I applied through other source. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Groupon (Chicago, IL) in Jan 2013
Interview
They first reached out to me via Linked In. At first I wasn't super excited about the opportunity, I was also in talk with Foursquare, Gilt and Box. Following a few phone interviews they definitely got me excited.
30 minute phone Interview:
One of the designers called me. He told me about the opportunity and asked me about me. I gave him a brief overview of my experience and than focused about some of my experience with a single project.
Right after the recruiter set up a second interview. The second interview was just with another designer and it was pretty much the same as the first one, talked about my experience and really try to focus on specific examples.
After the two interviews I just went back and forth with the recruiter and they booked a flight and hotel for me to do an onsite interview in Chicago. (I lived in New York)
I arrived to Chicago the night before the interview and was really impressed with the Hotel. The next day went something along these lines.
8am - tour of building (super nice)
9am - 10am - I gave a keynote to about 20 designers (half of the were conferencing in from California) No one asked any questions right away, this presentation was mostly for me to talk about my experience and give an in-depth look at a few projects and provide context around some of my design decisions and product experience.
10am -6pm - A string of one on one interviews with individual designers and managers. Most of them asked specific questions pertaining to my past experiences, otherwise I just kept rabbling on about my self, my past projects and really just my passion for building cool products.
In one of the individual meetings I did do a white board exercise with a designer. The designer was super nice and he didn't make it me nervous at all, he explained that he basically just wants to collaborate with him to wireframe out a movie app layout. We worked through the different elements that should be visible and the ones that shouldn't be and of course why.
The whole interview was hela long....but everyone was super nice..especially the recruiters they were super accommodating and were always there to guide me from room to room and get me anything I needed.
That same day, I rushed back to the airport and flew back to New York.
The recruiters were very open and told me the exact day when the designers were planning to meet to review me and the exact date when they would contact me. This was definitely a nice relief.
As promised I was contacted by a manager which asked me a few more detailed questions regarding to relocation and position responsibilities, later that day the recruiter contacted me with an offer that I couldn't refuse. Seriously their offer was much better than other offers. While interviewing with Groupon, I was also interviewing with Foursquare, BOX and Gilt which made me an offer.
I accepted the offer that night and moved from NY to Palo Alto in the next three weeks. They were super helpful in helping me find a place, providing me with a relocation bonus and the recruiter even tried to find my girlfriend a job. Overall great experience for moving cross country.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
The whiteboard exercise was unexpected but not really difficult.
I applied through college or university. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Groupon (Chicago, IL) in Oct 2014
Interview
Firs on-campus interview was brief, about 30 minutes. Nothing unusual, the interviewer was very nice and showed interest in my work and in me personally (friendly, laid back, casual). The second round of interviews was pretty exhausting. It consisted of a 45-minute presentation to four designers, followed by four individual one-on-one interviews. I arrived at noon and left at 5 pm. Overall experience as good, just very tiring.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
They asked me about how I go through my design process, how do I decide what choices to make.
1 Phone interview. Later 1 on-site interview: Started with tour of the company, design presentation. 4 back-to-back interviews with Product Manager, 2 designers, 1 director. There is also a small design test. Was quite exhausting.
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