My initial chat with the team lead went well; he seemed like a reasonable and approachable person. However, be prepared for some unexpected questions, like “What’s 4/17?”.
In the second stage, I was given a technical challenge to build a simplified feature of their application using Angular, Node, and TypeScript. They requested the use of Cucumber for testing, which felt unnecessary and challenging to configure on the latest Angular stack. Despite this, I managed to deliver a fully functional solution after a couple of days.
The third stage involved a demo with the CTO and a couple of developers, which unfortunately was not a positive experience. One developer refused to turn on his camera, and his poor sound quality made him difficult to understand. He seemed preoccupied with outdated concepts like the “Testing Pyramid,” which was frustrating.
The CTO appeared unprepared and uninformed, even repeating the odd “4/17” question. He hadn’t reviewed my CV beforehand, which felt disrespectful given the time and effort I’d invested. Shockingly, he also asked if I was familiar with Angular—despite the fact that the entire tech challenge had been built using Angular, which was right in front of him.
Months later, I’ve noticed they’re still searching for developers. It’s not hard to see why.
To improve their process, they should ensure all interviewers have cameras on and good audio quality for effective communication. Additionally, the CTO should at least review a candidate’s CV before the interview to avoid wasting everyone’s time.