OpenSpace (CA) Interview Questions
& Process

The application process was standard, but required more than just the usual info like name, email, and resume, also asking for voluntary self-identification and LinkedIn/phone number, which is a bit much. After a few weeks, I got an email for a phone screening. During the call, the interviewer asked some basic personality and legitimacy questions and talked a lot about needing a k8s expert, which felt like a red flag. After passing that, I had an interview with the hiring manager. He also focused heavily on k8s, mentioning the need for someone responsive to handle unplanned work. When I asked about the team's k8s experience, he was vague. I got a rejection email the next day. It seems like they jumped on the k8s trend without a clear plan and now need an expert to fix it, but they're looking for an unobtainable ideal.

The interview process was quite disorganized. It spanned two months and involved seven interviews, each lasting at least 45 minutes, which was inconvenient. Communication was poor, with a month-long delay in response after applying. During the initial interview, the recruiter repeated the job description despite being informed I had read it. Scheduling was difficult, sometimes with less than 12 hours' notice, and updates were only provided upon request, often using templated messages. I had to proactively schedule my own interviews. The role had been open for a while, suggesting uncertainty about the hiring needs. Despite positive feedback after all interviews, no candidate was selected, indicating a flawed hiring process that didn't effectively fill the role. While the team and company seem decent, the hiring experience can be a significant time investment with an uncertain outcome, even with positive feedback.

I applied on LinkedIn, and setting up interviews was straightforward. The process was smooth, and they didn't require any pre-work like prospecting, drafting emails, or mock calls. This was different from other roles I applied for that had a lot of homework. I had a couple of interviews, and everyone I met was likable and interesting. I noticed that they really focus on hiring people who fit the company culture.

So I started with a recruiter call, then I talked to a co-founder which was pretty cool, then I had a great chat with a front-end engineer. After that, it was all downhill. They gave me a take-home coding challenge and I finished it in two days. But then, I couldn't figure out how to submit it and the front-end engineer didn't give me their email. I tried reaching out to the recruiter three times with no luck. I even tried guessing the engineer's email, but no response. I feel like they ghosted me and I'm super disappointed because I put time into that code challenge and it wasn't even looked at. They should at least have the decency to email back and say they're not moving forward.