A typical screening call first with their external headhunter. They were very slow and bad with follow-up. Next, I met with an Engineering leader for about an hour. He seemed nice enough. He didn't make much of an impression as far as his technical chops went. After meeting with the Eng leader, I did a take-home assessment for them. It was a relatively easy API design project where they provided me with an SQLite database and some silly barebones project scaffold. The project was meant to measure your SQL ability and API design experience. It was pointless; a call talking through a systems design would have made more sense. Follow the system design by writing some SQL together on a call, and it would have been enough. Don't bother with the assessment, though. Honestly, they aren't going to learn much from that little exercise and they drag their feet getting back to you. The recruiter tells you they WON'T BE PROVIDING FEEDBACK, which means they are either lazy or can't defend any decision they made. They have no respect for the candidate's time. Don't ask for an assessment if you don't want to provide feedback. It makes the "company" look unprofessional. Regardless, I'd suggest you pass on this company unless you're just starting your career as an engineer. There seems to be a ton of "leadership" and only a few ICs and the product doesn't have a clear direction.
