TLDR: A nice collective of people. They make you feel comfortable in every step. No tricky Computer Science question but real-world and market-geared ones. Lots of "cultural fit" questions and awareness of the candidate on topics as social equity and alike. The recruitment process is very long, it took 10 different meetings, spanning
1 month. Once I finally received the offer, I declined.
First step: Screening interview. They want to know about my past experiences,
salary expectations, notice period, etc...
Duration: Around 30-40 minutes
Second step: Technical chat with 2 developers; They asked me about the difference between OOP and FP, asked about
the biggest challenge I have faced, how I develop tests, and if I use TDD.
Duration: Around 1 hour
Third step: A feedback from HR saying that the previous call was good and I have been selected to go to
the next step.
Duration: Around 20 minutes
Fourth step:
1) Pair session with a developer. The key here is to solve a coding challenge with them.
2) Another pair session right after the previous one. I had to on-board the new developer, explaining the problem, and develop along with them.
3) A cultural fit interview that let you answer questions from different categories like "Ability to learn",
"Team playing" and "Social awareness". It is a relaxed session of Q&A without any right answer. This step defines how much you are a fit for TW's culture.
Duration: Around 4 hours
Fifth step:
1) A chat with the project manager. Super relaxed, talked about previous experiences, what I was looking for
in a team/project and again salary expectation.
2) Technical meeting with 2 other developers to talk about Software Development as a whole.
Including previous experiences, how I dealt with problems I faced before, what I think about testing,
what the team I am looking for is like, how do I deal with junior members and so on...
Duration: Around 2 hours
Sixth step:
A call with the HR in charge of the recruitment giving feedback. In my case, I passed in all steps and received the offer via e-mail.
Duration: Around 30 minutes
Seventh step: I made a counteroffer, they analyzed and gave the best offer they could offer me. Since that wasn't aligned with my expectations, I declined the offer.
About the offer: It was good in terms of social benefits, like meal budget, transport ticket, and learning budget. The deal-breaker to me was the salary. It was below the average for a senior position and even lower than the amount I was making in my previous company.
My feedback for the company: Please review the salary bands for the engineering department, because even in COVID-19 times it was quite below what the other companies are offering. Also, I feel that the entire recruitment process could be optimized to be faster.
For example, 2 meetings could have been e-mails.
So in this regard, I think you can optimize the whole process to be faster for you and the candidate that most of the time can't afford to spend so much time interviewing but be sure to keep the balance so you still offer a great experience to the candidates and are sure you get the right one. Despite all, the TW recruitment process is still one of the best I've passed through. Very unique and kind.
