Javascript Engineer applicants have rated the interview process at Automattic with 3.3 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 38% positive. To compare, the company-average is 54.9% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Javascript Engineer roles take an average of 51 days to get hired, when considering 13 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Automattic overall takes an average of 43 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Automattic as a Javascript Engineer according to 13 Glassdoor interviews include:
Presentation: 35%
One on one interview: 24%
Group panel interview: 12%
Phone interview: 12%
Other: 12%
Drug test: 6%
Here are the most commonly searched roles for interview reports -
I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Automattic in Aug 2020
Interview
The interview process is outlined on the Automattic website, the first stage is an interview with a developer. The next step is a code test and the last stage is a trial.
My initial interview had very little to do with JavaScript and was about general programming aspects like testing and problem-solving. I was asked a system design question, which caught me off guard, but otherwise, it was straightforward.
I did not make it past the code test stage, but some notes about it:
1. You're invited to a Github repo with a 'broken plugin'. You're given 6 hours to complete a large variety of tasks, both frontend and backend.
2. They say to 'not spend more than 6 hours' but in reality, if you want to pass the test and impress them, you'll likely need to spend 12+ hours on the test. This is all unpaid work.
3. Vague feedback is provided if you fail the test. I mostly got vaguely defined nitpicks about my submission - 'error handling could be better' etc.
I would say, clarify with them what you're expected to do and how far you're expected to go early on, that's something I didn't do and I think that made a difference.
I will say that communication was great and everything happened in a timely fashion. I would just set expectations rather high if you're applying. They're looking for a seasoned developer that's willing to spend the time to impress them.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Given a nested object, remove an item, add an item, correctly increment the ID based on all the other ID's in the nested object.
- Was mostly done on slack
- There was a take home assignment that should be finished within a week
- After the take home there'll be a review of the codebase by an engineer
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Describe a difficult programming challenge / bug you worked on and how you managed to solve it
The process started with a slack conversation, followed by a take home code challenge, then phone interview, then paid trial. It was a fun process but very time consuming. The staff was nice, and you were able to join a real Automattic slack channel to talk to employees.