GitLab Backend Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

My interview with GitLab was a real letdown and felt like a huge waste of time. The whole thing was quite long, with a bunch of steps: applying, a quick chat, a test, and then a technical interview. I actually got through all of them, which made me think things were going well. But then, in the team interview, they told me I didn't get the job because I didn't have enough experience with LLMs. This was super annoying because my resume, which totally shows my deep Computer Vision background, was right there for them to see from the start. My AI skills, especially in CV, are pretty obvious, and I figured AI skills can be used in lots of different areas. To make things worse, it turned out the person they hired was actually from another team inside GitLab. If that was the plan all along, it makes no sense why they'd put external people through such a long and tough process just to reject them for stuff they could have seen from the beginning. This whole thing makes me wonder how efficient and open GitLab's hiring is. It felt like my time and effort weren't valued, and the reason they gave for the final choice didn't really match what they initially said they were looking for.

The interview process took longer than advertised to even get the first interview after initial contact, as the recruiter had blocked out two weeks for scheduling. The first screen interview happened three weeks after first contact, followed by a tech interview a week later. The process stopped two days after that. Both interviewers were nice. I couldn't say why I didn't advance to the final stages; if I'm being generous, I'd say it was just random chance due to their applicant volume. Despite their intentions, the interview process is pretty standard for most tech/coding jobs: a lengthy, multi-week (or month) process with code testing that is ambiguous and doesn't really test your experience, only your current abilities.

I put in my application online after seeing the job posting on LinkedIn. The initial application had some technical questions. A technical recruiter from GitLab then got in touch to schedule a screening call. After that, I was asked to set up a time for a technical interview and was given access to a GitLab repo for a Ruby on Rails project, with instructions to comment on anything noteworthy. Since I've worked with Ruby for a while and currently use GitLab, I felt pretty good about it. But, it seems the role really needs deep Ruby on Rails knowledge, as I was told about 20 minutes in that a strong Rails background was essential. So, I'll need to brush up on Rails before I try again. GitLab is a fantastic product, and I'd love to work there someday. The technical interview and recruiters were nice and helpful.