I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at MongoDB (Austin, TX) in Feb 2026
Interview
The interview process was presented as a four-step process and seemed standard at first. However, I was unexpectedly asked to complete a role-play scenario during the first interview without prior preparation from the recruiter. This created an awkward shift in the conversation.
At the end, I was advised to do more research and reach out on LinkedIn if I decided I truly wanted the role. The overall experience felt somewhat misaligned between the recruiter and hiring managers, and clearer communication would have improved the candidate experience.
I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at MongoDB (Melbourne)
Interview
Went through 3 interviews (acquisition team, hiring manager and another manager) the process was smooth until the end.
- Acquisition team were nice but a little disorganised, nothing out of the ordinary
- Hiring manager was fantastic, it was a shame that I would not be working with him
- Second manager interview was STRANGE. I could not figure out where he fit in the org but when asked he seemed offended and said he would be the manager to this role (which was not true).
He was honestly like a sketchy guy trying to hide something, would not look at the camera, kept looking left and right, clearly was not paying attention to any answers and asked the most irrelevant questions, not to mention the same questions over and over again.
I picked up early on in the interview that he was using the interview as "free consulting", meaning he wanted to use my ideas to improve his team. He spent 30mins asking about how my team "successfully" qualified deals over email when I used that as an example of what was NOT successful at a previous role.
He then booked in an extra 45mins the next day to discuss more ideas I had, step by step how I implemented certain processes. It was the only time he paid attention.
Never heard from them again which I was not surprised about.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell me about a time that you had success in xyz area.