I interviewed for a Software Engineer position, but the experience felt completely misaligned with the actual job description. The interviewer focused entirely on DevOps topics — Terraform, Docker, AWS infrastructure — with no coding questions and no chance to demonstrate actual software development skills. The interviewer also did not turn on their camera, making the interview feel disengaged. Even though I answered all of their DevOps-related questions confidently, I was still told they were “looking for more experience,” despite having no opportunity to demonstrate coding ability. I asked the interviewer directly why the position was labeled Software Engineer when it was clearly DevOps-focused, and was told “no coding is really involved.” At the end of the day, you cannot expect a Software Engineer to also be a DevOps or SysAdmin — these are different skill sets. The role should be focused on software engineering and coding, not infrastructure management. Companies need to be clearer about role expectations and define what Software Engineering actually means.

For a contract position, the hiring process included an initial screening conducted by the engineering team, followed by a detailed interview with the hiring manager to evaluate experience and fit.