Started with a call from the Executive Vice President (Red flag #1, no HR department?) after applying to meet & greet and discuss the position and my resume. While I thought the call went fine, I can't help but say that I was definitely getting the vibes that I should feel exceptional for the privilege of speaking with her. When asked for compensation level, I provided a number very on-par with the industry standard for a Sr. level Java Software Engineer, and her immediate response was "We want to be fair to the other developers" (Red flag #2, low compensation levels), I could almost hear panic in her voice. My number was not outrageous at all as I've done my due diligence in compensations for this level. She then said next steps would be sending a take home test (Red flag #3, flawed interview process, details later). While I was a little bit set back, I agreed and was expecting just some quick Java fundamentals questions or something along those lines. Nope, they want you to write a very large, in depth, multi module java/xml/xslt/db application and not using any traditional frameworks. Note that these are very simple technologies and any experienced developer would be able to do this, but at the expense of time. I have a life outside of work. I have family, hobbies, responsibilities, etc. This "take home test" they wanted would entail days of work if done properly. Days to commit to something not even guaranteed, and by the way, feels like a front for free work/ideas. When I'm done working for the day, many times the last thing I want to do is write more code. I am an experienced Java software developer with all the experience they ask for in the requirements. I put a couple of hours in to the test which would depict how I would architect an application of their requirements. The app was not complete as I didn't believe it should be for the reasons I listed. The EVP followed up with: "We have completed reviewing your execution of our test. Unfortunately, it does not appear that your skill set lines up with what is needed when working with our customers. We have been using the test for 18 years to evaluate candidates. It has done a good job of helping select people who can do the work. I think I may have mentioned that the skills of those we hire has to be way higher than for customers who just want to use our software. I think your skills would be better suited for another position." Red flag #4 (Large turnover rate?). There is nothing in the take home test that I am not capable of developing. All of my skills and experience perfectly aligned with their job description and requirements. Perhaps they haven't thought of the possibility that some developers don't have the time to do a massive take home test, or like I said, want to do such a large project for somebody else outside of work hours. A simple traditional interview would have yielded a quality candidate, and sure, if they found other reasons to not offer the position after a formal interview then that's a different story. However, it never reached that point. They took the test as an inaccurate indicator of skill level, again perhaps failing to consider applicants don't have the time nor would want to spend this much time on an app like this for free and not even guaranteed anything. I think it is safe to say PilotFish expects to be able to say "Jump" to quality, experienced developers to for a fraction of the pay, and for them to say "How high?". They believe their open senior software engineer position is prestigious and that any applicants should feel valued for the opportunity, and not the other way around, that software engineering is an extremely high in demand skill-set and they don't have to be picky where they want to work. 4 red flags. Avoid.
