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Shopify Life Story Interview - Reject
Summary
I passed a phone screen at Shopify involving a shopping cart problem with discount strategies, followed by a 'life story' interview about my background, but ultimately received a rejection.
Full Experience
I recently interviewed at Shopify, starting with a phone screen where I was given an easy problem. The task involved calculating the total price of a shopping cart, considering different discount strategies such as 'buy one get one free' for apples or 'buy two get one free' for oranges. I approached this by implementing a method using the strategy pattern. I successfully passed this round.
Next, I moved on to what Shopify calls a 'life story' interview. The recruiter engaged me in a friendly chat about my past, my educational journey, and what sparked my interest in computer science. It wasn't a typical behavioral interview with structured questions, but rather a discussion designed to understand my background.
A few days later, I received an email informing me that they decided to proceed with other candidates, meaning I was rejected. I personally feel this 'life story' interview method can be quite biased, heavily relying on the recruiter's subjective feelings, which could potentially lead to unfair rejections based on non-merit factors.
Interview Questions (2)
Given a list of items with their prices and various discount strategies (e.g., 'apple buy one get one free', 'orange buy two get one free'), implement a method to calculate the total price of the shopping cart. The problem specifically mentioned implementing this using the strategy pattern.
The recruiter conducted a 'life story' interview, which was described as a friendly chat rather than a formal behavioral interview. They asked about my past experiences, educational background, and what initially led me to become interested in computer science.