I applied online. The process took 5 weeks. I interviewed at Datadog (Midtown New York) in Apr 2023
Interview
The initial step was a conversation with the recruiter (who was so helpful and warm). Subsequently, I had an interview with the Hiring Manager, during which they posed questions pertaining to product management. They inquired about my experience in constructing product roadmaps and prioritizing features. Following this stage, I progressed to the interview loop, which consisted of four rounds: Engineering Interview: This round involved discussing a technical product I had previously delivered. Topics covered included the high-level system design and my collaboration with engineers. I was also asked about my approach to resolving disagreements in this context. Case Study Interview: This interview focused on frameworks and strategies rather than direct problem-solving. I was tasked with outlining how I would navigate a product's journey from inception to launch. This included considerations such as pricing strategies, competitor analysis, and methods for measuring success. Technical Interview: In this round, I was asked to design a high-level system for a social media platform. The emphasis was on the overall design rather than intricate technical details. It was important to clarify the depth to which I should delve into specific technical aspects. Topics included database decisions, such as the choice between NoSQL and SQL databases, among others. Analytical Interview: This interview presented a scenario involving a decrease in product usage. I was tasked with diagnosing the issue and discussing how to approach pricing, with an emphasis on the thought process rather than mathematical calculations. Additionally, I was asked to outline how I would measure the success of a newly launched product for Data Dog. Overall, the interview process consisted of these stages, each assessing different aspects of my product management and technical skills.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Walk me through a technical product you delivered. System design for a social media news feed. Pricing
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Datadog in Feb 2025
Interview
1 hour discussion with a product leader about my profile, aspirations, and the daily life of a Product Manager at Dadadog. The discussion was pleasant, and followed by a use case
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Study case on On-premise vs Cloud-based offer to provide the service to some clients
I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Datadog
Interview
Recruiters were awesome. The interviewers not so much.
Extremely cold, no personal connection. It threw me off a bit because I laid out a process and they kept interrupting, which is fine, but then we would rat hold and did not have enough time to cover everything.
The process felt robotic, I would say people seemed technical and smart on the surface, but difficult to connect with them. The best analogy is like ordering a Mcdonalds burger vs going to a small mom and pop.
One other thing that left a bad taste in my mouth was this was in person, they did not cover parking, which I can afford but it shows they do not put attention detail to take care of the candidates.
Overall, I would say a ok interview process. Not too difficult, all the answers are online.
I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at Datadog in Jan 2024
Interview
A recruiter reached out to me. Process was relatively normal and yet abnormal - it was a recruiter screen, followed by a 1-hour HM interview, followed by an "onsite" consisting of 60 min each: 1) Engineering interview 2) Technical Interview 3) Analytical Interview 4) Case Study Interview. In total I spent a solid 6 hours just in interviews and 5-6 hours in prep. I even read their most recent annual and quarterly financial reports. So, you do invest a TON of time into the process, made even more difficult when you hold a full-time job as well, which I do.
I was frustrated at the very end, because I was told that I nailed all the PM aspects of the job, but got dinged solely on the Technical Interview. I was literally asked to design the Netflix home page from a backend infrastructure standpoint. They apparently thought I wasn't vell-versed enough on the technical components of a recommendation engine. Well, duh! I am not an engineer. I completely understand their desire to ensure folks understand the technicals given the nature of the product. That's fine. In fact, I was an engineer for 4 years before becoming a PM and can talk very nitty gritty with my engineering team - they love that I can do that. But never in my product career have I ever needed to build the systems architecture myself.
Ultimately, I think there was a mismatch between myself and DD. I feel grateful the decision resulted as it did, because I want to work for a company who grades me on my product chops and does not expect me to invent a backend architecture.
Just a warning to those interviewing: make sure you want to enter a role where an engineering-understanding is weighed heavily before you invest the 10-12 hours of your time.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Q: Design a dashboard for a CEO
Q: What is the value proposition for a cloud-based system vs on-premise? What is best suited for both?
Q: How would you build the Netflix recommendation engine?
Q: A big customer won't sign until you give them a pricing discount - how would you approach?
Q: How would you take this idea from ideation to commercialization?