York Space Systems Interview Questions
& Process

This interview experience was quite disappointing. The whole process took about a month from when I applied. It kicked off with a chat with a recruiter where we went over my background and they asked about how I'd deal with typical team scenarios and what my salary needs were. Then, about two weeks later, I moved on to a technical part. Two engineers asked me some more technical behavioral questions and then had me do a live coding exercise. I could choose between Typescript and C#, and I picked Typescript. A week after that, I had a cultural interview with a panel, which included a VP and two senior engineers. They asked more behavioral questions to see if my attitude aligned with the company's values. It seemed like they were looking for someone committed to the company long-term who was really into the products, rather than someone who prioritized work-life balance above all else. All the people I interacted with throughout the interviews were great and gave me a good feeling about the team. The recruiter called me the next day with a verbal offer. They asked me to confirm my salary expectations again, expecting around a 15-20% raise from my current underpaid role. I shared my current salary for negotiation. However, the written offer only proposed a measly 3% pay increase, which with a sign-on bonus, brought the total bump to 7%. This was way less than I'd asked for, even though my expectations were within the posted range and matched the market average. This left me really bummed. Up to this point, I was ready to accept and felt like they valued me. But ultimately, I ghosted the offer and let it expire because the proposal felt unprofessional given how much effort I put into the process and how clearly I stated my salary needs. It felt like they were undervaluing my salary expectations.

There were three interviews in total: a recruiter screen, a hiring manager chat, and a final panel interview. They basically check your vibe during the interview. You'll get some basic technical questions to see if you're competent and if you're willing to learn. The recruiter was helpful with any questions I had after the offer, and also with salary negotiations.

So the interview was two steps. First, an HR screening, which was pretty chill, the person interviewing me was super nice. Then, the second part was a technical panel interview, which was obviously more involved and technical, and lasted about an hour. Honestly, what really bummed me out was when they told me at the end they'd let me know their decision within two weeks, 'no matter what.' Three weeks later, I had to chase down the team lead for an update, but got nothing. The following week, I finally heard back from the HR rep I spoke to initially, and they told me I didn't get the job.

I had a recruiter call to talk about my experience and security clearance. About a month later, I got a call saying I was moving on. A few days later, I had a team meeting with a senior engineer. They asked more about my experience and skillsets with embedded systems. It was mostly a cultural fit interview, with some light probing about relevant experience. The senior moved me forward to a technical interview with a software engineer on the team. The third interview was on Teams, asking about my experience and more in-depth details. We also did a coding test. I got the right answer for the pseudocode-esque c++ problem, but my syntax was bad. They focused on pointers, arrays, and bit manipulation for the coding assessment, which was fairly simple. I got an email two days later saying I was rejected. They told me my C programming wasn't up to par. I had a positive experience overall, despite not getting the job. I didn't love waiting a month after the initial screening, though. This company is fast-paced and wants self-starters and hard workers, and the interviews look for that. The process is simple, but it will expose your weaknesses.