Culture Decline, Politics Rampant
Culture Decline, Politics Rampant
Summary: If you are starting your career as an SE, DK is a good place. For anyone else, you deserve better.
When I joined DK, I absolutely loved it. It had the best culture in tech with a relatively decent salary. I used to brag to my friends how great the culture was. It's still acceptable, but the future is not looking good.
Over the last couple of years, the culture has declined a lot. The new CTO loves Amazon culture (without FAANG-level pay), driving the company to insanity. Most talented engineers have left or are planning to leave soon. The people are nice and kind most of the time. But, the politics is so bad these days.
If you are okay with the morality, know how to play politics, are okay with peanuts TC, and are a "yes person," DK would be a great place for you. If you do join, tread with caution. Have a paper trail for every conversation you have with managers or anything performance-related, or they will gaslight you and kick you out otherwise.
If you are going to adopt Amazon culture, that's fine. But please pay accordingly and please stop lowballing people. Please apply the same level of scrutiny to the managers as well.
If you are going to PIP people, ask managers to warn engineers beforehand. Don't use PIPs as a silent layoff.
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DraftKings Interview Experiences
Software Engineer
Got a referral that led to an almost immediate invitation for an initial call. Three weeks later, I was scheduled for a 30-minute recruiter call. After that was a 1-hour virtual LeetCode interview. If I had passed, then there was a 3-hour technical
Software Engineer
Very streamlined and well-structured. One call with a recruiter, then a technical interview, then a culture fit. I didn't pass the technical portion as it was very complex and required in-depth knowledge.
Software Engineer
The process was fine. They get back to you quickly and are very clear in their steps. I only made it to 2 rounds in, but the technical question was challenging but not too bad.
Software Engineer
Boston, Massachusetts, United StatesSeptember 1, 2025Got a referral that led to an almost immediate invitation for an initial call. Three weeks later, I was scheduled for a 30-minute recruiter call. After that was a 1-hour virtual LeetCode interview. If I had passed, then there was a 3-hour technical
Software Engineer
Boston, Massachusetts, United StatesJuly 17, 2025Very streamlined and well-structured. One call with a recruiter, then a technical interview, then a culture fit. I didn't pass the technical portion as it was very complex and required in-depth knowledge.
Software Engineer
Boston, Massachusetts, United StatesAugust 1, 2024The process was fine. They get back to you quickly and are very clear in their steps. I only made it to 2 rounds in, but the technical question was challenging but not too bad.
