Proton, privacy by default Interview Questions
& Process

The interview started with an AI meeting summarizer, which I couldn't opt out of, despite the company claiming to be privacy-focused. The interviewer was late and seemed disengaged, possibly relying on the AI to track the conversation. He didn't follow the discussion's flow and asked irrelevant follow-up questions, seeming to just tick boxes. He even paused the interview to handle issues with other managers struggling to connect to their calls, which felt unprofessional. The whole experience felt rushed and stressful, giving the impression that the company prioritizes rapid, low-cost hiring over building a stable team.

The whole experience was a letdown. It started with a recruiter chat, then a typical STAR interview with a manager, followed by a take-home assignment and a live coding/review session. The take-home was pretty demanding. They suggested about 6 hours, but honestly, to do it well, you’d need closer to 10-12 hours. The worst part was the live coding. They told me my take-home was great, which was cool. Then they hit me with a quick 10-15 minute iOS Q&A, which was actually fun, and the interviewers asked good stuff. But immediately after, we dove into a LeetCode-style, but easier, string manipulation problem. The interviewers were nice, but I didn't finish it, although I was close. The feedback was basically, 'You did well, but didn't finish.' I get it, but it stings, especially with my strong take-home and iOS answers. Seems like they really focus on the algorithms. I was hoping they'd see the bigger picture and my other strengths. Thought Proton was supposed to be different.

The interview process at Proton was pretty straightforward and organized. After sending in my application, I first had to do an online English test. Then, there was a small task with some questions related to the job. After that, I was invited for an in-person interview. We talked about my past experience, why I wanted to join, and how I communicate. It felt friendly and professional the whole time. A few days later, I got the offer online. Everything was really clear and respectful from the beginning to the end.

The first interview was a recruiter call, which felt like a one-sided interrogation with scripted questions and no time for my own questions. Then, the hiring manager interview was more conversational, but it seemed like decisions were based on gut feelings and HiPPOs rather than data, with a lack of user insights or metrics. They also seemed to favor building everything from scratch, which felt odd given their stated goals. The overall vibe was a corporate hierarchy in a startup costume. After that, I got an automated rejection email and received no response when I followed up for feedback. This whole process felt like a waste of time, and I won't be applying again.