This interview process was one of the harder ones I've done. A recruiter reached out to me on LinkedIn. We scheduled a short call where I told her my experience and she pitched me the position. I then had a technical interview with the hiring manager where we discussed my experiences and projects more in depth technically. The next round was a take-home coding interview, basically just to show proficiency in C++. I was then invited on-site for the final round, which consisted of a 4-hour interview: Teamwork behavioral, Values behavioral, technical/system design, a short presentation of a past project. The behavioral interviews were a lot harder that I thought they would be; I started to run out of experiences to talk about since they were quite long. The technical portion is focused on strengths and tested system understanding and coding knowledge. The presentation was relaxed and Q&A was conversational.

Two phone interviews, one code test, on-site interview with CTO & CEO. I had to cancel my first on-site interview due to a last-minute, international business trip. The CEO was very understanding and rescheduled for once I was back in the US. Phone interviews and code test felt pretty standard. The on-site interview consisted of a 1-on-1 with both the CTO & CEO, followed by a technical presentation to them on a subject of my choosing. The presentation quickly turned into more of a design/brainstorming session, which was fun but, in a way, also more stressful, as I found myself describing experiments I would run instead of offering answers. After that, I got lunch with the whole company too (this was back when it was ~10 people). It was a great group of people -- motivated, cheerful + kind, well-rounded. It definitely left a huge impression on me. The 1-on-1 interviews were candid. Having enjoyed my previous job, it was important to me to get real answers, which I did. I left the interview with a clear picture of the company's status, as well as what the CTO & CEO stood for. I was extremely impressed with their passion, dedication, and integrity. As the interview ended, I left feeling more inspired than I had in years. I was not looking for a new job but they made it the easiest decision to accept -- and my level of inspiration has not wavered since!