Toyota Connected Interview Questions
& Process

It was a 4-round process. First, a recruiter call for about 30 minutes to go over my past experiences. Then, a Hirevue assessment that lasted about an hour, covering some ML basics, one easy LeetCode problem, and a few behavioral questions. After that, a Teams meeting with senior ML engineers where we had a conversation about my experiences and they asked some ML theory questions. The final onsite interview involved two engineering managers who asked more about implementations, a specific system design-related question, and some behavioral stuff. I got responses within 2 days for the first three rounds but was ghosted after the onsite.

It began with a friendly recruiter call where she explained the whole process. Next, there was a one-way virtual interview. You listen to recorded questions and then have 5 seconds to record your response. This stage also included a 45-minute technical challenge. Passing that led to a technical interview with two team members: a Senior Software Engineer and a Manager. They asked technical questions about concurrency, memory management, and your experience. The final round was focused on behavioral and cultural fit, with some technical questions mixed in. I met with the manager I'd be working under and their boss. Doing well in this round leads to an offer.

Overall very straight forward. One phone interview: Figure out basic skills and where I would make the most impact. Then an on-site with the team (Job Fit): Ensure I can do the job and fit the culture of the team. Then an on-site with product owners (Case interview) and HR (behavioral): Ensure we share the same vision and organizational mindset as well as ensure I’m not a crazy person. Then the offer. Then paperwork. Then first day.

This place is part of Toyota but tries to act like a startup, which it isn't. They hype up their culture a lot, but I got the feeling the perks like free food and drinks might disappear, making it more corporate. It seemed like a way to attract tech people, but the reality might be different. They use a lot of contract workers, which is a major red flag, and it takes ages to hire full-time people. This makes me think the culture is weird. They claim to hire and pay the best, but compensation was way below market, and I would have taken a big pay cut. For career growth, I wouldn't recommend it, especially since the company isn't growing much. When I asked about career potential, they said it's a 'flat organization,' and wanting to grow seemed discouraged. HR and hiring managers were inconsistent, showing disorganization. It took about 3 months from the phone interview to the final one. After a video interview (which someone told me is a 'BS meter' where they analyze your answers - nice culture!), they said I'd meet a few people and then get an offer if it was a good fit. But at the in-person interview, two people weren't available, and I had to go back later, which was disrespectful. The HR department felt like a gatekeeper, which is odd since hiring decisions shouldn't be solely up to the team. The HR person seemed more interested in catching me in a lie than interviewing me; it felt like an interrogation. I almost left because I don't want to work in a place like that. I saw red flags before, but this confirmed it.