the best one.
- Recruiter’s Call: Motivation, recent experiences, etc. - Live Coding (1 Hour): Code on Hackerrank. No need to run and test the code. - System Design and monitoring (75 minutes) - Cultural Fit (1 Hour): This round was super weird.