Nerdery Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

So, I initially spoke with two recruiters who were really nice, and I got pretty excited about potentially joining the company. Then they sent me a code challenge that took about two hours to complete. After that, it's been three weeks and five follow-up emails from my end, and I still haven't received any feedback. I've basically given up at this point. It's super disrespectful to ask someone to spend two hours of their personal time on a task, and then just ghost them with no communication or feedback. Seriously, if you're a developer, don't bother applying here.

I talked to someone from The Nerdery at an Open House before my first interview, so they let me skip that and go straight to the Code Challenge. I completed and submitted the challenge within a week. About a week later, I got an invite for a second interview. In that interview, a senior developer gave me feedback on my Code Challenge. Then, one of the Associate Directors of Development asked me about my resume and skills. We chatted more about the job and the company, and I got to ask a lot of questions. They asked about my salary expectations. I got the job offer via email the next afternoon, but it was $5,000 less than my previous salary. I did get a tour during the second interview, but the Open House really gave me the best feel for the company and its work culture. I asked everyone at the Open House for one bad thing about working there, and they said things like their commute got longer or they wished the free food was healthier. The employees also gave me interview tips: don't dress too formally and submit the Code Challenge a few days early (I submitted mine after four days, even though I had a week). I wasn't asked typical interview questions like 'What's your biggest weakness?' or 'Describe a difficult situation.' It was all casual, straightforward conversation about my skills and why I wanted to work there. On the application, I said I have a strong desire to learn new things, and I was told in the 2nd interview that most other employees said similar things. The best advice was to be authentic in every part of the hiring process – resume, application, and interviews. Have a good sense of humor and don't hide your quirks, as they might earn you bonus points. I had a 'Nerd Cred' section on my resume about being a kickass healer in World of Warcraft and having several WordPress plugins, which went over well. Also, don't be intimidated if you don't have a 4-year degree; many employees have 2-year degrees or no degree at all. They value equivalent work experience just as much (I had 6 years of experience and a 2-year degree).

It was pretty straightforward. First, there was an intro call to go over my background. Then, I had a second round with the manager where they asked a lot of probing questions about my past experience to see if I was a good fit.