I was approached by a Datadog recruiter on LinkedIn. After the initial conversation, I expressed my expectations in terms of level and salary range. The recruiter confirmed that there were openings for this level and they should be able to meet the salary.

We initiated interviews, and I had a phone screen as well as a full day of interviews (coding, system design, manager).

Shortly after, the recruiter notified me that the feedback was positive and I should expect an offer. A few weeks later, we had a call, and the recruiter presented me with a downleveled offer as well as compensation well below what I was asking (and below what I was making at my current work).

I obviously declined that offer. I felt like it was a waste of my valuable time, and I wish the fact that I was being downleveled had been communicated to me as early as possible, so that I could have dropped out of the process earlier.

Stay away – I cannot trust a company that deliberately misleads candidates during the interviews.

Standard coding LeetCode style questions, system design, interview with a manager.