Applied on GitLab's career page and a day after I was invited for the first screening with a recruiter (30 minutes). Standard questions about my current role, salary expectations, why I wanted to join GitLab, why I wanted a new job, my experience. I also got a chance to ask questions.
After this I was invited for three interviews:
Peer interview:
Interview (45 minutes) with one of the product designers and a "shadow" that was under training. Same initial questions as the first interview, but more focus on design process, UX research, past experience. Also about 10-15 minutes for questions in the end. Very easy going, informal and relaxed experience.
Manager interview:
Interview (45 minutes) with a UX Manager from one of the Stage Groups. Began with the same questions as the previous interviews, but focused more on process, behavioural and STAR questions. Also time for questions at the end and we actually talked a little over an hour.
UX Director interview:
Really nice talk with GitLab's UX Director (about 50 minutes) about my experience, current role, why GitLab and so on. She asked me to walk her through a case from my portfolio, which was a little surprising as I hadn't planned for this (this is also not stated in the Handbook). So I had to make a quick decision on what case to talk about, and eventually it went well. However, if I had time to think about it I would perhaps have made a more compelling case. We also discussed what Stage Group at GitLab I would like to join if I got the chance.
About a week after the interviews I received an email from the recruiter with relevant feedback and a reason why I wasn't offered the postion.
Keep in mind that all the interviews are conducted via Zoom with video and there will be no in-person interviews. So make sure you have a stable internet connection and that you sit in a quiet and comfortable room.
I am based in Europe, but all my interviews besides the first one was with people in the US. So I did my interviews very late in the evening around 20:30 - 23:30. This is really not optimal as it's hard to perform and be super sharp after a long day at work. However, GitLab gives you the opportunity to schedule your availability, but with most on the team in the US you don't really have a choice to do it earlier. It would've been nice to talk to somebody from the EU due to the time difference.
Remember that you can read basically everything about GitLab, their processes, values, etc. in the Handbook that's available on their website. So it's a good idea to prepare your interviews and your questions by going through the relevant chapters.
Overall a very nice experience with good, timely and honest communication from the UX team and recruiters.
