Vannevar Labs Interview Questions
& Process

The interviewers were nice, but the process was lengthy and lacked transparency. The case study was particularly problematic. It was presented as a simple task, but its scope and detail were so close to their ongoing projects that it seemed like they used candidate work for their own benefit. This was hard to overlook during the interview. If you go forward, ask them directly how they plan to use your submission. Candidates should know this upfront before investing significant time in work that might help the company beyond just evaluation.

I went through seven rounds for a remote role, with a potential next step involving senior leadership. The whole thing was remote and ran pretty professionally. The team seemed really mission-driven and experienced. First, an HR recruiter chat to see if it was a mutual fit. Then, the Hiring Manager talked about the day-to-day stuff and team dynamics. After that, a technical interview with a senior engineer, which felt more like pair programming. Then a quick check-in with the recruiter about next steps, mentioning the next four interviews would be back-to-back. Next was a frontend/React round where I had to debug a form and display API data; the data handling part had some tricky edge cases. Following that, I did a presentation of a past project, which led to a good discussion with thoughtful questions. Then came a system design interview, focusing on a high-scale content and user interaction system, which was broad and allowed for creative solutions. Finally, a behavioral interview covering collaboration, problem-solving, and ego. Got a generic rejection email afterward, and the promised feedback didn't happen, which was a bummer after investing so much time. But overall, it was a well-run process, and I'd still consider the company because of its mission.

The interview process started with a recruiter screening call, followed by an interview with the hiring manager. Then there was a live coding interview, a systems design interview, and lastly, a behavioral interview. Although I didn't get an offer, I had a positive experience overall. The React interview was fair and well-designed, but I struggled because I didn't remember the syntax, even though I knew what to do. The interviewer was nice, patient, and professional. My only issue was the use of Typescript, which wasn't mentioned in the job description and was said to be optional beforehand. The systems design interview was a bit strange; the interviewer didn't give clear instructions on the goal, so I had to ask many questions to figure it out. I started with a general solution, but when I tried to go deeper, they shifted the focus to another high-level topic, so we stayed high-level the whole time. I was later told I didn't go deep enough, which was confusing and indicated a communication issue. The interviewer was pleasant but offered no guidance or feedback during the session. I had to sign an NDA before meeting the hiring manager, though I'm not sure why as nothing sensitive was discussed. A big thanks to the recruiter for providing feedback, which contributes to my positive impression of the company despite not getting an offer. I'd consider reapplying in the future.

It was a totally weird interview process. I had 8 chats with HR and engineers over two months. There was also a take-home where I had to dig into some RF data they gave. A Zoom interview followed, where I had to talk about how to solve real-time signal processing problems on edge devices. These questions were basically simplified versions of the main problem they're tackling. Even talked to the CEO, who seemed keen to hire me. They gave me an informal offer, then bailed at the last second with no explanation. They ghosted me when I asked why. Really badly done. The company seems to have leadership and org problems. The actual work sounds cool, but management seems really indecisive.