I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Instacart
Interview
1st round: Initial phone interview
2nd round: Interview with Lead on the team
3rd round: Panel interview followed by an event challenge.
The scheduling process of the interview is fine and thorough. The follow up process is the worst I have ever seen. It is nearly impossible to have the recruiter follow up with any questions which is extremely disrespectful since the final round takes 4 hours out of my day to complete. Respect your candidates time or hire more effective recruiters as this was a TERRIBLE recruiting process. Ghosting is ridiculous when such an effort and amount of time is given.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Describe how you would navigate a weather challenge
Instacart initially seemed like a great company to possibly work for, but after going through their interview process, I feel much differently.
1st stage was a call from their recruiter, who seemed like she had done hundreds of calls throughout the day—no enthusiasm, mundane tone of voice, and eager to get through the phone call quickly.
2nd stage was a skills test - 48 hours to complete. It was quite easy to interpret and execute.
3rd stage was a phone call from the hiring manager who had just as much excitement as the recruiter—or lack thereof.
4th stage was a set of video panel interviews spaced out between 6 hours. Most of the team members I met with seemed bored and did not look like they wanted to conduct the interview.
After the 4th stage, I was confident Instacart was not a company I would be happy to work for. They have a pretty long and demanding interview process without showing any warmth or excitement to their candidates. Why go through such a process for a company that offers no appreciation or excitement for you?
I've done interviews for similar positions within the same industry, and this, by far, has been the worst experience.
I applied online. The process took 4 days. I interviewed at Instacart in Sep 2014
Interview
Had a video interview they day after submitting my application. Following that, I had to complete 2 difficult challenge questions and return the answers within two hours. Next day had a second video interview with a GM. Both interviews were very fast paced.