It was a three stage process: first stage was with members of the team to ask about me, my experience and ambitions; second stage was a two-hour technical presentation and discussion; third stage was with the CEO and other senior employees to check culture fit. The first stage was a straight forward chat, and then the second and third stages were quite challenging. The second stage involved presenting a coding project that I'd built, which involved a lot of preparation (I did have a project I'd been building - but I still took a few full days to make it presentable and add some extra features that displayed my skills). The second stage also involved a system design discussion, which was tricky to prepare for as it was a blind challenge. However, this was a great opportunity to show my skills, what I am like to work with and how I react to unforeseen challenges. The third stage was a discussion with Joe, the CEO, plus four other senior members of the company. They asked me more about my motivations, my background and my understanding of the company values. This was a nice chance to meet them and hear more about how I would fit into Zero Gravity, but it was quite intense speaking to so many people at once! I think this intensity is necessary though, because it's important that members of the team are aligned with the mission and values. Each stage had plenty of opportunity for me to ask questions and each time I received very thorough, honest answers. Overall, the process was challenging and at times intensive. But this didn't make it an unpleasant experience - far from it! I loved each stage and the opportunity to show my abilities and meet the team. The process was certainly far less 'blag-able' than other interviews I've encountered, which is great. I think it's important that the process is conducted this way, because it is a small company that clearly values the people within it, so making the wrong hiring decision could be costly in all sorts of ways.

Before the interview, I was asked to answer three questions by recording a video response. The interview itself felt more like a conversation - I was asked about my previous experience, what I would be excited to work on, etc. There was no technical interview.