Data Scientist applicants have rated the interview process at Booking.com with 3.1 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 54% positive. To compare, the company-average is 59% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Data Scientist roles take an average of 25 days to get hired, when considering 40 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Booking.com overall takes an average of 25 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Booking.com as a Data Scientist according to 40 Glassdoor interviews include:
Phone interview: 41%
Presentation: 17%
Group panel interview: 12%
Skills test: 12%
One on one interview: 11%
Other: 4%
Background check: 3%
Personality test: 1%
Here are the most commonly searched roles for interview reports -
I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Booking.com in Jul 2014
Interview
First phone call was with an HR who asks you about your experience and then she would test your analytical thinking with a mini case. Mine was about comparing the pros and cons of different agent models in the tourist industry. At the beginning of the case she tells you the standard "there is no right answer to the case", but then she wouldn't be satisfied with your answer unless you tell her exactly what she wants to hear (i.e. what she was told was one of the potential answers). Eventually I did, so we scheduled a second phone call.
The second interview was with two members of the data science team. This part was much more pleasant - we talked in details about some of the machine learning model that I've worked on and then did a case. It was about whether observing a certain KPI would make sense in a given situation. At the end of the interview, they told me that they want to invite me for a on-site interview and that someone from HR would contact me to take care of organizing it.
A day after that a HR did contact me, but she said that they do not want to continue further with the selection process and gave some vague reasons about communication. I asked if she could elaborate, but she never responded.
Overall, the interview was alright, but I'm rating my experience as "negative" below for two reasons: first, you wouldn't expect from a good company to change their minds like that and second, if you invest your time into interviewing with them, they should at least to spend some time to give you a constructive feedback.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Why did you use Random Forests instead of Clustering?
I applied online. The process took 3 months. I interviewed at Booking.com
Interview
Interview process was solid and relevant. There were three rounds: one technical, one business case directly tied to the role, and one focused on company alignment. Most rounds included case studies, which tested problem solving approach along with technical knowledge. The conversations were clear and to the point. Main focus was on how you approach problems and whether that fits with the company values. Reading about the values and culture beforehand is important
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Follow up questions from case study, questions about experimentation
30 mins phone screen with recruiter, next round will be with 2 data scientists and discuss on a business case. Seems like they did have some opinion on that question, it was not like a open discussion.
I talked with manager and recruiter. Some questions about personality and some about technical skills. Some were more difficult then others. The people were quitte nice. But a lot of competition