I received an inbound from the CEO on LinkedIn. We set up a time to talk on Zoom with a lead engineer present. Very positive experience in this initial screen. Spent some additional time talking to the engineer about what to expect next. He indicated that I should expect an algorithm or two and maybe a System Design question. About two weeks later, the technical interview happened. It was with two engineers and the CTO. The engineers were friendly but quiet, while the CTO did most of the talking and was honestly kind of smug. As it turned out the interview process was not at all what the lead engineer had led me to believe (and what I had been drilling for the past week straight). Instead they asked me to live code a React app (front and back). My understanding is that those kinds of tasks are usually assigned as take homes where you have some time and nobody is looking over your shoulder (so to speak). I was more than a bit caught off guard by the change in plans and the CTO, picking up on my insecurity asked if my resume (which lists familiarity and experience with React) was "up to date". It was a needlessly cruel barb phrased as an innocent question that did nothing to help my confidence. Afterwards we did do an algorithm which I felt I was able to get through fairly adeptly (the CTO acknowledged that I spotted and figured out all of the tricks, etc). I was told that at this point, applicants would either move forward, be given additional assignments to further test their abilities, or turned down. As far as I know, I'm still in limbo because that was a month ago and I've heard absolutely nothing from anyone (except for one of the other engineers who politely responded to a follow up email I sent with an encouraging but non-committal message). My experience with the CTO and the complete lack of communication afterwards don't paint a very professional picture of the company.
