Standard Cognition Interview Questions
& Process

The screening kicked off on HireArt.com with three open-ended questions, one requiring a video response. I put effort into answering them thoroughly with details and examples. It took them a week and a half to get back to me. I had questions about growth opportunities for this contract, entry-level role at ~$20.27/hr ($45k). The recruiting coordinator and I went back and forth via email, with responses taking at least a week each time. They repeatedly asked if I was okay with the hours and salary, giving vague answers about "growth opportunities." It's disappointing that for an entry-level role, the pay isn't competitive and the career path isn't clear, especially when you consider the cost of living in this city. Plus, the typical workday is 4:45 am - 2 pm. Honestly, just save yourself the time and look elsewhere.

The interview process started with a quick chat about the role and my background. Then, I had a coding challenge where I had to solve some problems. The people who interviewed me were super nice and acted more like coaches. After that, the final part was an on-site where I gave a presentation about my previous work. We talked about how I could fit in with their team, and I got to ask them questions about working there and their future plans. The engineers had some really insightful questions and feedback during my presentation.

I was found by a recruiter on LinkedIn. First, I had a phone call to go over the job, then a Linux phone screen. After that, I went in for an on-site interview. During the on-site, I got a programming question I struggled with and they just stared at me for an hour which was super awkward. Then I met with the whole team and they hit me with more Linux questions, talked about my background, and asked how I'd solve some of their issues. It came up that I seemed 'pretty junior,' but I did say on my resume I was looking for a role to grow into. They never got back to me, and I ended up not getting the job. Honestly, it's fine, some interviewers were like snobby Silicon Valley 'whiz kids.' But it was a big waste of my time.

I was contacted by Standard Cognition recruiter via LinkedIn in February 2021, the interview consisted of 3 calls: 1. Intro call (~20 min) with the recruiter 2. Live coding (1h) with one of engineers of Standard Cognition, it was one LeetCode alike medium problem 3. Tech interview (30 mins) with Hiring Manager Overall process was nice and friendly. After 3rd call I got email saying that Standard Cognition decided to not move forward at this time, which is totally fine, of course. What is not fine, I didn't get any feedback from them, although I did provide my feedback to them. Asked twice the recruiter (Julia) for the feedback, what I've got was total disregard. This screwed up the whole impression of the interview process...