Celtra Interview Questions
& Process

They really try to seem like a big shot company, but the interviewers didn't really act like it. I've had many good interviews at FAANG companies, and even got offers from two of them. The big difference was that none of those interviewers seemed to have a huge ego. They all knew it was a mutual exploration. This wasn't the case at Celtra, where the two interviewers were incredibly arrogant. They'd ask a question, then a follow-up, then another follow-up, until they ran out of steam and just asked 'what else can you tell me about this?' They also seemed to really enjoy catching you on a technicality. For example, they told me my definition of a higher-order function was wrong. I said it's 'a function that can receive another function as an argument and/or return a function,' and I still don't know why they thought that was incorrect. Anyway, to make a long story short, if you apply here, be ready to deal with some serious Dunning-Kruger effect.

The interview process at Celtra, starting with a conversation with their Sr. Recruiter, was super smooth and thorough. The first chat was mostly the recruiter telling me about Celtra and the job, then they asked about my background. The recruiter was upfront about the interview timeline, especially since it was the start of summer and people were going on vacation, and they were talking to other folks too. I really liked that the recruiter, hiring manager, and interview crew weren't afraid to ask questions that pushed me to think past the usual interview stuff. It was great that people from different roles interviewed me, giving me unique views on the good and bad parts of the job. During the interviews, I learned about the business more than I could from just searching online. While they expected me to know the basics of what the company does, everyone was happy and able to explain where the company is headed and its strategy. After the first round of in-person interviews, I was a bit worried when they asked me to talk to the hiring manager again, but that turned out to be the most useful and eye-opening chat for me to figure out if this was the right job. The hiring manager gave me more details on the job's scope and what she'd expect from the person in this role. Celtra really does a solid job of checking out candidates and making sure they're a good fit for the company.

I applied at Celtra online and through another platform, but since I didn't get confirmation, I used a referral and got an interview. The HR person was great, really open and explained the job well. She thought my resume fit, but noted they were looking for someone junior, which would be a step down for me. I was okay with it, figuring my experience would be valuable. We agreed on salary and moved on. The Team Lead was also cool and went into detail about their work. They asked about my experience and then gave me some scenario-based questions. Next, I had a technical test, which went well. After that, I interviewed with the teammates in the role. They asked more scenario and behavioral questions to check if I'd fit in culturally. I felt good about that chat too. But then, I got rejected. The good thing is they offer a feedback call. I found out they felt I was too senior for the role, which they could have mentioned earlier to save everyone time. I agree with others that the process is too long for a junior role here, not like a big company. They could shorten it to: 1. HR intro 2. Tech test 3. Team Lead and teammates together 4. Decision. My experience was good throughout, though. Maybe I'll try again for a senior role.

I had a phone interview first, and then they said I was picked to come in for an in-person one. They told me I'd meet 4 people, including the CFO, and the interview would be about 2 hours. It ended up being a little over an hour, and I only met 2 people, not the CFO. The Talent Acquisition Director seemed not ready, starting by asking what I knew about Celtra. When they did ask me questions, they didn't seem to listen. Near the end, they told me the CFO and the other person weren't there and just ended it. I didn't hear back after, but I'm not pursuing it anymore. I saw on Glassdoor that people have had bad experiences there.