Initial communications:
I got a call from Groupon through and internal reference. I had been looking to move and had been preparing for interviews for a while. The first person to call me was their recruiter. I was impressed with the first conversation. She asked me technical questions which were unexpected and some pretty critical questions about my background and performance. I was soon contacted by another recruiters also from Groupon but from another location for another position in Groupon. I told them I had already been contacted by one of them. So he said I should go ahead with that interview and never mind about the position he was calling for. After that, I was contacted by yet another Groupon recruiter from yet another location. The same course followed.
I had two phone screens with the first loop that started and really enjoyed speaking with the engineers. The questions were challenging and they seemed knowledgeable. I was called for an on-site interview in another city. I was very excited about the company.
Planning:
The trip was planned well. I got the flight ticket information, hotel information, lunch menu discussed and even the list of interviewers.
Number of interviews:
There were 8 interviewers and the interview was from 9:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. This was longer than usual. Most companies have 4 or 5 interviews.
Perception of the people, office and work culture:
I have mixed feelings about the people, office and work culture. I met some great engineers and PMs but I also had some relatively negative experiences during the onsite interview.
5 interviews were great. We had a great conversation around technical problems, the vision and direction of the company, work culture etc. I learned new programming tricks, new test approaches. I learned about the growth of the company, the way the teams are structured, what the average day looks like.
3 did not go so well. One interviewer, an engineer bombarded me with several questions and just stared blankly as I answered. He just didn't engage. Another one did the same. Also, interviewers repeated questions.
I had one last interview with the recruiter. She asked me if there were aspects I liked more than others. I said nothing in particular as I had lost interest already. It had been a long day. Then she asked me about my pending offers. I told her I had one and I was negotiating with them. To which I asked her what package they were offering. She said "'if' we make you an offer, the package would be competitive" Now not only did this come across as snide, but if you ask me about my current offer, it is only fair that you at least give me a ballpark about yours.
I spent close to $450 on the hotel + meals + travel. Only the flight was covered. I am yet to be reimbursed for the rest in spite of promptly sending them the receipts and reimbursement form within their given time frame.
Though I had already received an offer from another company, I went to interview with Groupon with an open mind. I studied the company, prepared for the interviews and answered all their questions to the best of my knowledge.
I didn't get the offer even though I think I fared better at their interviews than I did at the company that actually made me an offer. I am ok with that but not the way I was treated by HR.