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iOS Engineer Interview Experience - Milan, Italy

December 14, 2018
Negative ExperienceNo Offer

Process

I applied through a recruiter. The process took 2+ months.

In recent months I have had many experiences of interviews. For reasons of denied work permits, I found myself having to re-face the interviews after a few months. I am talking about interviews with 40-ish different companies. I don't give strict geographical limits, and this means that there are so many possibilities, from small startups of 4 people and medium-sized businesses up to Google. I have to say that, unfortunately, I have never felt so debased as in this experience. As you read everywhere, their interview process is long and challenging. I do not understand those who complain about this. Many things have impressed me positively about Bending Spoons. One of these was the search for talents with an open mind and who easily face problems far from their field. Besides this, the extremely youthful culture, the great research of the quality of the products, the passion, and the desire to become an influential international company and to positively change the world around us is praiseworthy, and made me dream of being chosen to be a part of this company.

I gladly accepted all the interview steps, facing all the challenges without problems:

  • General logic test
  • HR interview
  • Coding challenge
  • HR interview
  • 4 timed exercises
  • HR interview
  • 4 timed exercises
  • HR interview on-site
  • In-depth theoretical technical interview + live coding

For a total of about 45 hours, but I think that it is probably even more. Considering the current offer I received from another company, it is as if I had given 1.200€ of my time to them. The only flaws in those steps (not in the interview process, in those steps) were the first test (but I do not think it has a great value) and the last interview, which was presented to me as a chat with the iOS team, but instead I found myself at one of the longest and deepest technical interviews that I have ever done. I am a person who has anxiety when I face similar talks without having prepared, and I always end up badly thinking. This was the only case in my career in which I wasn't appropriately told that I was going to have this kind of interview. In addition to this, of course, references were also requested. I presented them 4 ex-coworkers. They called 3 of them. They gave an appointment to the fourth, but they didn't call him, and even without notifying him.

So let's recap: 45 hours of my efforts, 6 intense weeks, 3 people besides me who have been disturbed. Their decision about me? "Can you wait please?" I had to wait for a reply for a month. For several times I was given a deadline by which I would have received their decision, and for several times it was not respected, and I was the one who had to request news again. It was really frustrating given their claims against the candidates. Finally, after almost 1 month since the last interview (2 months and a half after the beginning of the process), I received the negative result with feedback that honestly does not convince me at all. This makes me think that Bending Spoons is currently focusing more on academics than on highly experienced people, and that they evaluate any slight theoretical error with great severity. I always find that theory is a good thing, but that practice makes the difference between a teacher and a worker.

It was a super challenging and fun process, but at the same time the last month of waiting was very frustrating. It was very frustrating to be discarded due to the lack of knowledge of micro parts of the vast computer world. It was very frustrating to see a very presumptuous attitude of some interlocutors that make you feel uncomfortable during the interviews. I must say that fortunately, however, some people who have been worth knowing have been there.

Dear Spooners, I recommend you one thing: before getting ahead of yourself, thinking about changing the world, you can start to treat people as human beings. Because if you have not noticed, the world is made up of people. And we are already full of companies and groups where outsiders are considered to be B-series people. You are not yet at this level, but it seems to me that you have taken the road that leads to that.

Dear Reader, is it the case that you are applying for this company? It depends on you. It's very difficult, it's long, it's frustrating. On the other hand, however, they offer a young environment, with lots of cool things, where quality is highlighted, and where new technologies are well received. What you need to understand is if it's worth it for you. It was worth it for me.

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Interview Statistics

The following metrics were computed from 7 interview experiences for the Bending Spoons iOS Engineer role in Milan, Italy.

Success Rate

29%
Pass Rate

Bending Spoons's interview process for their iOS Engineer roles in Milan, Italy is very selective, failing most engineers who go through it.

Experience Rating

Positive29%
Neutral14%
Negative57%

Candidates reported having very negative feelings for Bending Spoons's iOS Engineer interview process in Milan, Italy.

Bending Spoons Work Experiences