Senior Software Engineer Interview Experience - United States
Process
Working with a recruiter, I interviewed with Brightline in May 2022, seeking a role as a fullstack software engineer working on their Rails-based stack. I had an initial technical interview with a Staff Software Engineer. The coding exercise was fun. The interviewer was thoughtful and professional.
Not long after, I received positive feedback that I was progressing in the process, and was asked for availability for two behavioral interviews and a longer technical interview. Due to time constraints with my current job, I had to give availability a little over a week out.
It's at this point that some confusing things happened. Several days before my behavioral interviews, I was notified that in order to move forward with the role, I needed to specifically interview for a front-end leaning fullstack role (this pivoted the nature of last technical interview away from a backend focus). I thought this was a little surprising, but signaled my continued interest. The company's approach to frontend was indeed forward-looking and a particular set of technologies I was excited to work with; but I wanted to be clear I didn't have an interest in pivoting my resume in that direction exclusively from backend work.
The day of my behavioral interviews, one interviewer happened to have a family emergency, so they had a backup. Of course, totally understandable, what else are you going to do? This back-up was a product manager working with a data science-oriented team. My second behavioral interview was with an engineering manager on their Enterprise team. This combination of interviewers seemed interesting, because they didn't seem connected with the role I was supposedly being considered for. The interviewers asked very thoughtful questions about my background and I enjoyed the conversations.
Very surprisingly, a couple days later I was informed I wouldn't be moving forward to the technical interview.
I was very impressed with everyone at Brightline I interviewed with. Based on those conversations, I only have a positive impression of the organization. However, my constructive criticism to whoever is running their technical recruiting organization is to understand 1. what you are hiring for and 2. to please respect the time of both candidates and interviewers.
Questions
Implementing a DSL in Ruby.
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 1 interview experience for the Brightline Senior Software Engineer role in United States.
Success Rate
Brightline's interview process for their Senior Software Engineer roles in the United States is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.
Experience Rating
Candidates reported having very good feelings for Brightline's Senior Software Engineer interview process in United States.
Brightline Work Experiences
- 5.0Genuine Concern for Users and EmployeesPrincipal Mobile Engineer • Current EmployeeApril 18, 2022Pros: I have been with the company three months and have been so impressed with the people and company culture. Everyone is united behind the company goal of helping families. I have not experienced any big egos or politics, just a bunch of open, friendly people who will help in any way they can. I have never worked for a company that cares more about the well-being of its employees. You are encouraged to take a mental health day when you are burned out. There is weekly meditation and yoga. There are a variety of book clubs and other social groups. It is also completely normalized to say you need to take some time to care for your family. What I have observed is that the company has made such a safe, friendly environment that people are willing to be open and vulnerable in a way I have not seen before, and by extension teams have developed a strong sense of trust and honest communication.Cons: The company is growing quickly, so it is sometimes hard to keep track of all the new faces.
- 5.0Work on a product you can feel great aboutSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeAugust 2, 2021Pros: - The mission/work Brightline is doing to help children and their parents is an amazing motivation and provides a strong sense of purpose. - The engineering team is made up of some of the best engineers I've ever worked with. Everyone is kind, empathetic, and focused on delivering quality software. - Company is committed to remote work and it shows. Meetings are kept to only the people most needed, lots of async communication, and the tooling/processes are in place to make working remote effective and inclusive. - Code quality is high. Tests, code reviews, and occasional pairing. - Developer experience is a high priority. Getting setup is super easy and fast, and the team is always looking for ways to make the process of building and shipping software better for everyone. - We ship frequently and focus on getting small units of software in front of real users, which is where we learn the most.Cons: - The company is growing really fast so there's lots of new faces and org expansion. - Remote isn't for everyone. Communicating clearly and frequently is important.
- 5.0Great mission, excellent leadershipPrincipal Software Engineer • Current EmployeeSeattle, WAJuly 16, 2021Pros: Leadership understands the importance of keeping their employees happy. The CEO encourages people to work less than 55 hours a week, and if you're not, to reevaluate why you're working so much. There is a culture of continuous improvement throughout all departments within the company. We're fully remote, and dedicating resources to ensure that people are happy working remotely. The leadership team is beginning to travel around the US to encourage the team to meet up in physical spaces. Our mission lives close to many employees hearts, and many people are driven to help people. We are truly helping parents and children get through some hard times.Cons: Deadlines sometimes exist and are a necessary part of the sales cycle here. Thankfully, they are infrequent.
