This will be lengthy because I want to offer the transparency and context I wasn’t given throughout this process and for the interviews themselves. Their interview process as a whole isn’t my specific variety of neurodivergence-friendly. I’ll start by saying that. Everyone is super friendly and understanding throughout the process, which I guess helps?
I applied online and a recruiter reached out to me three days later. The process was described as three rounds - one round with an online HackerRank assessment (three questions: one SQL and two Python), one round with a SQL live-coding interview (1 hour), a Python live-coding interview (1 hour), and a behavioral interview (1 hour), then the last round as an interview with the hiring manager.
I’d like to think I’m pretty decent with math. I counted five different ‘rounds’, not three. That was my first red flag. My second red flag was hearing that the base salary for this role (110k) is well below what other companies are paying, especially considering the skillset they’re looking for.
The third red flag, for me, was the HackerRank assessment. It seemed pretty straightforward, but they state that it should only take a few hours to complete.
If you experience any sort of neurodivergence that deals with anxiety/imposter syndrome, focus, or needing additional contextual information to clarify anything, this will take longer than a few hours to complete. I took the entire 48 hours allowed to complete it.
After I submitted it, they got back to me within a few hours and I was scheduled for the next three interviews. Both live-coding interviews were three days after this, and the behavioral interview was four days after this. (Ex: live-coding interviews were on Thursday, behavioral was on Friday).
This is the point where I did reach out to the recruiter to ask about any accommodations, should I feel like I needed them. This is also when another red flag was raised, for me. I was informed that there aren’t any accommodations offered because it’s a straight-forward/simple process where I’ll answer questions in a Google doc.
I know myself and I know how my brain works. I’m definitely the type of person who gets so anxious under circumstances like this that I might even forget my own name. To make matters worse, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to see any data output to reassure my anxiety, imposter syndrome, etc. I knew at this point that I didn’t want to continue putting effort into the process. Though things moved pretty quickly scheduling-wise, the amount of effort (and -intimate- humiliation) needed for this process for the salary they’re offering didn’t seem worth it anymore.
I felt a little more confident in the SQL live-coding interview than I did in the Python live-coding interview, for sure. But both sets of interviewers stressed that they were trying to understand/assess my thinking process. For both, I joined a Google Meet where I was asked to write queries/scripts in a Google doc in front of two employees. The folks I interacted with for the SQL one were different than the ones I interacted with for the Python one. I’ll also say - though you’re only allowed an hour for each, it’s pretty taxing to do both in one day, especially if you’re at the tail end of your meds window (and not in the same time zone as everyone else). By the time I got into the Python one, my brain was done and all I could do was laugh/try to still be kind. Super humiliating. But, again, everyone was really nice. At this point, I’d already completed my second and final interview and got a verbal offer from a company paying market rate for my experience and skills, so I knew I’d be alright no matter what the result was. I got feedback regarding my live-coding interviews a few hours later, learning that my behavioral interview was cancelled.
This is when I learned I was actually being assessed for my technical knowledge, definition recall, and ability to write the correct query or script in front of someone- not my thinking process. The interviewers stressed that they were assessing my thinking process, which I did my best to explain under the circumstances, but their expectation was actually for me to perform as I would under less anxiety-inducing circumstances. They said they were looking for candidates with stronger SQL and Python skillsets, which implies that I lack such. They have not only my HackerRank assessment, but they also received my references that spoke to my technical acumen. I wouldn’t have survived in any of the roles or accomplished any of the things listed on my resume if I wasn’t ‘skilled’. This is a direct reflection on Doximity’s lack of inclusivity, as a whole, and not a lack of technical acumen on my part. If you want to truly assess someone’s skills, you provide the circumstances to facilitate such. Anything other than that will not yield viable samples to assess. That’s basic logic. If the intention to be more thoughtful and inclusive was there, especially considering the amount of time and effort they want you to invest for the interviewing process, maybe I’d come away from this feeling differently.
Overall, if you’re the perfect candidate, I’m sure you’ll do well here. Again, if you deal with any level of neurodivergence, anxiety, or imposter syndrome, know that this process will be very strange and there are no accommodations that will be offered to you.
