Don't waste your time

I was approached by an in-house recruiter who did a good job outlining the job requirements and what New Relic could offer in terms of relocation and perks, and also what they are looking for.

The second round was a 30-minute call with the hiring manager, which was really nice. The atmosphere was casual, and he quickly got to the point.

After that, I was sent a task assignment. I agreed under the condition that I would get detailed feedback on the assignment.

The task contained two parts:

• Writing a class which should solve some algorithmic problem
• Rendering a UI based on the first part

Additionally, I was required to document my thinking process. The recruiter who sent me the task offered to provide additional information. The task was vague in some points. When I asked for more information, I got a brief notice that no further information would be provided and I should instead base my task on assumptions.

This would have already been a major flag. I still decided to continue with the task, providing extensive documentation, tests, writing my full assumptions, and providing a clear outline of why I went with which decision.

A couple of days later, I got an email that they would not continue with the process. The feedback provided was brief and really vague ("algorithm not optimal") and contained heavy bias; some also unexpected ("x tool should have been used"). There clearly were some expectations not clarified in the task.

When asking for more feedback, I got the info that:

• The engineer reviewing the task was busy with deploying changes and would not be able to provide more feedback.
• This would be the level they feel is adequate for the time I put into it, which I feel is very condescending.
• No further feedback would be provided.

I felt humiliated as a human being.

This is especially surprising because New Relic is so proud of its commitment to learning, feedback culture, and a great candidate experience.

To conclude, while the initial impression was really nice, I think all engineers as well as the engineering manager need to be trained better on hiring processes. Maybe also on basic etiquette and decency.

If you value your time, don't apply at New Relic.

Why New Relic?

My background.

Where I see myself.