Optoro Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

First there was an HR screen, then a coding challenge with some engineers, and finally a Skype call with a Senior Developer. Everything went fine, and I got positive feedback after each part. The whole interview process was nice. But, the recruiter delayed everything for months, sending me a personalized 'sorry for the delay' email every couple of weeks until I eventually got rejected by an automated email. I kind of knew it wasn't going to work out after the second apology email, but it was annoying being kept hanging like that. It felt like they had already decided and were just keeping me as a backup. If they had just rejected me a week after my last interview, I would have been fine with it. The actual interview part was okay, but the long delay in communicating the final decision left a bad taste.

The interview process was pretty drawn out, and felt like they were really eager to hire someone. It kicked off with a basic phone screen over Google Hangouts to go over my resume. After that, I was given a take-home assignment to complete and submit. Once I passed that, they brought me to their main office for three interviews: the first was with some engineers where we talked about technical challenges, the second was with the engineering leads/director discussing their processes, and the last was with a PM. A subsequent round brought me back to the office to meet the cofounder; it was a pretty relaxed chat. Later, there were more Google Hangout sessions with people in various roles across the company, which seemed like an effort to showcase their startup culture and encourage me to join. Everyone I interacted with seemed like someone I could work well with, and they were clearly proud of their work and the team. I ended up accepting an offer from another startup nearby for a few reasons: 1) The senior roles were in closed-off offices, which gave off a less-than-ideal culture vibe, kind of an 'us vs. them' dynamic I've seen before, but not typically at startups. 2) Given the company's size, it looks like a lot of time is spent in meetings and following formal procedures. 3) The product, though interesting, is probably facing challenges in the current tech market. 4) This startup has been around for a while, and there was a noticeable lack of excitement, almost a sense of complacency assuming an IPO was imminent... which also meant limited equity.

I applied through my school's job system. First, I had a phone interview with a senior engineer who reviewed my resume and asked about my experience. Then, I had a Skype call with the CTO where he asked some basic algorithm questions and had me write code. After about a week, HR let me know the outcome.