Contrast Security Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

I first met recruiters at a career fair. I also applied online and in person. After that, I had a phone interview, followed by a long-distance technical interview. The human resources team made the process smooth with consistent emails. I didn't encounter any problems and felt respected as a university undergraduate student.

The interview process was great until it abruptly ended. I really liked the company and everyone I met. They seemed to really want me to join, with my main contact practically promising an offer after the take-home assignment and even mentioning a 'verbal offer'. They knew I was interviewing elsewhere and didn't want to lose me. This put a lot of pressure on me to make the take-home perfect, so I spent a lot of time on it, maybe more than I should have, especially with the unclear prompt. I could have asked more questions, but it was a bit awkward going through a point person. I submitted it, thinking it was decent. Then I got a call saying they found someone with more expertise. I was shocked and called my contact, who said my project was 'broken'. They couldn't give me specifics because they weren't technical. I never heard back. I felt hurt and embarrassed because I disagree with their assessment that it was 'broken' and needed 'significant updates'. I think it only needed small documentation tweaks they could have asked me about. Instead, that was the only feedback I got. I deserved better after investing so much time in interviewing and the take-home.

So the first interview was with the director of engineering and one of the engineers on the team. The manager was supposed to be there but was sick so the director stepped in. The second interview, which I thought was the last one, was a panel with 3 team members and the manager. Both were pretty good and surprisingly not super technical. Then about a week later, the recruiter hit me up to set up another 30 minute chat with the manager about 'culture fit'. This felt weird, but I said okay. That interview then got postponed because the manager was sick again. The day before the rescheduled date, the recruiter told me they were going with someone else and that interview shouldn't have been scheduled in the first place... crazy right? The whole process felt super messy and disorganized, like others have said. Honestly, I think I might have dodged a bullet.