I applied online. I interviewed at Salesforce (Hillsboro, OR) in May 2017
Interview
There were a couple of phone screens prior to scheduling an on-site interview. Each conversation went really well and comprised of a mix of personality, skills, philosophy questions and really felt like an informal getting to know you discussion, both in phone screens and the on-site group/panel interviews. Everyone was super friendly and asked thoughtful questions. I never once felt like someone was trying to surprise me with trick questions. I think the most awkward part of the entire process was the long wait between talks.
I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at Salesforce (Tampa, FL) in Jul 2017
Interview
The whole process went smoothly to me. I was lucky to work with a great recruiter who organized the process really well. My messages were replied very quickly, All interviews started in time, I met with interesting people who asked relevant questions. Whole process from my first reply till offer got less than 3 weeks
I went through 3 rounds of interviews:
Phone screening - about 45 min, were talking mostly about my experience. I also got a chance to ask my interviewer and got very good picture of what team is working on what skills team is looking for.
Online Coding Interview - interviewed by SF team. I received coding task about 30 min before interview started. I got 2 hours to write working program, on a language by my choice (I chose Java) and send results back.
Onsite Interview in Tampa, FL - Set of panel interviews by Community Cloud team
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Behavioral questions "Tell me about time when you..."
Database questions - document based vs relational, transactions
System Design questions - architect backend for a system that can handle billion messages daily
Design Questions -
Various coding challenges to test algorithms knowledge, complexity estimation, design patterns as well as coding abilities (whiteboard coding)
I applied in-person. I interviewed at Salesforce (Seattle, WA) in May 2017
Interview
Got an email from internal recruiter April last week (no phone conversation)
She asks for timings to schedule a telephonic with hiring manager
Provided my availability for next 3 days
Didn't hear back anything for next 4 days
She comes back and ask for availability after 3 weeks - Manager is Busy!
After 3 weeks, manager comes on the phone
Tells me he is not sure why he is taking the interview, informs me he is having a release and nobody available to take the interviews, he might contact back after a month
Still, asks me behavioral questions for half an hour. My best project, my worst one, what I'll do when something happens in project, what I am gonna do if Pigs start flying or cats&dogs live together kind of things, 0 technical!
Ok, nothing happens next 4 weeks
I put up a follow up email
HR responds that she gonna check back
After a month, she replies :)
"Thanks for applying to the position, team has changed the skillset requirement they want!"
Team just took close to 3 months to figure out the skill set they opened a position earlier ;-)
Not judging, it was fun, just sharing the experience!
Thank you for sharing your feedback on Glassdoor. I'm disappointed to learn that you experienced such an inconsistent interview process with our teams in Bellevue. I've shared this feedback with our recruiting leadership and asked them to address this with the appropriate hiring team. We regularly audit our job descriptions and processes to improve our candidate experience, and we will make sure these teams are appropriately aligned. Thank you again for your insight. Best of luck with your search! - Ana Recio, SVP of Global Recruiting