Booj Interview Questions
& Process

First, I had a 30-minute phone screen with the Hiring Manager, which was quick and covered high-level stuff. Then came a coding test that was pretty good, relevant to the company and solvable for experienced folks. The final part was supposed to be a 2.5-hour in-person interview with the whole team, but it ended up being closer to 4 hours. They gave us the schedule beforehand. The problem was that the last two groups, a manager and the owners, didn't really engage. The hiring manager finished their part and tried to fix the awkwardness. It seemed like they weren't consistent on what they wanted in a candidate, leading to a senior offer being changed to a junior to mid-level one. This suggests they don't have much experience hiring engineers. The offer adjustment feels like poor management; they should have just said I didn't fit the senior criteria. The hiring manager was professional and handled it well, and actually convinced me to consider the role despite negative reviews. The team was friendly and knowledgeable, and the atmosphere was relaxed. Booj seems to be going through growing pains and might not be ready for what's needed to improve. We'll see.

The interview process was pretty thorough. First, there was a phone call where they talked about the company and what the job would be like. They asked if I was still interested before we got to the actual interview questions. Then, the second interview was in person and included some tests on-site.

I applied for the role and about a week later, I was asked to complete two tasks: a five-minute video explaining the mobile app's features to a new user and a cheat sheet for Google Calendar. There was no prior call or interview before I received the instructions for these assignments. Typically, I expect some initial HR screening before being asked to undertake such time-consuming activities. I estimate I spent around four to five hours on these tasks. Three days after I submitted my work, I was rejected with a brief explanation stating that another candidate's qualifications were a closer match. The lack of direct interaction and the demand for significant time on unpaid work was quite frustrating. If I encountered a similar process again, I would first reach out to someone at the company to ask my own questions and assess if the role was a good fit before investing time in their requested activities.

First, there was a 30-minute chat with a recruiter, not technical. Then, I had to do a code test. The task was to build a whole app using Laravel and Vue. It was a big test, needing unit tests, jest tests, documenting the API with Postman, and deploying it to the cloud. It took me two days, even though the recruiter said it'd take 2 hours. After I submitted the test, I was told the position was on hold and they were reconsidering. I don't think they even looked at the app since no new user was created in the database. It would have been better to talk to the team first. A 30-minute chat with them could have saved a lot of time. I have 19+ years of PHP experience and did more than enough on the test. I saw other people's submissions on Github, so I know my attempt was good.