Overall, I had a good experience interviewing at nPlan.
I first had a screening call, and the interviewer was very nice. The interview was a little more technical than I expected for a screening call, but I made it through to the next round, which was a code pairing
interview.
Again, the interviewers were lovely, but I felt a little cheated in the coding interview. I was presented with a big chunk of code for the first time with some instructions for implementation, and it was quite overwhelming. I felt I spent most of the interview trying to figure out what was already provided for me and what wasn’t, and what was expected of me. I felt frustrated at the end because I did know how to do what was asked, but didn’t feel it was the best environment to show that.
I wish I was given the opportunity to go work on the code on my own and then come back and talk about it instead of having to do live coding. I understand the reasoning of doing it that way, but I think I would have made it through to the next stage had I been given the chance to complete the task on my own, rather than within a time limit while being watched, which was extremely nerve wracking. I know I’m not the only one who gets nervous pairing even with co-workers I’m comfortable with, so trying to present your best self while working on a brand new piece of code with brand new people is frankly terrifying.
I was also surprised that the final stage of the process involved half a day in the office. I didn’t make it to this stage, but if you’re looking for a new role while still employed that would be quite difficult to manage, and I feel like it’s asking a lot for someone to give up half their day for an interview.
All that said, everyone I dealt with was lovely! I just didn’t think the process was as well thought out as it could have been.