CognitiveScale Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

So the interview process started with a phone screen with the Director of Engineering. After that, I went on-site for a few interviews. It included another short chat with the Director of Engineering, then two rounds with pairs of software engineers. One of those rounds was a technical discussion about JS and web dev, and the other was about backend/infra stuff plus a whiteboard problem. Then I met with QE to talk about my experience with quality engineering, testing, and product management. Finally, I had a wrap-up chat with the Director of Engineering. They seemed more interested in my enthusiasm for the company and the work than just pure technical skills, though there was definitely some technical stuff too. Overall, it was a good experience and I got all my questions answered by the Director and recruiters.

I applied online and the recruiter reached out. First, there was an HR screening to see if I was okay with the job description and if I wanted to do a face-to-face meeting at their office. The phone call was about 45 minutes, and we talked about my past work, projects, and the technologies I've used. If that went well, I was invited for a face-to-face meeting with the lead and manager. The technical panel seemed really relaxed during the interview, not serious about hiring anyone. They just asked questions to see how I'd respond, and if I tried to take charge or disagreed with them, it seemed to upset them, and they'd act like victims. It was a disgraceful experience. In any interview, if a candidate gets 6 out of 10 questions right, they should be considered a good match. But that wasn't the case here. They expected answers to every single question, and if I didn't know, they'd say it was a simple question I missed. It felt sick. I took a day off work for this, and at the end, they just said they weren't moving forward with my application. Their hiring system seems broken. There wasn't a proper technical person on the panel. When I asked about the firm's goals and how they're working towards them, the manager dodged it, calling it confidential and not for 'outsiders.' The term 'outsiders' really annoyed me. They invite you for an interview to hire you, then call you an outsider to your face. Big tech firms share what projects they're working on, but this company hides it. Totally disgraceful. I'm glad I'm not working there.

The interview included a technical part where they looked at my programming basics like time complexity and algorithms, and a behavioral part with general questions about my career.