I had very mixed feelings throughout the interview.

I applied online, and a recruiter contacted me back shortly after to schedule a recruiter screening. The interview went well, and I was quickly scheduled for a technical screening. After that, I was asked to complete a take-home project that I apparently failed.

There were many positive points throughout this interview process:

• It was fast.
• The recruiter did a great job guiding me through the process, and I had the opportunity to get a call to receive feedback on what went well and what didn't after I was rejected.
• The interviewer in the technical screening spent time answering my questions; it was a great conversation.
• The technical screening and the take-home project were both related to Datadog's product, rather than some typical LeetCode questions.

The main problem came down to the expectations for the take-home assignment. The expectation was to spend "3 hours" on it, though the recruiter mentioned, "If you have extra time and spending a bit more time means you'll turn in something you're proud of, I would put in the extra time."

After reading the requirements, it was clear that meeting the base requirements within 3 hours was impossible, even with a strong background. As others pointed out, 8-10 hours minimum was likely needed to complete the base project. I spent my weekend on it to educate myself on a good approach, come up with a proper design, handle corner cases, and add some unit tests. I can certainly say I was proud of my submission.

Yet, I was rejected, and the feedback I received was completely out of line with the project requirements. For example, the requirements asked to test a specific part of the project, but I was told they expected more unit test coverage. Applying for a remote position also played against me, despite the position being advertised as open for remote!

The process left me feeling disrespected and with a bad opinion of Datadog. I will not re-apply.

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