Shopify Interview Questions

Started out great but became drawn out, disorganized and rude. Whole process started great, the life story portion was a fun 2 way conversation, then moved to 3 technical/experience interviews over a span of a month and a half. None of the people I interviewed with were able to tell me what the next steps would be, when they would were looking to fill the posting by and that I would have to reach out to the first person I interviewed with for that info (HR). When asking about the culture I got the same canned response from each person "its just amazing!". When I asked for more details they just kept saying “it’s just amazing and such a people first business” - “its just amazing". During the whole process I was consistently told what I am a perfect fit for the role, the top candidate and how much they think I would fit in and be a great addition. After the "final" interview I was told to reach out to HR if I had any questions but should hear very back soon - great right….? As the weeks went by I never heard back from Shopify and each of the 4 follow up emails I sent (for any updates) over the last 2 months went unanswered and ignored - I was ghosted which considering the fact that I took the time to meet with Shopify on multiple occasions over the span of a month an a half it is incredibly rude, inconsiderate and unprofessional to ghost a job candidates. I can also understand that the first follow up email might get ‘lost’ or the person forgot to write back, but not responding to 4 emails is just willful and it’s obvious you’re just ignoring the person, which again is unprofessional and rude and speaks a lot to your “people first approach” - no matter how “busy” you are it doesn’t take much to send out a one liner acknowledgement with anything like “we’re still in the process”, “thanks for following-up but we don’t have any answers yet”…..anything is better than simply ignoring people - it’s rude and unprofessional. On that note we all know that not everyone who shows up for an interview is going to get the job but when people take the time out of their busy days to prep and show up for multiple interviews the least you can do is send a templated "thanks but no thanks" rejection letter as a common courtesy. But I guess none of that matters to the people working there, because "it's just amazing"

Have you ever looked at the recruitment team at Shopify on LinkedIn? I’ll give you a hint. You’ll see lots of homogenous folks and after you click through the names it’s easy to guess what kind of person they’re looking to hire. The Life Story interview is an excuse to focus on someone’s appearance and whether or not you connect with them socially versus the actual skills they bring. There is no way to actually analyze someone’s skills and qualifications if you’re not going to let them talk about it. Hopefully your discriminatory practices catch up to you eventually.

30 Min Screening Call - Initial HR screening call Lifestory - check out their website, basically, a full life story and time for you to "brag" about your achievements on what you got to where you are today. Team Lead Call x 2 - Both 1 hr calls with a manager level. Very conversational with typical interview questions.

Applied online and received an invite from a recruiter in 2 weeks to schedule a coding exercise. The coding exercise is pretty simple, they are just looking to understand if you can code. Doesn't matter that you get to a solution. The interviewer was very friendly and guiding me along the way to get to the solution. Round 2: After clearing the coding exercise, I was invited to a Life story interview for one hour with the recruiter followed by a management life story interview with a Senior Dev Manager for one hour. The life story exercise is similar to what others have mentioned - you talk about your life journey and you can control this conversation from where you like. Focus on how you get here while demonstrating Shopify values along the way citing examples if you can. The management life story focuses on your management experience. Standard questions around performance management, coaching and strategy. Round 3: After clearing the life story round, I advanced into the final technical interviews. There are 3 technical interviews - first one is a pair programming exercise. You will share your IDE on Google Hangouts and work through the problem with the interviewer. The interviewer was again helpful in guiding me to a working solution. The problem is pretty simple, but focus on how you'd build a time and space efficient solution. Work through your approach with the interviewer before you start coding. The second tech interview is a deep dive on a technical project you've worked on. I'd suggest finding a project that involves a full stack if possible with integrations to other systems. The third tech interview is a technical problem solving exercise which is a system design session. The problem is very focused, so you don't have to build out a full design. There is a trick in the requirement which I will post in the interview questions below which you'll have to be aware of. You'll be using Google Jamboard to draw the design and jamboard doesnt' have all shapes to be able to draw fast. So I suggest using a tablet with a stylus if you can to draw the design as using your mouse to draw shapes takes time. A suggestion for Shopify is to provide the problem statement 15 minutes before the interview so candidates can formulate their thoughts and draw the design before the interview so the interview discussion is more productive. Without a white board and not having the right remote tools, this is a better way to conduct a system design interview. Overall, a fantastic candidate experience. All interviewers were genuinely interested in the discussion and want you to succeed.

Glacial is the best way to describe it. Got an invite for the "life story" interview on April 28. I immediately went to schedule it, and the first available date was almost two weeks away (May 10, I believe). It occurred early in the week and I was told I would hear by the end of the week about next steps. Three weeks later, I receive a strange email about how they have "filled our available positions much faster than expected." Given it took 7+ weeks to do what amounted to a basic HR interview, which I'm sure was only step one of probably 5 or 6, and that was apparently fast, I shudder to think how long their full process takes. I also found the email disingenuous; if a candidate who applied at the same time as me was hired, then that candidate was rushed through the process while everyone else was delayed and strung along. Basically, if you're really interested in Shopify and don't have any other prospects, I'm sure you can hang around for their opaque, months-long process. Otherwise, it doesn't seem worth the time and effort. I suppose the best thing I can say is they didn't ghost me, a low bar indeed.

