Applied via Linked In and a recruiter reached out to me a week or so later. Had a recruiter phone screen then a 30 minute phone interview with the hiring manager. I was invited onsite for a 4 hour interview with 4 different people.
This was the strangest interview process I have ever experienced in my long career! I fully understand the STAR method and answering behavioral questions, but the way they asked the questions was not a good assessment of my abilities and experience. I would answer in STAR, but their follow up questions were like beating a dead horse! It got to the point that I basically had nothing else to say. With every question they would follow up and ask “How did you come to that conclusion?” “What steps did you take to make that decision?”. In my head I was like “I answered in STAR - I just told you!”. It’s like they are more concerned with filling out the questionnaire/form on their computer than listening to my answers.
After completing the 2nd interview, I saw the pattern and at that point I questioned if that culture was even a good fit for me. It was the strangest interview I have ever been in and I’ve had a lot of experience working in tech and for big tech companies. The final interview was with a higher up, the questioning just got stranger from there and I didn’t even try, I was just myself and answered the questions using my own judgement.
I left the building knowing I was not “Googly” and I would get no offer. The next day the recruiter emailed me confirming no offer.
Be prepared to be asked questions not related to the role you are applying for. For example, I was asked about steps to launch a product that were more for a product development type of role, which had nothing to do with the role I was interested in and had no correlation to my previous experience.
