I understand this is THE company to work for in tech, but the interview process is nothing short of finding genius talent. It's difficult to execute and perform, absolutely. It's nearly impossible to compete with the competition, even for entry-intermediate level roles. Expect 8+ rounds of meeting people, several live coding sessions, and take-home assessments.

Don’t get me wrong, the company certainly demands that talent and has the right to sift through what’s best. It’s just exhausting as a candidate. It’s well-known that tech roles have a rigorous hiring process. Just understand your competition: Silicon Valley kids who have been coding since they were literally 5. And most of those kids haven’t learned to communicate effectively or work with others. The 0.1% that have is who they’re looking for; that's who your competition is. Or they have 20+ years of experience at a competitor.

I’m a sociable data scientist/engineer with relevant hardware/wearable experience who didn’t make it past round 6 or 7. That was coming externally with an internal reference. I’m confident in my abilities and the experience/personality I bring to my job. I just think the hiring process and structure of the company make it extremely difficult to come in externally.

The biggest complaint I have is devoting so much time to a potential employer and getting virtually no feedback. Not a knock against [Company Name - if you wish to insert it, otherwise keep generic]; I understand the legalities. Just let this be a reality check: this company hires a very, very, very select few externally.

It's an amazing company, and everyone wants to work there. Just know yourself to be in that 0.1%. Make your time count, whether it’s here or somewhere else.

What sort of questions do you ask Copilot or ChatGPT to optimize code or assess performance?