NanoString Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

So the interview process had three rounds. First, a recruiter called to talk about the job and ask some general HR, technical, and cultural fit questions. Then, a senior manager gave me a technical phone screen. The last part was an onsite interview that lasted 4 hours. It started with the recruiter setting the stage for the day. Then I met with the senior manager, followed by two principal software engineers, and finally another senior software engineer and a software engineer in test. Each interview slot was 45 minutes long. They even provided lunch and drinks, and the whole process was handled really well. The building was also pretty nice and parking was easy.

I was first contacted by a third-party recruiter who then connected me with someone at NanoString. We had an initial non-technical phone chat. After that, I was given a take-home test to complete. The take-home test itself was quite lengthy and had a lot of requirements, which I found a bit off-putting. Honestly, dealing with the third-party recruiter (who wasn't even a NanoString employee) and the sheer length of the assessment turned me off. Because of this, I decided to decline the on-site interview, as I got the impression the company culture might not be the best fit and perhaps doesn't really value an employee's time.

I first got contacted by a recruiter, then had a phone interview with a manager. After that, I went for an in-person interview at their building. The manager greeted me, and we chatted while heading up to a small room. We talked more about the company and the product I'd be working on, with the manager doing most of the talking. He then gave me an exercise with detailed explanations, including edge cases. I then moved to another room with a laptop that had a basic application. I had an hour and a half to complete the exercise, with the manager checking in. After the time was up, I was given a bit more time. A project manager and product owner came in and asked me more formal questions, and I asked mine. We then went to a lab where they showed me the software I'd be working on, mixing in interview questions with the demo. Afterward, back in the room, the project manager and product owner left, and the manager returned with senior developers. I greeted them and then started the coding exercise, showing the web app and explaining my architectural choices and missed requirements. A dev found a major bug related to timezones, and the rest of the interview was spent trying to fix it, which I couldn't do before time ran out. The interview ended abruptly.