My interview process lasted four months. I interviewed with 12 different people, completed a take-home coding test, and prepared and presented a mock sales presentation – and then was ghosted.

In that time, two different hiring managers told me they were expecting to make an offer. We discussed compensation and start dates, and they called my references (including references I didn't provide; I know because someone I didn't list as a reference told me they were called multiple times). They then changed their mind and passed me off to a different hiring manager, who they thought was a better fit but who made me start the process over again.

Every interviewer acted like they had no notes and were interviewing a brand-new candidate, so there was not much depth to any of the interviews. Some of the interviewers needed training (one spent a lot of the interview asking if I could help their kid get a job at the place I currently work). However, for the most part, I really connected with several of the interviewers and felt like they were individually strong and would make strong teammates. It was just the process itself that felt completely disorganized.

I eventually gave some feedback to the recruiter with whom I had been working the whole time. I told him that I was still super excited about Databricks and the role, still enjoying all of the people I was meeting, but that I felt like I was re-explaining the same background to every interviewer. I explained that I was excited to start a new process with yet another team, but it would save us both time if that team could start with some of the notes from the other interviewers I had met with previously.

He never called me back after that.

Tell me about your background.

Why do you want to work at Databricks?