I applied through a recruiter. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Jellyfish (MA) in May 2025
Interview
Very long interview process. Not difficult, but long.
1. Recruiter 10-30min
2. HM interview 30-45min
3. Portfolio Presentation 30-45min
4. EPD trio behavioral 30-45min
5. Behavioral with director of engineering and product 30-45min
I asked the Director of Engineering and Product, “What product-level trade-offs are you not willing to make?” Their answer was very fuzzy. This suggests that ICs at the company may have more autonomy to make decisions, but also that the company doesn’t yet have structured processes for handling trade-offs. While this can be a great opportunity for influence, it’s also a potential warning sign that the long-term product direction is not yet clearly defined.
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 3 days. I interviewed at Jellyfish (MA) in July 2025
Interview
The recruiter reached out on linkedin out of nowhere, very persistent. I ended up scheduling a call with her and the whole call felt like an interrogation. A few days later, I get an email saying they're not interested in moving forward because my skillsets are not a match. My experience is very specific to a niche and is clearly listed on my linkedin profile. The recruiter clearly did not read through my profile, yet decided to pester me for an interview. This company will waste your time.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
The recruiter interrogated me about my past experience while offering no useful insight into the company nor the software engineering team at Jellyfish
I had a phone screening call with the recruiter where I discussed my background. During the call, she mentioned this role was filling in for a vacancy and that it was a popular role so they were looking at many candidates and she'd get back to me in a couple days.
The interview went well, with no hiccups, and I believe I was very well-qualified for the role given my background. The interviewer was a bit patronizing. One thing to note was that the interview process she outlined for me seemed to have 4-5 phases including a coding assessment.
She emailed me a few days after the screening call to say they were moving forward with a few candidates. The day after my rejection email, I saw the job reposted on LinkedIn, showing that they were looking for even more candidates, contrary to the recruiter's message.
Based on this, it seems like this company may not seriously be interested in hiring a candidate, may not recognize qualified candidates (or don't outline all requirements in the JD if they are looking for something very specific), and may also take up large amounts of your time with interviews if they do move forward.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What is your background? Why are you good for this role? Why Jellyfish? What do you want (out of a role in general)?