Lumentum Operations Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process was pretty chill and like a conversation. I made sure to ask questions that weren't super technical, focusing more on seeing the candidate's real curiosity, what drives them, and if they're genuinely into optics and photonics stuff. This way, we could just have an open chat where they could show their excitement and how they think, instead of just spitting out facts they memorized.

The whole thing took over a month. It started with a call from HR, then I had two more interviews with the actual team and the hiring manager. There were big gaps between those two. It was kind of weird because when they talked about the job description, they didn't really know it well and couldn't answer my questions about it. The hiring manager also seemed a bit lost on the timeline, as they never knew what it was when I asked at the end of our interviews. They also don't give any feedback, just the automated rejection email, which is a bummer for an entry-level role, but I get it. On the bright side, most of the people seemed nice!

After submitting an application, there are 4 steps in the interview process. First, HR or Talent Acquisition will call you for a phone screen. I felt the TA did a really good job taking care of candidates throughout the whole process. Next, I had an online interview with a manager and a senior engineer. If I passed this, the manager arranged an on-site interview with the entire team, which felt like a discussion in a teamwork setting. Lastly, there was another online interview with team members we collaborate with.

The interview process started with a group video call with Lumentum's Staff Engineering Team and a Manager. They asked questions about logical thinking and optimizing code. The manager then sent a coding challenge link where I had to write code in a language of my choice. This was followed by a second video interview with a senior hardware engineer to discuss my approach to testing on a test bench. A third video interview with another senior hardware engineer focused on my coding skills at the hardware level. The fourth interview involved a technical PowerPoint presentation, where I chose the topic, to demonstrate time management and technical delivery skills, followed by Q&A. After this, I was rejected as they found another candidate. However, about a month later, they reached out again with an offer for the same position due to changes in their hiring process. The HR representative gave a verbal offer. A senior manager who had interviewed me before was keen on me rejoining, even though I had another job. He inquired about my visa and my willingness to leave my current role. The final interview was with the senior HR Director/Manager, who asked about my visa status and general questions like my motivation for joining Lumentum.