Brocade Interview Questions
& Process

The whole process took just under 3 months from the first interview to my start date. It started with a recruiter call, then the rest of the team interviewed me over a 2-day period and told the recruiter what they thought. I got a verbal offer in December and we set my start date for January. It was a smooth transition. Honestly, interview processes vary a lot by manager and company. This one was much smoother than others I went through around that time with competitors, which made me feel good about the quality of the team I was joining. It really turned out to be an exceptional situation team-wise.

I applied on LinkedIn and the manager reached out within a week. The first call was a 30-minute, super technical phone interview. They mentioned other candidates were in the running and the recruiter would follow up if they were interested. Surprisingly, the manager emailed me directly to set up an on-site interview. The recruiter then contacted me about my availability and said I'd get a confirmation with a rough schedule soon. But, I didn't get that confirmation until the day before, so I had to chase the recruiter down, and after some confusion, the interview was set for the next day. The on-site involved the usual five rounds with the manager and director, all technical – no HR or behavioral stuff. The team seemed cool, lots of folks experienced in SystemVerilog, UVM, Verilog, Perl, etc. One interviewer was really tough, asked challenging questions, and was picky about answers, not my approach. I felt good about the other rounds, though. After a week of waiting, the manager emailed again saying it was down to me and another candidate for a 'tie-breaker' interview. This was another two technical rounds, including the tough interviewer. Two days later, the recruiter finally called to offer me the job. The communication and negotiation with the recruiter were really slow, which was the only downside to an otherwise pretty good and professional interview process.

So, first they called me for an interview for a specific team. I wanted a phone interview with the hiring manager to talk about my profile and see if it was a good fit before going in person. Instead of the manager, an engineer called me. I told him about my experience and skills, and asked him to pass it on to the manager. But it seems like the manager never got the message. They then called me for a face-to-face interview, only to realize my profile wasn't what they needed and sent me home. I felt like I wasted a whole day. The next week, another HR called about a different team. I recounted what happened before and asked them to only proceed with a face-to-face if they were sure. Strangely, the HR and hiring manager were more interested in whether I had another offer or if I would join them if offered, even before interviewing me. The HR mentioned that people from my current company often accept offers but don't show up. I told them clearly that while I didn't have an offer then, I couldn't commit to joining them definitively. They seemed to accept this and called me for a face-to-face. The interview panel was nice and the technical part was good. The hiring manager seemed indecisive and insecure, bringing up the 'any other offer?' question again at the end. I found it irritating that such a company seemed so insecure about people joining. When I asked about projects, the manager defensively commented that people from my company often lack the necessary expertise but expect great work. I didn't react and left after a long day, feeling confident about the interview. Two days later, the HR asked for my payslips urgently, which I sent. Then, they asked about my salary expectations. I gave a figure and mentioned I was open to negotiation. They said they'd get back to me. For over a week, there was no response. Since we were at the salary negotiation stage, I was hopeful about an offer or at least a courtesy update. But there was complete silence, even after I emailed asking for the status. After a few more days, I sent another reminder, feeling I deserved a response given the time and effort invested and reaching the final stage. Finally, they replied that the team didn't select me. I don't understand why they collected my salary documents if I wasn't selected, or why they didn't discuss salary parity if that was the issue. Why not check salary first before a day-long interview? And shouldn't a candidate be informed when they are dropped, rather than waiting in the dark? It seems like they have confused managers and an unprofessional, opportunistic HR team.

Applied online and got referred. Recruiter reached out fast, had a good chat, and then a phone interview with the hiring manager was next. There was a few weeks delay so I followed up with both HM and recruiter. Then, I was told I'd come for an in-person interview. Everyone I met was prepped and nice. Again, no communication after that interview and again a few weeks passed and I followed-up to see about next steps and was told by the recruiter he would look into it. Eventually told they hired someone else. Liked the company and found the recruiter and teams friendly but the hiring process was slow and uncommunicative.