I applied through a recruiter. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Shop My Shelf in Dec 2022
Interview
The hiring process was 2 weeks long, with 1 phone call and 4 zoom interviews.
Had one phone call with the recruiter to discuss my background and why I am choosing a new role.
Had one 30 minute zoom call with the CTO, which he showed the product and upcoming projects. It was very casual, and he asked me to share my screen to show what I’ve been working on. He seemed very excited and friendly. Definitely someone I would like to work with.
Had one 90 minute technical interview with the CTO again where I had 45 minutes to solve a code problem on coderpad. I would rate it as a medium to hard problem. Took me the full 45 minutes to solve. Then 45 minutes to do code a react component and write some SQL queries/database design. He asked about strengths, weaknesses, preferences. He was very keen on figuring out how I work and my coding style.
Had a two hour coding interview with the other developer on the team. Shared my screen and tasked to solve a problem that is relevant to the work at the company. Problem was related to website crawling and reducing an array of products. Did not finish solving the problem after two hours, but the interviewer was very friendly and liked what he saw.
Had a 30 minute interview with the CEO and COO. They did not fully introduce themselves, and seemed like they were in a bad mood. They asked about my background, why some engagements on my resume were short term,
and why I was interested in working at ShopMy. I asked some serious questions about their company, and they seemed reluctant to answer. I tried hard to do my due diligence since I’ve been burned by many bad startups in the past. Overall, it seems like they were uninterested in me, and the interview ended early.
Recruiter had me write “thank you” follow up emails for each interviewer.
In the end, the recruiter told me they were unhappy that I said I would only realistically work there for a max of 3-4 years and that it seemed like I was only interested for the money, which is funny since I asked for below market rate and was flexible for any kind of offer. I don’t know of many engineers who would work at a startup for more than 3-4 years unless it was really a great place to work at and did really well. Maybe it’s just me. With all of the dev churn they have lately, you’ll want to make sure you really want to work here before you apply. Every interviewer said the job is hardcore, yet they’re not open to hiring hardcore talent. I hope they get their things together, because they have a great product and can really do well in their space.
Best of luck to anyone else interviewing. Do your own due diligence. Don’t be too honest.
