TAE Technologies Interview Questions
& Process

Had a 2 part interview. First was a Teams call, then a Face to Face with general questions and a walk around the site. The whole thing took about 3 weeks to get through the interviews and then another 3 weeks for the contract.

The third round involved a Zoom presentation by me, followed by questions from three senior individuals. It was a standard talk about a common data science technique. One interviewer was inattentive, talking in the background without muting. After my presentation, this same person was critical of my work and aggressively questioned me about unrelated topics, even though I tried to elaborate on my subject. The other interviewers didn't intervene and seemed to accept his behavior. I think they might have hired based on the 'data science' trend without knowing what it entails, and were surprised when I explained actual data science tasks (not related to plasma physics). They took their confusion and frustration out on me. Another interviewer mistook my model for one with a similar name. I was rejected after this round. Being criticized unfairly and treated poorly is unacceptable. I was there for an interview, not to be insulted. I was initially very interested in the company, but now I'm glad to have avoided a toxic work environment.

The interview felt really informal and unstructured. It seemed like the interviewer was just going through the motions. I almost asked him why he booked the interview if he was so reluctant to talk. I followed up multiple times after the interview, but got no response. Three weeks after I stopped chasing, I received an automated email stating they wouldn't proceed. While I understand the decision, their communication and general professionalism during recruitment need significant improvement.

The interview process was pretty fast, with three Zoom interviews with senior folks. First, I had to prep a presentation about my previous work and also tackle a coding problem. Then, in the second interview, I presented my work and talked through the code solution. After that, I had a one-on-one chat with a lead engineer to go over other ways to solve the coding problem. Finally, they showed me around the facility, and that was the end of it.