Databricks Senior FDE Interview Experience — Cold Recruiter Screen, Rejected Before I Parked the Car

Databricks·Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE)·May 2026
HR ScreenSenior+Rejectedmedium

Databricks recruiters are really arrogant.

I took the recruiter's call today while driving to the office, and it turned out to be the right call — I didn't waste much time.

I'd honestly forgotten when I casually applied for this senior FDE role. Right off the bat she asked, coldly:

"Where are you located, specifically which city?" I said I was in the Bay Area — I was worried that naming a specific city wouldn't mean anything to her — but she said I had to name the city to validate my resume. Total eye-roll.

"Why did you apply for this position?"

"Why do you think you're a fit for this position?"

"What do you know about Databricks?" For the earlier questions I was still talking confidently, but this one I froze up on and just made something up on the spot.

When she let me ask a question back, I asked if this was a new position. She said the original data engineer team had over 100 people, and they'd just changed the profile to look for someone full-stack. I honestly didn't understand what that move was about.

Then right after I finished parking I got the "sorry" email. Honestly, it really was mutual — neither of us was into it. Every extra minute talking would've felt like a waste of life.

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Curated and edited by PracHub

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Interview at a glance

Company
Databricks
Role
Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE)
Level
Senior+
Rounds
HR Screen
Outcome
Rejected
Difficulty
medium
Interview date
May 2026
Questions from this interview
1 question

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