I submitted my resume and cover letter, and then received a coding assignment. The question was simple yet entertaining. The solution I submitted was correct but not accepted because it was not "Pythonian" enough. If applying, make sure your code is as readable as possible.

Sort of unusually for a hiring process, submitting your application IS the at home coding portion of the process. You have to write a script in golang and then submit that script using a TOTP as part of the HTTP authentication. I know there is a bit of debate about whether coding challenges are a good tool or not (and depending on the amount of time they take I think this is a real concern) but it is a good gateway to a certain extent. I was contacted about having a first interview. This was over zoom and involved 2 engineers and their manager. The conversation went pretty well, but despite being advertised as a company trying to use global practices the interview is very Japanese in its format. No specific problems to solve just a lot of roundtable discussion about your skills and experience plus time to ask them questions. The next day I was notified that I was moving on to the next round. This conversation also went pretty well but I had a sense that I didn't have the exact experience they were looking for. It was exactly the same format as the first interview: 2 engineers and a manager. One criticism I've read on Glassdoor about Hennge is that there is no promotion of non-Japanese workers to management. I can't say if that's true but in my two interviews all the engineers were non-Japanese and both managers were Japanese, so make of that what you will. This is where the process turned frustrating. I did not hear back from Hennge for a week so I reached out to ask about the status of my application. A day later I was told that they had an unusually large number of applications and they would try to get back to me in a few days. The next day the position I was applying for appeared on a recruiting sight again (with the added date after the email I had received stating they had so many applications). If there were so many applications why are they constantly requesting more applicants? I did not hear back for another week and a half so emailed them again and was told that another applicant had more of the experience they were looking for. That's fine, but I feel it was really inconsiderate to not let me know without me reaching out twice over a 2 and a half week period. I'm pretty sure if I had not reached out they never would have let me know. Also, they should screen for the specific experience they are looking for as early as possible so applicants don't waste their time by doing multiple interviews.