Not surprisingly, the actual interviews were very technical, but mostly fair. Questions were mostly "can you figure out this tricky programming puzzle" type questions, which I generally enjoy, so no real surprises or problems here.
The recruiting process, however, was surprisingly unprofessional from the beginning to the end. Things I had to deal with:
- Requests to come in for a 4-hour interview with less than 24 hour notice, and no follow-up confirmation (or response in the one case where I had to reschedule).
- Kept waiting when I arrived 5 minutes before the scheduled time for over 20 minutes, with no apology or explanation
- Handed off between over 5 different recruiters for two positions. Most of the recruiters did not get information from the previous recruiter, so I was requested to send in NDA and employment history information 3 times
- After the interviews were concluded, no one in recruiting contacted me for almost a week. I had to contact them, and they bluntly told me I did not get the job, and that I could re-apply in 1 year.
I'm not bitter about not getting the job (really. I got a nice job with an equally "popular", thriving company shortly thereafter that will remain nameless). I am, however, disappointed with the treatment I received by their recruiting department, given the company's size and reputation. I guess the idea is that since everyone wants to work there, treating people badly makes no difference in the short-term, since there are plenty of other people waiting in line to interview. Long-term, however, assuming their recruiting department continues in this manner, I have no intention of interviewing there again, and I've convinced many other smart friends/co-workers considering this company to not interview as well.