**Application**
I applied directly through the employer's website.
**Interview**
The whole interview took about roughly a month primarily because of my availability as I was inundated with a lot of work meetings (current work). So, on my accord, some of our meetings got pushed around and hence the delay.
The team that handled my recruitment was amazing and very prompt with responding back to my emails and highly accommodating, even when I had to cancel meetings almost at the last minute.
Four rounds:
1. HR Screening (Getting a general sense of your candidature).
2. Pair Programming (Test TDD and problem solving capabilities)
3. Non-Technical (Test culture fit via conversation starter card deck)
4. Technical (Test breadth and depth of software development proficiency, ability to articulate past projects clearly from a technical standpoint)
After you clear all the above rounds, you'd get a call from the person assigned to you from the coordination team. This is basically like a feedback round where the both of you can exchange feedback and finally you hear the verdict. I wish you well and hopefully you hear the good news.
That's it, you're all set. You'll receive a promotional offer document, if you like it and give the green signal, you'll get the official offer document in a day or two. I got it the next day. This is unique to the office that is processing the document, so please do not panic if your timeline does not match mine. You're so close to being a TWer, hang in there.
Now for those of you who want to know a bit more about the rounds,
**HR Screening Round (~30 minutes)**
Brief introduction about yourself structured in the below format:
* an introduction about your company,
* the industry they are in, revenue numbers (lends a sense of scale) if you know,
* the team you lead or belong in,
* going over the tech stack and
* finally a one liner or a very succinct summary of your current project(s).
**Pair Programming (~90 minutes)**
* You're expected to familiarize with the codebase and be ready to tackle implementing features based on user stories that are presented in a Trello board, along with apparel sizes like medium, large, XL, etc.., (indicator of time and effort required).
* Firstly, setup the environment as mentioned in the email using an IDE of your choice and do _not_ do this during the interview. While working with the codebase during the interview, feel free to use keybindings to seamlessly navigate the codebase.
* If you have used TDD, build the feature using TDD, if not, learn about it and practice before you attempt this. Enterprise solutions are put through the gauntlet and rigorously tested. So it is of no surprise for the interviewer to expect this. This ranks highly amongst the list of skills being tested. Apologies for going on about this, please know that this is quite important.
* Think out loud and explain the rationale behind your decision, this helps immensely.
* The expectation is not whether you're able to complete implementing the feature(s) rather your problem-solving skills and your ability to effectively navigate through the codebase with relative ease.
* This perfectly leads to the last piece of tip, when getting acquainted with the codebase, make a mental note of all critical entry points or pathways, as this will help you immensely with navigating the code. Please note that this may be different for different frameworks or applications but you get the point.
**Non-Technical Conversation(~60 minutes)**
Culture fit is tested here. A deck of cards is presented in a grid. You get to pick and choose the ones you like. There are essentially three categories:
* how you'd interact with your team,
* your learning style and
* company culture and social issues
The interviewer would ensure that you pick roughly the same number of cards from each of these categories. Answer in earnest, as this helps determine both for you and TW whether the both of you are compatible. Remember to jot down events that you've been a part of in the past, with regards to social issues and voice out clearly how you feel about the issue. There are many initiatives within the organization to participate in the social issues that you care about deeply. If you're interested ask the interviewer, they are more than happy to talk about this.
**Technical Conversation (~60 minutes)**
Take notes of your past projects that you found interesting or when you rolled out a challenging project. This would present abundant opportunities to deep dive into the
* technology you used,
* the reasoning behind it,
* how you solved it (explain in detail, you can leave out sensitive information, if any) and
* go over the architecture,
* challenges faced and
* how you solved it.
Excitement and deep technical know-how is tested here.