8returns Software Engineer interview questions

Hands down the worst interview experience I’ve had in my entire career. I’ve spoken with hundreds of companies, but nothing came close to how poorly this one was handled. The process was long: • First, a 45-minute call with the CEO. • Then a take-home assignment. • Then a deep technical discussion with the future manager/tech lead, mini project setup, adding features and refining the solution • Then another hour-long behavioral interview with the CEO focused on ownership and background • And another hour with the manager to grill me on a problem space similar to theirs and discuss multiple solutions and tradeoffs So basically four rounds, several hours of work, and a full take-home task. I received the offer, reviewed the contract, and was literally preparing to send it back signed, and then suddenly I get a message saying they’re “no longer hiring for this role” after an internal alignment. Absolutely unbelievable and extremely unprofessional. Why open a position, put a candidate through hours of interviews, extend an offer… and then suddenly decide the role doesn’t exist anymore? And this came directly from the CEO, who personally conducted most of the process. As a founder, how do you not know whether you need the role or not? During interviews I even asked about the company’s direction, and the CEO openly said, “We don’t plan very much ahead because we’re a startup.” I was asking about Q1 while interviewing in November — one month away — and still got no real answer. I genuinely wouldn’t recommend anyone waste their time here, micromanagement doesn't exist