DataStax spent a lot of time and energy presenting itself as a transparent remote-first company, with a clear vision, that considers work/life balance and developer focused planning as core values. I found none of these points to hold water. Unlimitted PTO with no guidance on reasonable minimum time engineers should take off is the exact opposite of work/life balance. I asked more than once about this, and could never get a real answer on how much PTO employees should be expected to take. Hint: in the US it's probably in the range of 3-4 weeks PTO, 2ish weeks sick time. When I probed for more information about how DataStax supports developers, which is really just a sub-set of their customers, the conversations always went towards how developers generate sales. Nothing was said about focusing on things developers actually care about, which left me feeling like DataStax is either poorly aligned with this value they espouse or they're being disengenuous. When I asked about all of the pivots, leadership changes, and acqusitions/mergers, which reads to me as a company that does not have a strong idea of their core product(s) and path forward, the message I got was that the only clear vision at this company is they want to position themselves for a good IPO. Overall, this looks like another tech company doing a ton of virtue signalling in an effort to attract top talent with the hopes that they can get the company bought or have a solid IPO. The interview steps themselves were 1) Recruiter phone call 2) Hiring manager interview 3) 2 back-to-back 45 minute technical interviews with senior engineers 4) Interview with VP 5) In-person interview. The in-person interview is a requirement for DataStax leadership, which is not aligned with "remote-first."

Overall a very pleasing and quick process compared to other employers. The interviews and assessments were well-tailored to the needs of the position, and the interviewers were well-prepared. It felt more casual and conversational, and less competitive than what I would have expected.