Improving Interview Questions
& Process

Got contacted by a recruiter on LinkedIn who laid out the whole interview process. It took about three weeks because we had to reschedule a couple times, but they communicated well the whole time. First, I had to do an online coding assessment and submit my code on GitHub. Then, I had two technical interviews. After passing those, I had a chat with HR, and then they made the offer.

The initial communication with the recruiting team was fine, but the technical part of the process doesn't make much sense for experienced people. The good things are that the recruiters are nice and keep you updated. The initial system design talks were good for showing technical knowledge. The bad things are: they made me do the same coding and system design tests again, just in a different language (Python instead of Node.js). This seems unnecessary. They should trust that a senior candidate can solve problems and design systems, regardless of the programming language. Making senior people repeat the same tests just because of a language change is tiring and a waste of time. Professionals with 10 years of experience should have their time respected. My suggestion is: trust the architects and problem-solvers. If someone is good with one tech, don't make them do pointless extra steps.

The interview process was pretty simple. It started with a recruiter screening. During this call, they make it clear that the salary range for engineers in Latin America is significantly lower than for those in the US. Next, there was a technical interview and a take-home assignment, which I completed. After waiting for about a week, the recruiter got back to me with some feedback. It was quite vague, and rather than pointing out specific weaknesses or areas for improvement, it felt like the tech lead who reviewed the assignment either couldn't articulate their feedback clearly or just didn't care enough to do so.

I got referred by someone who works there. A recruiter called me and we chatted for about 30 minutes about the company, salary ranges, and the types of positions they were hiring for. We also went over my background and experience. After that, a panel of people called me for a technical screening, where we mostly talked about specific things from my past work and some technical subjects. Then, I was invited for an onsite interview with a tech lead. During that, I was asked technical questions that they expected me to know and we discussed different kinds of problems and how to solve them.