I applied through an employee referral. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Rocket in Feb 2015
Interview
Quicken Loans is a rapidly growing company, and it has an amazing company culture. However, it is NOT a good choice for people in the field of data analytics, especially at the entry level where you want to learn the necessary skills of a modeler/analyst. The compensation is sub-par, so don't expect anyone from a good in-demand grad program to take a technical role in this company. And given their short and dated interview process, I don't expect them to distinguish the good candidates from the bad.
The interview is made up of 2 steps, a phone interview (about 30 minutes) followed by a video or on-site interview (1 hour). I have never seen a company with a more watered down interview process. With anyone else that I interviewed, the on-site interviews lasted about 5 hours with 4-5 different interviewers. I cannot understand how they could really get to know a candidate with just a 1 hour interview.
The interview questions were another big red flag for me as well. As a fresh graduate, I made it very clear on my resume that I do not have much work experience, but they kept nagging me about how I could apply my previous research projects to work at Quicken Loans, etc.. Work experience is important, but that could be accumulated quickly, which I demonstrated through my internship with Quicken Loans 2 years ago. If they really wanted to get to know me better, why not ask more questions about my dissertation research?
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Mostly behavioral questions with very little technical questions.
I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Rocket (Detroit, MI) in Feb 2015
Interview
Three part process:
1. HR interview with a recruiter. Standard personality questions. They were not sure if they wanted to have me apply for Data Analyst, Modeler, or as a Data Scientist. In the end, the recruiter chose modeler.
2. Technical interview with the lead Data Scientist. This was a bit more intense but was more like a conversation. He asked difficult questions but also led me along if I forgot something when I described it.
3. In person interview in Detroit. They shuttle you around the city and make themselves look very good. They talk a lot about how many buildings they own and how important their CEO is. You will get a tour of the city and then you go to the interview with a team. My interview was weird.
One of the team members forgot a pen, I lent him one and then he left about 20 minutes in. They gave me a case study, which I answered. He responded by telling me that my answer was what they already do. The follow-up to his comment was a question about how I get creative.
On my way out the door, the lead data scientist took me down to the car and on the way stopped to show me their pingpong table. He then offered me a ton of drinks and food from their craft services. It was strange. I reminded him I had to fly home so I couldn't take it in the airport with me.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Describe a process to streamline the estimation of a home's value by our team of appraisers?