Corelight Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process included a Recruiter chat, a Hiring Manager discussion, and a review of my resume. Then there was a System Design interview, and a final round with a Principal Engineer that focused on technical background and coding. I had a good experience with most interviewers, especially the technical code/system design round. However, the final round was a negative experience. When I didn't know the answer to a DSA question, I said so, expecting the interview to end. But the interviewer smirked and asked, 'You can't code?' That condescending attitude was uncalled for and unprofessional. While companies can have high standards, being demeaning to candidates in a power imbalance might show how the company operates.

The recruiter called me, but before we got into my experience, they mentioned they'd looked at my Github and saw not much recent activity. I've been swamped with full-time work, 50+ hours a week, so haven't had time for personal projects for online clout. Then they asked about gaps in my employment history, which I explained were due to two layoffs. After that, they said they weren't sure why they scheduled the call since my almost 5 years of experience didn't meet their 7-year minimum. We didn't discuss projects, tech, or work style. It felt like they don't read resumes and are just wasting people's time.

Corelight reached out to me in early October for the Technical Lead role, and we had our first chat on October 14th. I then interviewed with the hiring manager on the 18th. Following that, I had four interviews, each lasting over 45 minutes, on the 21st. After that, there was another interview on the 25th. From my end, all these conversations went really well, and I felt pretty good about my chances. But that was the last I heard from Corelight, even though I asked for an update on November 3rd. I'm bummed they don't seem to want me, but what's even more disappointing is how they handled things with candidates. After putting in several hours for the interviews, I expected better than just being ignored. Maybe it's for the best since I wouldn't want to work for a company that shows so little respect.