Catalyte Interview Questions
& Process

I went through 2 rounds of interviews. First was a screening with the engineering manager, and the second was a panel review with the whole team. It was pretty conversational, touching on technical topics, and they also looked at my portfolio.

I applied online and right away got an email to do a screening test. It had parts for math, English reading, aptitude, and stuff. It took me more than an hour. After that, I got an email saying I passed and that they only set up interviews when they have a client opportunity. A month later, they emailed me for an interview, but then canceled it on the day. When I asked why, they said my location didn't match the project. I said I could move, but they weren't having it. It felt like a waste of time since nothing came of it. Plus, the job had a 25-month contract and paid very little. I don't recommend applying.

A recruiter from Surge reached out about a role. I told them I didn't fit because I lacked the required work experience. The recruiter then sent me a link to a long, multi-page online skills assessment on their site covering tons of tech stacks, and asked me to complete it. I found that odd, as legitimate companies don't usually do that. After a week of me not doing it, the recruiter reminded me to submit the questionnaire if I was still interested. So I did. They then scheduled a 1-hour technical video interview. I was told I did well and to await further steps. A week passed with no response. I did some digging and confirmed my suspicions: the company seemed to be collecting resumes, recorded interviews, and test results, possibly to sell to third parties, using job prospects as bait.

After passing a 2-hour assessment, I was invited for an interview that took place 3 days later. The interview itself was about 30 minutes long and included STAR questions, questions about my strengths and weaknesses, and queries about my study habits and teamwork skills. Unfortunately, I never heard back from them. I have no clue what happened. I sent a standard thank you note and followed up after a couple of weeks, but received no reply. It's really rude and unprofessional to leave candidates in the dark and then ghost them when they follow up. It takes minimal effort to send a rejection email, and not doing so is inexcusable. I did check my spam folder, and nothing was there. It was a bad experience and a huge waste of time, which was extremely frustrating. However, I feel like I might have dodged a bullet if this is how they treat candidates.