Buoy Health Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

Applied online, got contacted a while later. The whole thing from start to offer took about a month. First up was a phone screen with an engineer, where they asked some basic background stuff and I learned about the company. Then, a coding challenge and some more Q&A. After that, I had to do a full-stack project in 24 hours. The project was totally doable in that time. They also ask you to reflect on what was hard, easy, and what could be better, which is good because your project won't be perfect given the short time. I think they judged my project fairly. Then, I went for an on-site interview in NYC. It was a bunch of 1-on-1s with different people, like co-founders, engineers, and designers. The on-site was really chill, I felt comfortable. Got the offer a week after.

It was a pretty typical process: first a recruiter screen, then a hiring manager screen, followed by a HackerRank challenge, and finally a non-technical half-day onsite with different managers. It took over a month because responses after each stage were about a week. Some parts were a bit messed up, like the HackerRank challenge was supposed to be 24 hours but ended up being 2 hours.

The interview process was really a waste of time, and their hiring process is incredibly incompetent. What they advertised in the job ad is not what they actually want. The first phone screen wasn't even with HR, but with someone from finance, which is a bad sign. This person basically agreed with all my concerns and moved me forward. The next phone screen was with the Director of Engineering, who discussed my experience. You really need to ask them directly what they're looking for in the current role because the job ad is completely different from their actual needs. The ad I applied to was for someone with React and Python experience for building REST API endpoints, typical web app stuff. But apparently, they wanted someone who is an expert in creating novel algorithms, AI research, and has an ML background. That's a totally different job! The Director even admitted they've been rewriting the job ad for six months, another red flag. I doubt any competent ML or AI person would choose to work here over a real research lab. It seems like they're just using marketing buzzwords without knowing what they actually need, which is terrible if the Director doesn't know how to write a proper job ad.