PubNub Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

I had to build an app using their API and submit it. Their site said I'd get a quick response if the code worked, but after two weeks, I heard nothing. Then, the support team told me my account would stop working because I went over the free tier. I mentioned I applied for an SE role, and they said they'd leave it open. I asked to talk to the hiring person, but they didn't know who it was. I contacted HR and finally got a response saying they'd reply the next day. A week later, they contacted me at 5 pm to set up an interview for 11 am the next day. I agreed, and I had a video interview with an engineer that I think went well. He said HR would tell me the next steps in a few days. Two more weeks passed, and even after contacting HR, I still heard nothing. I just gave up; HR seemed really unorganized and unprofessional.

The first round had two Skype interviews with the director of engineering and a senior engineer. They asked about my current projects and about basic algorithms and data structures. The second round was a full day in person at their office with 5-6 back-to-back interviews covering design discussions, algorithms, and puzzles. After clearing the second round, I was given a coding challenge to build an app using their APIs, with one week to complete it.

I applied on their website and got asked to do a take-home assignment where I had to build a small application using their API. They gave me an open deadline. I submitted it after working on it for three days, and they immediately replied saying they had already closed the role and weren't hiring anyone for it. My advice to them is to only give candidates assignments if you're serious about hiring and to keep communication open because it's disrespectful of people's time.