I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at PayPal (Austin, TX) in Mar 2020
Interview
The interview process started with an email from PayPal's recruiter requesting a same day phone interview. I declined given the short notice and followed up a few days later asking if they still want to interview me. The recruiter replied back and suggested a couple times which lead to a 30 min conversation with the CPO in Austin, which went really well. A handful of virtual interviews were scheduled with Engineering, Support, and Product.
The 5 virtual interviews, lasting 30 minutes each, went very well in my opinion. I enjoyed my conversation with each person and understood the role well.
This is where things went south. The recruiter ghosted me (seems like a common theme) for almost 2 weeks. After 3 follow-up emails, the recruiter finally responded saying they're going to pass. Fine, but the lack of communication, appreciation for my time, etc. left a bad taste in my mouth.
TL;DR version: The entire process felt unprofessional, rushed, and impersonal. Probably worked out for the best.
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
How do you prioritize features? Tell me about your experience. Etc...
There was a presentation that requires you talk about your past work, and details of how you would improve Venmo. This was followed by a 1:1 with the hiring manager, along with 6 others.
My guess is that not all teams are this bad, but this group is old school tech with outdated practices.
There were no design questions, they're all behavioral
Multiple interviewers clearly didn't know they had an interview today, and played on their phone/laptop during the process. Interviewers were mostly arrogant. There was one interviewer that I really speaking with, and from looking up later, I found that he went to a top 20 MBA school and had been with the company the longest.
The recruiter was someone who was just hired the month before. All her messages went to my spam box, and she started calling me at 8am to find me without stop. She was very unhelpful in scheduling and gave no context for what I should expect for the process. Her approach to get me to schedule earlier was to threaten me by sending me a job rejection email.
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
Tell me about a time you used data to reach a conclusion?
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at PayPal (San Jose, CA) in Feb 2018
Interview
-Recruiters are extremely unorganized and never follow up. It takes a miracle and several people within the org to push things to move
- Onsite interview was good.
- Smart teams
- People seem nice
- Relevant problems
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Design questions and experience working with design teams