All my interviews went good, except for the last round.
Round 1 - Code pairing - It was a good, relevant problem and not some random algorithmic question.
Round 2 - Discussion on past projects and system design - This was a bit gruelling, but the discussion was smooth and the interviewers asked good questions.
Round 3 - Product interview - All engineers are Product Engineers in Wise, and this was to determine how I thought from a Product Management point of view. Questions were around prioritization, customer focus, analytics etc.
Round 4 - Culture fit - This is were things went wrong, and I’ll elaborate in detail
I found the interviewers to be aggressive and argumentative right off the bat. It started with a few technical questions about my previous role. I didn’t like the manner of questioning — it felt like an interrogation instead of an interview. They would interrupt me before I finished answering and ask “Why?” or branch off in some other direction.
After this, they asked for my motivation to join Wise. I told them I’m looking for a company with a good engineering culture, a good product and the opportunity to learn and grow. But this answer wasn’t good enough for them. They kept on pressing about why I want to join Wise, and not some other company which can offer the same things. I mentioned a few other things like the tech stack and solving problems at scale, but again, they weren’t convinced. I mentioned my interest Kafka, and their response was “If we stop using Kafka, will you leave the company?”
After that, they asked what would be a deal breaker for me? Now there are many things that can be a deal breaker, but I mentioned forced Pair programming, since I have had bad experiences with that in the past. There were a few more questions after that, but basically it all went downhill.
For e.g.
“Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?”
“I’d like to be a Principal Engineer”
“Oh! Titles aren’t important in Wise”
“How would you mentor someone? What would you do on Day 1?”
(I answered in detail and went beyond Day 1)
“All this on Day 1?” (in a snarky tone)
I don’t see the reason for this kind of aggressive questioning during an interview. I also don’t see the need to justify joining a company — almost all engineers want the same things - a good place to work, and one that pays well. If I get a better offer from another company which also has a good culture, then I’ll obviously join the other company.
