I had a unique interview process as I began my conversation with Dynatrace two days before the state of Michigan began implementing COVID-related health safety measures. My initial conversation, a phone interview, was very typical; mostly information gathering from both parties. During this phone interview, I was told that hiring would be paused in favor of waiting for in-person interviews to be conducted safely. However, within 3 business days, the technical recruiter was able to schedule a video interview which was conducted 6 days after my initial phone conversation.
The video interview was conducted with 2 developers who were team leads and focused mostly on my technical skills and experience. After greetings and introductions, I asked to talk about the technical and non-technical tasks I had performed at my current job. After giving my spiel, I was able to ask questions directly to the team. A notable takeaway from the interviewers' answers was that Dynatrace was hiring for competency and enthusiasm - not necessarily for expertise.
After my video interview, it was only one business day until the tech recruiter informed me that the team was interested in giving me a take-home project. But, that we would pause the processes until after it was safe to meet in-person (in the Detroit office). The process stalled - understandably so, given this was amidst the April quarantine. Roughly one month after my video interview, the technical recruiter reached out to let me know that Dynatrace was still interested in me as a candidate but that the interview process was still on-hold.
Roughly two full months after my video interview, the technical recruiter called me directly to let me know that the company was going to move forward with hiring and onboarding employees completely remotely. I was given requirements for a take-home project. The tech recruiter asked me for an estimate (of which he *suggested* it should take me 8 hours) of how long I thought it would take to complete the project that I committed to. I spent roughly 11 hours on the project.
My final interview - conducted over video - was to demo the project to 4 team leads and 1 director. Their questions on my code, the intent of my code, and my approach were tough but fair. Immediately after my demo, the team took time to give me feedback. This instant feedback loop gave me a solid perception of how I performed with my demo. I feel that comfort with speaking to a group, a high level of organization, attention to detail, and a bit of insightfulness (not just completing the minimum requirements) were keys to my success. After the demo, I spent 30 minutes interviewing with 2 directors. The tech recruiter committed to notifying me if I would receive and offer within 3 business days (and delivered in 2 days).
Misc. reflections:
- I was not asked to complete any lengthy personality quizzes or coding exercises.
- Unlike many programming-related interviews I've had, I was not asked to do any brain-teaser problems on the spot (such as implementing a common algorithm).
- The team that I interviewed for was indeed the team I was placed on. I feel like what was promised to me during the interview process was indeed what I received.
- Unlike many recruiters, the technical recruiter who facilitated my interview process had an internal relationship to the teams he was hiring for. I feel this enabled him to provide more accurate insight into the company, the work done, technologies, etc.
- The director who interviewed me expressed that he was impressed with Dynatrace's response to COVID-19 and that employees would be working from home until it was safe to return to the office -- and that fully-remote, partially-remote, and in-office positions would be supported once the office was reopened.
- I still have not seen the office... but the pictures are very impressive!
- After a few weeks into the job, I feel confident in saying that I have never been given as much support in onboarding as I have at Dynatrace.
