Process
This was the first screen for a senior full stack position at Discord. The coding exercise was to build a chat server that could support multiple chat clients. A prompt was provided with the MVP clearly defined. Candidates were allowed to use Google, Stack Overflow, API docs, etc., to come up with their solution.
The screen was approximately 75 minutes long. The interviewer was nice, helpful, and very collaborative. My only negative feedback is that the interviewer seemed to expect me, as the candidate, to go above and beyond the MVP. He asked me to implement follow-up scenarios and cases after I had completed the defined MVP. I thought these were just extra tasks since we had finished the MVP, however, I was rejected a day later. This led me to think that the interviewer's expectation was to successfully implement all the follow-ups.
I believe it would be helpful if this was explicitly stated in the prompt, therefore setting objective expectations for the candidate.
I would also consider what type of screen is appropriate for the position the candidate is applying for. As a full stack engineer, unless you have previous experience building a chat server or protocol, you probably don't use socket programming, connections/disconnections, or event emitters on a frequent basis. The exercise/project should be tailored to the specific position.
Questions
Build a chat server that can support multiple clients.
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 31 interview experiences for the Discord Senior Software Engineer role in United States.
Success Rate
Discord's interview process for their Senior Software Engineer roles in the United States is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.
Experience Rating
Candidates reported having negative feelings for Discord's Senior Software Engineer interview process in United States.
Discord Work Experiences
- 5.0Awesome Product, Fast ChangesSenior Software Engineer • Current EmployeeApril 24, 2022Pros: Talented people, an awesome product, and a good workplace.Cons: Growing fast, which always changes things up.
- 5.0Great Tech, Fun GrowthSenior Software Engineer • Current EmployeeSan Francisco, California, United StatesApril 9, 2020Pros: Discord is an excellent place to work. The team is full of talented, hardworking, ambitious, and humble people. If you use Discord, then you know the Discord application itself is superb. It takes a great team to make a great application. Since Discord is a younger company, there are plenty of opportunities for career growth as we expand. The management team focuses a lot on growing people. There are weekly or bi-weekly 1-on-1s with your manager that are solely focused on career growth. The benefits package is solid. You can check the website for the most up-to-date information. It is on par or better than other places I have worked. My personal favorite benefits are free lunch and gym membership. For engineering specifically, Discord has been an excellent place to work. Discord has a knack for embracing new technologies while still remaining stable in the face of growth. For example, we were early to embrace Rust, Scylla, and React. Also, Discord's engineering team (and entire company, really) is exceptionally small for the number of users it has. So far, we have been diligent about growing the team intelligently. Additionally, we follow many industry best practices around testing, deployment, and product development. We also spend a decent amount of time doing forward-thinking refactoring and development in order to stay out of tech debt. There are a lot of interesting technical challenges at Discord. If you like scaling a fast-growing product, then working at Discord will be a lot of fun.Cons: Discord is a fast-growing unicorn startup. It's exciting, but chaotic at times. If you have a hard time with things changing, then Discord might not be a good fit. With that said, things have become much more stable over time, and I expect that to continue to be true.
- 5.0Job Review & OpinionSenior Software Engineer • Former EmployeeSan Francisco, California, United StatesJuly 10, 2022Pros: Friendly & Hardworking Workspace, Health Benefits, Understanding & Compassionate CoworkersCons: There are none, in my opinion.
Discord Interview Questions
