TinyCo Interview Questions
& Process

So I got contacted by a recruiter on LinkedIn. The interview process was quite long, like 4 phone interviews plus a take-home test, and they didn't even offer an on-site. It started with a 30-min call with the recruiter. Then came a take-home coding test that took me about 2-3 hours to finish. After that, there were 3 technical phone interviews, each an hour long and all around the same difficulty. For this job, they really wanted to test my C++ knowledge (STL and Boost included); any experience with games wasn't relevant, which was pretty unusual for a game company. They seemed to want a C++ expert, not a game developer.

Since I was remote, they conducted 3 phone interviews first. These were pretty standard, with basic coding assignments just to see if I could code at all. Then there was an onsite interview, a one-on-one with a senior engineer. They gave me two hours to write C++ code for a problem, but I couldn't finish it. After the time was up, the interviewer reviewed my incomplete code, seemed okay with it, and asked about my design decisions for the classes. For the part I didn't finish, he asked about my approach. That was it. I'm not sure if they only planned one round or decided to stop the process. Expectations are high, so if you're a fast coder and know C++ well, this is the place. My only issue is the huge jump in difficulty between the phone interviews and the onsite. This was my experience, others might differ.

I applied through Jobvite with my resume and cover letter. An internal recruiter emailed me for a phone interview, and the office manager confirmed it via Jobvite. The first interview was a 30-minute phone call with the community team manager. Afterward, the recruiter emailed me to ask how it went. The next day, the recruiter emailed to schedule an in-person interview, which the office manager confirmed again via Jobvite, asking me to fill out another application. Then I interviewed with the community team manager (who was nice but seemed more rigid than on the phone), another community manager (sweet and fun), and a product manager (formerly a community manager) who was a bit snobby and kept 'correcting' my answers. After that, I spoke with the recruiter and was asked to interview with the CEO. He spent most of the time looking at his computer and asking my opinion on TinyCo's company type. The recruiter then contacted me for my salary history, which I thought meant an offer was coming. Next, I got an email from the recruiter about a 'Community Team assignment,' which confused me since I'd already done so many in-person interviews - why would they need a writing sample now? A week after submitting the assignment, the recruiter emailed me via Jobvite to say I didn't get the job. I asked for feedback but haven't received any. People seemed nice but guarded, especially the men. The women were friendly and bubbly. The office was quiet and sterile but seemed well-equipped with perks.

The interview process was quick, efficient, and challenging, but it all made sense. I started with a recruiter chat to confirm I was looking for the right type of role. Next, I had a good and tough call with a product manager. After that, I got a take-home assignment that took a significant amount of time. I ended up writing more than they expected, which was noted positively. Finally, I interviewed with three senior product managers. One interview was straightforward, another was difficult, and the last one made me doubt my chances due to the tough questions, though they were all pleasant.