Cobblestone's Graduate Program For Data Engineers - Everything YOU need to know

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In this blog, I will be more or less, writing about COBBLESTONE. Not only about how its recruitment process is or how it is doing from a business point of view, but I will also be giving you a guide about how you can crack a "really long" series of interviews and whether is it really worth it at the end. We will be covering it all in just a second.

Let me grab my coffee.

What is Cobblestone?

Long term short, Cobblestone is an organization working in electrical trades in the grounds of Europe. Now hold on, everything starts making sense. Electricity trading is a type of trading that corresponds between countries of a specific region. A government or a country with more supply of electricity supplies to those countries with the least supply of electricity on demand.

But if this is a governmental activity and countries participate in it, how can another company benefit from it? Now here comes an introduction to the platform of this electricity trade. There’s a public trading platform common in the Europe market where all the trading is happening. Anyone can participate, buy units of electricity, sell units of electricity and be a broker.

But how can one sell electricity if one doesn’t have one? This is where an introduction to the broker system comes in. If you have 100 Euros to invest in the market and buy electricity at a time when it was cheaper, now you can sell the same units of electricity when the prices go up, getting hard cash out of it. Pretty nice eh? Congratulations, you have understood how cobblestone works.

Taking sips of my coffee.

Uhhhh, but this can’t be this simple. No?

Yes, you are right. There is a lot of data involved in all of these buying, sales, and biddings. And this is where all data analysts come into a place and plot some GOD-level kind of graphs to help the ones who trade (traders).

But where do these graphs come into use, like isn’t it as simple as buying at less and selling at more? No, as we dig down into it deeper, it’s more than that. Because we don’t know what LESS and MORE are. Your LESS can be someone’s MORE and vice versa. So this is where graphs and plots come in to say, “This is real LESS”.

Okay, I got you, but what do the graphs look like? The graphs include various visualizations showing a multitude of factors that assist them in making trading decisions.

and how the cobblestone does this? They have a similar kind of business architecture which is obviously confidential, and I am also under the restriction to talk about it. BUT, they have pretty A LOT OF graphs to see the next possible prices of electricity. Starting from supply curves, demand curves, forecasted demand curves, grid station demand curves, electricity supplies from each resource like water, wind, dams and solars etc. Everything of this is built in-house in cobblestone using the skills I will talk about next.

There goes two more sips of coffee.

Okay, I am getting you, but what are the positions here?

Now that’s something I am going to explain in detail. As we know all the skills that are and will ever be needed by Cobblestone revolves around data. Give me some suffixes there everyone:

• Data Analyst
• Data Engineer
• Data Scientist

Let’s add some more skills that helps Data.

• Python Programmer
• Software Engineer

And final and the most important one for COBBLESTONE will always be,

• Market Trader

Believe me or not, these skills were the only skills at COBBLESTONE (except for HR, obviously they are everywhere). No need for a UI UX designer, or any marketing team.

Last sip of my coffee? There it goes.

Where are they operating from, I saw their opening in my country.

First and foremost, they have their head office in Dubai, UAE, and hence, completely operate from here. But, this is basically a marketing strategy in COBBLESTONE introduced by their HRs to target talent across the globe. They’ve added positions of the skills above in the capitals/main cities of every talented country in technology. That’s why you would see their opening in Toronto, London, New Delhi, and Lahore as well. But, in their job posts, they have always exclusively mentioned that the job will be on-site in Dubai, UAE.

One “Recruitment Process”, Please.

Coming over to the recruitment process, we will move in some steps. Steps leading towards getting into the training program of Cobblestone. Yes, there is a training program before you get into a job role there. If you pass this training program, then you will be opted out for a permanent role there. And DO NOT take this training program easy.

For getting into the Cobblestone, follow the steps here:

Applying for GSE

GSE is called, “Graduate Software Engineer”, which calls for skills other than data and trading jobs. For e.g. Python Developer, and Software Engineer comes under this. There will be the following stages to getting into these positions:

1. Applying through their official website, LinkedIn or Indeed. All of these platforms are completely active from COBBLESTONE. And you will get to hear from the HRs here within a week.
2. After initial screening, you will get an email for their SELECTION TEST 1. This test is more of an IQ test than a field-specific test. The test has 3 sections i.e. Numerical Reasoning and Analytical Thinking, Visual Reasoning, and a deadline of 3 days. There are 20 questions to be completed in 30 Minutes.
3. After clearing SELECTION TEST 1, there will be another selection test 2. The test has 2 sections i.e. Numerical Reasoning and Logical Reasoning and a deadline of 3 days. There are 23 questions to be completed in 29 Minutes.
4. After clearing both of the tests, you will be directed to an HR interview. This will be a short (10 – 15 minutes) chat to walk you through their recruitment process and answer any questions you may have. There is nothing specifically that you need to do to prepare for this chat. But still, you should prepare your 4-5 questions for this interview as 2 of my friends were disqualified after this HR interview.
5. Invitation to Round 1 screening will pop up in your email after all the above steps. This is a screening interview. There will be some questions related to python basics (which require some coding) and SQL basics. There will be 3 questions for each of these sections and do expect a medium-level difficulty.
6. After clearing the above round, there will be a CODILITY CODING test. 1 hour for 3 questions. Again, a mediocre level of difficulty. Need to score at least 60% to pass this stage. This percentage is subjective to each individual, so it was 60% for me, but can be different for your application.
7. Finally, the TECHNICAL INTERVIEW stage will be a 60-minute interview to assess your technical skills and coding expertise.
8. Obviously, find yourself selected and cheer yourself with a cold margarita if you receive a call for the CULTURAL FIT interview from the company. Still, this can be a longer interview, often surpassing 1+ hour. This is it, if you cleared this final interview out, the next email from COBBLESTONE will have a document attached with it.

