The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Zillow (Seattle, WA)
Interview
Recruiter reached out to me did a phone screen then sent me an assignment to predict housing prices. The recruiter said results will be discussed with the hiring manager.
There were no specific instructions on how to write the report or what to include.
They said it should take 5-10 hours.
I tried to stick to that time limit, I wrote a report summarizing my final selected model assuming discussion with the team would elaborate more on the process.
Recruiter said they decided not to move forward because the hiring manager thought there are no enough figures or data in the report!
I was very disappointed because I assumed that it’s only fair for any candidate who spent time working on some assignment to at least get the chance to discuss it, especially if the reason is the report not long enough!!!
I told the recruiter I’ve got all that but wasn’t sure what to include and that it’s only fair to talk about the findings! Of course never heard back.
I have a PhD in spatial statistics so I sure know how to write a report or compare models!
Very disappointing and disrespectful to the candidates.
Thank you for your feedback and I’m very sorry to hear you felt disrespected. I also very much appreciate the amount of time you spent on the exercise and we will definitely consider this feedback as we continue to try and balance how much of our interview process is done ahead of time through take-home assessments with how much time is spent interviewing person to person. If you have any ideas of how we can improve this part of the process that you’d be willing to share with me, please reach out to me directly anytime – annie@zillowgroup.com. Thank you again for the time you took, both to interview and to share this feedback. - Annie Rihn