I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Booking.com (Amsterdam) in Feb 2018
Interview
Submitted my CV/application via their own careers site. Contacted the day after.
1. Invitation to HackerRank test, consisting of ~12 multiple choice questions which tested specific knowledge on the full (web) stack. Followed by 2 programming exercises (algorithmic) which were relatively easy. Received results a few days later.
2. Invitation to phone interview with HR. Discussed my experience, motivation, expectations and knowledge of Booking.com. More information on the position and opportunity to ask multiple questions. Received outcome the very same day.
3. Invitation to technical phone interview with two engineers. The interview consisted of two connected, well-formulated programming exercises. The first was front-end, testing your knowledge of fundamental concepts in JS development. The second was back-end, and very similar to standard algorithmic questions. For the front-end, I explained that my proficiency in JavaScript was rusty (resulting in poor syntax); they were completely fine with this and tested knowledge of underlying concepts instead.
Surprised by a call the same day, providing results and pretty extensive feedback on my performance (both strengths and weaknesses). Discussed more details about the potential offer (benefits, salary, etc.) as well as logistics for the in-site interview (flight, hotel).
4. Invitation to on-site interviews. The entire trip was paid for and arranged by Booking. The interview day consisted of 2 technical interviews and 1 behavioral/business interview.
The first technical interview tested frontend knowledge, which was pretty hard but very conversational. Make sure you brush up JavaScript (and jQuery is useful) and CSS (especially positioning).
The second interview was “backend”, but ended up being algorithms/data structures followed by system design. The first part was relatively hard, but it seems like they expect you to not get the “right” solution initially and instead focuses on your process. The second part was tough, and I found it hard to get an indication on how I was doing.
The last interview was business insight, which was different from what I expected. It ended up being what you would expect from a behavioral interview, and didn’t really discuss Booking.com’s business model (although this likely depends on your interviewer).
Received the outcome within a day from my interviews.
Overall a great experience, all engineers I talked to were well prepared and very friendly throughout the entire conversation. Communication was excellent; I knew what to expect from the interview at every stage and received a lot of useful information regarding the potential offer at multiple stages in the process.
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
What do you know about Booking.com's business model?
I applied online. I interviewed at Booking.com (Amsterdam)
Interview
Had an interview with a human resources person to speak about my motivations and current job experience. However, after a month not having any updates the human resources informed me that the role was closed.