Quantlab Interview Questions
& Process

So, I have 16 years of ASIC design experience, and I was interviewing for an FPGA position. ASICs and FPGAs are super similar, but it felt like they didn't get that and thought I was totally new to this. One of the designers even got really mad, yelling and making fun of me, and throwing out a bunch of false accusations.

I applied online and heard back from a recruiter about a month later. The first step was a phone call with the hiring manager to go over my experience and interests. A couple of weeks after that, I was sent a programming challenge that I had a week to complete, and I got a gift card for my time. Then, about a week later, I was invited for an on-site interview. The on-site went well, and I got a good feel for the company culture and environment. The only downside was the long wait to hear back about a decision, which took over a month with a lot of follow-up emails and calls, and missed deadlines. In the end, I was told I wouldn't be getting an offer, apparently because of a recent buyout. It was disappointing since I was really excited about the interesting problems, intellectual atmosphere, and team.

The process stopped after the coding exercise. So basically the steps I had were: 1. Brief slightly technical phone interview. Basic background questions and some c++. 2. c++ coding test. The exercise itself is quite simple - no hard algorithms. The main purpose is to check modern c++ knowledge and code design abilities. 3 ... Didn't get further but I guess in house interview. I don't usually write reviews. But I thought that I have to write a review for this job application. I don't think that I have ever had such a good experience with any of the recruiting teams in any company. The company HR contact was providing me with constant updates and feedback about the process. When the code exercise was not checked within 2 days (2 days!) she reached out to me (without any request from me) to apologize and update that it will be reviewed the next day. After the coding exercise - despite the fact that I didn't pass it, the company provided me a VERY detailed feedback on the exercise (referring to line numbers in the code and explaining why they think it's not optimal). I have never had such a positive experience with a company that rejected me (or accepted me) :). If the company treats the employees the same way as the candidates then it's probably a great place to work for.

This wasn't a formal interview, more of a chat at a conference booth for a summer internship. The scientist asked about my project and then quizzed me on eigenvalues. I explained the math definition, but he seemed unimpressed. He then asked for its meaning in physics, and I related it to the Schrodinger equation's ground state energy based on my work. He appeared impatient throughout, fidgeting with a ball and seemed dismissive after my answers. It was unclear what went wrong, and his demeanor made me question the work environment.