The interview process started with a phone screen which was quite thorough but the recruiter was incredibly nice and pleasant to talk to. The next step was the on-site interview which was 5 people in 30 minute increments who were all asking the same type of questions - mainly why do you want to work in programmatic advertising. I had come in through an employee referral and had met a few of the other traders in passing. I was coming from a background in finance and became interested in ad tech through a friend and went along consuming as much as I could about the space. Be advised, most of the information is proprietary and new. The interview almost seemed like they didn't want me there or were interested in my background. 3 of the 5 people I interviewed with had no idea what The Trade Desk was prior to joining, by their own admission. 4 out of 5 of them were congenial. I was passionate about joining this company but ultimately, the note I received back was that they wanted someone who was looking to work just there and not ANY job. So, I was penalized for being in the job search. One of the managers openly scoffed at the idea that transparency was important so even to their "core values;" all of that preparation was for nothing. If you aren't recruited directly for a role here, you have no chance of getting a job working as a trader.

So far pretty straightforward: Recruiter screening -> interview with hiring manager -> data presentation -> in-person interviews with different team members. Everyone has been really nice and helpful. Nervous about the data presentation portion.