BenchSci Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

I applied online. A recruiter reached out to me and scheduled the first two interviews: Python Refactoring and System Design. I got an email from the interviewer a few minutes before the interview with a zip file which needed refactoring (they assume you have an environment set up on your machine without communicating this to you in advance). During the interview, he asked to open the project in an IDE and start refactoring. It is a very unstructured and open ended interview. I came out of it thinking I did very well given the unclear instructions and the fact that you can't finish it all within 45 minutes. The system design interview was also conducted in an unstructured way. The interviewer came to the meeting unprepared and took them a while to set up a whiteboard where he could explain the problem. The problem is very specific to BenchSci domain. I got a rejection email a few days after saying that they could provide more feedback on my performance if I ask for it and they will provide it to me within max 2-3 days. I asked for feedback and did not hear back for a week despite following up. After a couple of weeks, the recruiter responded with some poorly written feedback that did not make sense. They only shared the 'areas for improvement' with a few vague bullet points which out of 5, I actually had done 4 of them during the interview (unjust and lousy feedback!). This tells me the interviewers can get away with anything as the process is not regulated. They can let in their buddies and block people they have biases against. I'm glad this didn't work out for me as I wouldn't have wanted to work with these people.

This company's interview process was super quick! If the recruiter likes you, you might get an offer in just two weeks. It was really organized and clear, way better than some bigger companies. First, I had a chat with Talent Acquisition. Then, I did a Coding Challenge. After that, I spoke with the Engineering Hiring Manager, followed by a System Design interview with the Lead and Senior Engineers I'd be working with. The last step was a final call with the Director of Engineering.

I haven't reviewed on Glassdoor before, but I felt I had to share my experience. I had nearly 10 contacts or interviews with BenchSci over the hiring process, and things seemed good. But after 3 months, I started to wonder if they were serious about hiring. A final step was a case study, which needed an NDA. I can't share details, but the case study seemed like a real problem the CTO had. I wasn't sure about tailoring my solution to BenchSci's tech stack because it felt like free consulting. Even though I'd met the CTO twice, I made a presentation deck for the case study, focusing on my strategic planning, technical execution, product delivery, and leadership skills, which seemed to be the point. But at the start of the presentation, the CTO reacted badly because she wanted a solution for BenchSci's stack. It felt like she wanted free advice rather than to test my skills. In my career, this is the first time I've seen such deceptive tactics. It's clear they've done this before, probably using info from these case studies. My advice: avoid this company. Recent layoffs and problems with the CTO suggest it's not worth it.