Looking at all the positive feedback about this company, wanted to share some information based on my interview and real life,
They called me one month after applying for TSE opportunity, started with HR chat, then primary interview with hiring manager and two sequential technical interviews.
There was nothing wrong with HR and primary interview, however the reality about this company and level of their expertise and culture was kind of punch in the face during technical interview:
1. despite all the positive comments about interview feedback, I didn't find any of those two engineers friendly or welcoming but in some cases, I could see inappropriate tone of discussion since the poor guys were not able to understand technical side of discussion.
2. level of knowledge and expertise is a major concern. They assigned a DBA (Database Administrator) to ask me about coding and Linux and it was very obvious he didn't understand many of the things I said as Senior Linux Engineer. The second engineer, was responsible to test my diagnosis skills but he was not even aware of process that before raising 4-5 possible root cause, you are allowed to ask some questions to identify the root causes. I could see frustration in his face.
3. When you see the interviewer is struggling to open PDF file since Acrobat is not installed in his laptop or struggling to mute his mobile and continuously get message from his family during interview and not even prepared for the interview and drag the interview for 20 minutes to setup his screen to go through materials, then it raise a big question mark what kind of people are working in this company and how they manage their daily work.
4. Based on my understanding during interview, this company might be a suitable place for juniors who would like to start their journey in IT industry, but as senior engineer you will not enjoy spending time with this company during interview let alone working for them.
5. after 2 weeks from technical interviews, they sent me a message regretting that they don't proceed with my application while they were impressed by my technical knowledge and called it difficult decision to make. I did spend (or actually wasted my time) almost 5.5 hours in 4 sessions and was rejected while they were impressed with my technical knowledge and experience. comparing my knowledge and experience with those two engineers, have a feeling that I was overqualified for this company and the work they do.
Before applying for a job with MongoDB, ask yourself what level of knowledge and expertise you have and if they deserve having you as candidate or employee.