I applied to the position with a referral from an ex-colleague that thought I'd be a great fit for the role. I applied using the normal form, answering CS response prompts and setting up an online store. I also used a strongly focused cover letter and detailed resume. I applied late at night and received an interview invitation by first thing the following morning when the expressed turnaround time on application response was typically 1-2 weeks, if at all, indicating above average interest from the company. I then set up my remote interview, and prepared by researching the role in further depth until my interview date. I was impacted by covid and was excited to have some luck with getting an interview for the first time in months. The first interview was expressed by the recruiter to be an informal interview to get to know me better and learn about my story. He was aloof, casual, and did not ask technical probing questions. The interview went off without a hitch. We discussed my work history, my hobbies, expanded on my unique career experience and seemed to really get along without any indications of awkwardness or hesitation. I'm usually very good at reading people after nearly 20 years in customer service, which is why the next part surprised me. I received an email back the next day after the interview with a rejection. This didn't make a lot of sense given to the urgency of the interview (presumably based on both my on-paper qualifications and the referral of a current employee) as well as the overall tone of the conversation being positive and easy going. By all parameters, I think I had a reasonable impression. I emailed the recruiter, who I later discovered had only become a recruiter in the last 2 months, and asked for some constructive input so that I could honestly focus on improving in future interviews. The response I received was contradictory and absurd, and I say that without a sense of arrogance of entitlement. In the same email I was told how I was creative, experienced, had strong problem solving skills, project management skills and was capable of performing the job, except that I came across as too formal, too rehearsed and too nervous. He added that the conversation sounded like a sales pitch and that my interview jitters held me back. I was told to focus on telling my story less, with strong emphasis. This criticism was immediately followed by an explanation that the interview is really about going with the flow and "really teaching us about your story." As you can tell, this recruiter's story doesn't add up. Additionally, my friends and and work contacts (including supervisors and peers) have all described me as approachable, laid back and authentic, so this contrary feedback was hard to understand. I questioned the process and my conclusions were as follows: The recruiter understood the job posting, but clearly didn't have the experience to be a recruiter or judge of character, which is going to be extremely problematic for the company moving forward. If someone qualified for a customer service job shows up and puts too much care and effort into an informal interview by showing excitement and character, then it's a warning sign that the company is hiring the wrong recruiters, or that the hiring process is inherently flawed and counter intuitive. It doesn't matter how qualified you are on paper. It doesn't even matter who you have to vouch for you. Ways to easily earn a rejection include acting like you want the job, preparing for the job, taking the job seriously, being well-spoken, having confidence, knowing yourself, speaking too often, not speaking enough, being slightly nervous, being too positive, being too upbeat and having the recruiter not like you for reasons that are beyond comprehension. If you're reading this as an applicant: Save the stress. Try somewhere else, and if you do get rejected, know that it probably isn't your fault, and you're likely better off elsewhere.

Lengthy (around 8 rounds in total) but a good chance to meet the wider team for culture fit. The whole process took longer than I expected up to about three months from initial phone screen call.

Applied online and received an invite from a recruiter in 2 weeks to schedule a coding exercise. The coding exercise is pretty simple, they are just looking to understand if you can code. Doesn't matter that you get to a solution. The interviewer was very friendly and guiding me along the way to get to the solution. Round 2: After clearing the coding exercise, I was invited to a Life story interview for one hour with the recruiter followed by a management life story interview with a Senior Dev Manager for one hour. The life story exercise is similar to what others have mentioned - you talk about your life journey and you can control this conversation from where you like. Focus on how you get here while demonstrating Shopify values along the way citing examples if you can. The management life story focuses on your management experience. Standard questions around performance management, coaching and strategy. Round 3: After clearing the life story round, I advanced into the final technical interviews. There are 3 technical interviews - first one is a pair programming exercise. You will share your IDE on Google Hangouts and work through the problem with the interviewer. The interviewer was again helpful in guiding me to a working solution. The problem is pretty simple, but focus on how you'd build a time and space efficient solution. Work through your approach with the interviewer before you start coding. The second tech interview is a deep dive on a technical project you've worked on. I'd suggest finding a project that involves a full stack if possible with integrations to other systems. The third tech interview is a technical problem solving exercise which is a system design session. The problem is very focused, so you don't have to build out a full design. There is a trick in the requirement which I will post in the interview questions below which you'll have to be aware of. You'll be using Google Jamboard to draw the design and jamboard doesnt' have all shapes to be able to draw fast. So I suggest using a tablet with a stylus if you can to draw the design as using your mouse to draw shapes takes time. A suggestion for Shopify is to provide the problem statement 15 minutes before the interview so candidates can formulate their thoughts and draw the design before the interview so the interview discussion is more productive. Without a white board and not having the right remote tools, this is a better way to conduct a system design interview. Overall, a fantastic candidate experience. All interviewers were genuinely interested in the discussion and want you to succeed.

The recruiters were super friendly and the overall experience was extremely positive; very responsive team and kept me in the loop about each stage ( was a long process but didn't feel confusing or overwhelming). having worked in TA for years I could tell they value candidate experience.

Phone screen - the recruiter called me for a 15 minute call however they called me 5 minutes late and I felt very rushed. Otherwise though the recruiter was very nice and I would still love to work for Shopify.