Synthesia Interview Questions
& Process

Had a 45-60m chat with the hiring manager, pretty chill, not super technical. They asked about my video experience, and I said no, but I'm keen to learn. HR also stressed the job is more about data modelling and using existing models for video annotation and cataloguing, not really about training new algorithms. BUT, the feedback on the technical exercise felt different. Even though I solved the problem, they expected more depth, like handling edge cases for the scene detector and doing more debugging. If that's what they wanted, they should've been clearer upfront. There was also a second part: design a video ingestion and annotation pipeline. The instructions were vague, just asking for components, I/O, and tools. Again, they seemed to expect way more detail than requested.

My interview experience with Synthesia was great! The process was super clear and communicative throughout. I always knew what was coming up next, and they let me know about timelines and what to expect proactively. It did take a few weeks, partly because of the holidays, but they stayed in touch and were responsive, which was awesome. A really cool thing was getting to meet different people on the team multiple times. It didn't feel rushed at all. Talking with various team members (and sometimes the same ones again) gave me a solid grasp of the company, the job, and the vibe. It also showed me they really think about their hiring decisions. All in all, it felt professional, organized, and really welcoming. Left me with a strong impression of the company and the people.

First, I had a chat with talent acquisition, then a management interview covering execution, product sense, and people management. After that, I got a take-home assignment to write a technical solution RFC for a product problem. This was followed by a debrief and more interviews with engineering leadership. The process was good, and everyone was engaging and really showed the culture. My TA was great, built a rapport, and communicated well. My only feedback is that the time from offer agreement to contract signing took over 2 weeks because of using an EOR in my country, which could have been smoother, especially since I was interviewing elsewhere.

A recruiter from Synthesia reached out and I had a 30-min chat with her. It was great, she seemed really into my background and thought I was a good fit. She mentioned the hiring manager would contact me the next day. However, I didn't hear anything for weeks. I emailed the recruiter, and she apologized a lot, saying she'd follow up with the hiring manager and I should expect to hear back in a few days. That was two months ago. I had already accepted another offer because I was interviewing with other companies at the time. I never even got a rejection email. The whole process seemed really disorganized, which made me wonder about the company itself.