1hr Hiring manager interview
4hr Take-home project
2x 1hr Technical interviews with engineers
1hr Behavior interview with management
Take-home project was excellent and, from what I could tell, based on on-the-job expectations.
First tech interview was okay, a bit jam packed and rapid fire, but not difficult.
Second interview was a different story. I was asked to design system X within a 15min time window. I can't fathom how that is in any way a fair assessment of my skills. Requirements definition should take 5mins of conversation at minimum.
When I tried to slow it down, I was pushed to answer Database design particulars...how can I design a ERD or database without any rationale (i.e. requirements or assumptions) to justify the design choices?
I was reduced to spouting buzzwords with one sentence rationale for each. Exactly what every interview guide tells you NOT to do.
Aside from the frustrating system design experience, I think the rest of the interview process was fair and focused a bit on on-the-job skills. I appreciated that.
The total time investment was 9hrs that lasted over the course of 2.5 weeks.
Thats a bit too many hours only to receive a rejection.