Applying for Other Positions

Other positions may have different tests and/or interview stages depending on role requirements. The entire process shall be clarified to you in your first interview with the team

Ahhhh, badly need another coffee, let me grab one.

So, what this training process is like?

This is the most important stage of getting a high-paying job at Cobblestone. Without passing the training program (They call it Cobblestone Training Program i.e. CTP), your contract never gets active. This CTP basically comprises 7 days of fast-paced training, going you through their software, techniques, bidding practices, graphs, analytics, market knowledge, and everything else.

So, no orientation? Oh, I missed that part. You will have an orientation of the teams, office, and job on the very first day of the training. And don’t forget to treat yourself to an office lunch during the orientation as well.

And how are they going to test our results? That’s the most critical part of the orientation. You will have 3 tests throughout the training program. No matter what position have you applied for, you will have the same number of tests, the same questions in the test, and the same syllabus for the training program. And this is what I think is Cobblestone lags a bit.

In my honest reviews, a person with a Computer Science background will also have to learn all the trading and compete with the people with finance/data/trading backgrounds. I think there is some space where some improvements can be made. But a few words from the CEO of COBBLESTONE regarding this also revealed the reason behind it. The management at COBBLESTONE believes it is critical for tech team members to understand the basics of trading to be able to make valuable contributions to the team, hence exposure to the trading operations is deemed important for even tech candidates

To pass through this training program, you should have a satisfactory result in every test to continue the training program.

The final verbal test includes the senior team testing you on all your concepts learned throughout the 5 days – you’re not required to do any practical trading, but you should have a strong grasp of all concepts and have solid logic behind your answers. Because this is what Cobblestone has sponsored you for. This is the only thing that they need from any applicant here. So be prepared for it before you even start the training.

How, like how to prepare for it beforehand? Don’t worry, they will provide you with pre-reading material before the training session. Go through it at least two times to have less stress during the training. So you will have enough time to prepare for it, as they send this material about 14 days before your training starts. So there, now you have it all to ace the program.

Worth it?

Taking sips from my coffee, this one is darker.

Yes, I will pretty much recommend this all to you, reading this to get into COBBLESTONE. Not just the final salary will make up for it, but the experience and exposure you get will pay for it. These will be the perks you will get after receiving an offer letter from COBBLESTONE to get a full-time role there:

1. A return ticket from your country to back to your country. The tickets will also be from a supreme airline, mine was EMIRATES.
2. A visit visa for Dubai, UAE
3. Company-sponsored stay in a top-rated hotel apartment for the duration of the training with complimentary breakfast. In my specific scenario, I enjoyed 10-day access to MERCURE Hotel (1BHK) for the duration of my training.
4. A daily stipend to cover your basic costs for the duration of the CTP
5. Access to a company account of UBER/Careem for traveling to and from the office. A perfect time to ride in TESLA.
6. The best thing, you will get a 2-month accommodation from the office if you pass the training program. You can also keep your visa if you do not pass the training program. You can also skip your return to your country and keep on living in Dubai till your visa expires OR you find another job.

So take it as an opportunity to find a career in data and trading with world-class traders, or just use it for visiting Dubai, it’s your call. But, the opportunity is worth all the pain.

A sip of my coffee.

How does it feel to work at Cobblestone Office?

The office not only presents a unique look itself but is also located at the richest locations in Dubai i.e. Jumeirah Lake Towers. Search it on google and you can see all the beauty. The office is basically a floor of a whole tower in this beauty, with a view of Jumeirah Lake.

So an office with a view? Yes, you will see that. Not just the Jumeirah presents its beauty, but the office also has all the aesthetics and mind-refreshing looks, enhancing creativity during work and fun during break. A 45-minute break from 1300-1345 hrs. Refer to all the beauty of the office below:

So this was all from my side. If you need any material regarding the application or anything else about their recruitment process, do not forget to comment or reach out at my email. Finally, do not forget to support us by sharing this article with anyone who is looking toward working at Cobblestone Energy DMCC.