Paige Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

So the interview process was pretty standard for a tech company. First, I had a call with a recruiter to get things rolling. Then, an engineer did a technical screening with me. After that, there were several more technical interviews. These included one focused on architecture, a coding challenge, and a general interview with a manager that touched on behavioral aspects.

It was a 5 step interview process. First was a technical screen that covered CS concepts, Python internals, and coding practices. Then there was a systems design exercise, which was a whiteboard session to architect a solution to a given problem. After that, a coding exercise, which was pair programming on a tough but standard coding problem. The remaining two steps were fit interviews: one with the hiring manager and a relaxed final chat with the Head of Engineering about my experience and motivations. It was a challenging but fun process.

My interview experience was really bad, with no consideration for candidates' time or updates. The interviews were okay but a bit disorganized and repetitive. My recruiter changed midway through, from an external agency to an internal one. There were 4 interviews in total: a technical discussion with a coding challenge, an interview on architecture, ML, and testing, a coding interview, and a discussion on software engineering and cultural fit. After these 4 rounds, I had to wait 11 days for a decision. I tried contacting the company on day 7 but was ignored by the internal recruiter. Then, I got an automated rejection from the initial external recruiter saying the job was closed. The internal recruiter then told me the position was closed due to headcount issues in Europe but he would see if they could get approval and let me know. The next day, a third recruiter emailed to say the position was closed. I never heard back about headcount. It was a terrible experience, showing a clear lack of respect for candidates' time.