Close Frontend Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

I went through 3 out of 4 rounds for this role back in Nov 2023. The interviews were long and impersonal, taking up about 12 hours total. It was a bummer that we never got to meet the team. I was told I didn't make it to the final round because they went with someone with more experience, even though I was told I was a great candidate. The recruiter said they had no feedback to share, just that I was 'very thoughtful and intelligent'. We ended on good terms. I saw the job reposted in Feb 2024 and reached out. The recruiter said there's a year-long cool-off period, which felt weird since I was told I was a great fit. She also said the role is always open, but the job was taken down and reposted, so that wasn't true. Overall, it was a pretty negative experience.

5 rounds total. First, an intro from the hiring contact. Second, a tech interview where we discussed and solved some typical application problems, mostly around web security. Third, a live coding session where I had to implement a small app using one API call, mapping the response and rendering it. Fourth, a behavioral interview with HR. Lastly, a CTO interview focusing on my tech experience.

The interview process involves several technical calls, with a large take-home project in the middle. Close clearly communicates this upfront. Everyone I interacted with at Close was friendly and welcoming, always ensuring I had time for questions, even if we ran over. Some technical questions felt a bit off, pushing for deep knowledge in areas outside my daily work, like in-browser calling or request headers. These worked better when framed as 'I know you might not be deeply familiar with this, but I'm curious how you'd approach it,' rather than trivia. The biggest issue for me was the massive take-home project; its scope was overwhelming and frankly impossible to complete in the given time. Knowing their approach now (fixed time, flexible scope) makes sense, but I wish they had encouraged cutting scope more explicitly, perhaps by referencing Shape Up, which would have helped me manage my time better and avoid spending 50% more time than allocated. Another technical call after discussing the project also felt redundant; it seemed like one of the three technical calls could have been cut. The entire process took a very long time, which worked out for me due to a planned trip, but could be challenging for someone unemployed with other offers.