Boston Dynamics Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process started with an HR phone call where they asked about my salary expectations and a typical day. This was followed by an interview with the hiring manager and an in-person interview. They seem to really want someone with prior robotics experience or the ideal candidate. Be prepared for some on-the-spot statics questions, which can be tough unless you're a recent grad. It felt like an IQ test. I noticed they don't ask questions that evaluate overall experience, creativity, or technical skills as much as they do textbook questions. It's odd because you can look up answers on Google, but you can't Google creativity. The base salary is around the middle of the market.

The whole thing took about 3 weeks and had 3 interview rounds. I talked to HR first, then a senior engineer, and finally a manager and another engineer. After the HR chat, the rest were technical questions, plus talking about the company and the job (and I got to ask my own questions too). It was cool, everyone I met seemed to like their jobs and asked about my plans. HR was also good about replying fast and being upfront about how things would go. Honestly, the smoothest interview process ever.

I applied for a job and they contacted me about a different one. The interview process was pretty basic. First, there was a phone screen with the HR person who reached out. Then, I had a phone interview with the manager. The manager was late to the call and didn't seem to know much about the role. They didn't give me a clear description of the position. The questions were really simple, and the whole interview felt awkward. After I answered, there were long pauses because the interviewer didn't know what else to ask. I'm glad I didn't continue since I got another offer soon after.

The interview started pretty standard, but they let me know upfront I'd need to do a presentation. The person coordinating things was nice and hit me with some tough technical questions about memory busses and stuff. It was a whiteboard session, not a big deal, but maybe not what I expected for this level, even with my hardware/software background. Their projector wasn't working, which ate into my presentation time. I managed to get the presentation going and suggested we save the Q&A for the end because of the delay, and everyone agreed it was a good idea. But then, two out of the four interviewers kept cutting me off, and one asked totally random questions. It was weird, and I got the sense it was on purpose, or if not, that's just how it is. At the end, the lead interviewer said, "Good job, thanks." I asked, "Any questions?" and he replied, "Well, no, because you didn't leave any time for questions!" with this look of disbelief. I didn't explain about the equipment delay or the interruptions; better to just be gracious. I figured right then that if I got an offer, I'd have issues working with some of the team. I saw other comments about the "MIT" vibe and think that might be it. Had lunch with the recruiter and someone else not involved in the interview, which was fine, always good to meet people. They mostly talked to each other, not super rude, but it showed there was no effort to sell me on the role. The employee, not the recruiter, walked me out, another sign. The robots were really cool, though. I got a small tour, and I messed up by joking, "Atlas is sleeping; he sure must be tired from all those videos." I was told off for using a pronoun that personifies it. I get it; they don't do that there to avoid emotional attachment to something that looks human. The team's reaction felt out of line, and I don't think it was intentional, which is concerning.