Senior Machine Learning Engineer Interview Experience - San Francisco, California
Process
The interview process was simple: a recruiter call, a take-home assignment, and an onsite interview.
The recruiter call was straightforward, asking about my background and answering basic questions about the company. The take-home assignment was similar: a basic ML build-a-model case, nothing particularly tricky or unreasonable.
The onsite consisted of seven different rounds, reviewing the take-home assignment and other ML/engineering questions, plus a conversation with the hiring manager.
The final conversation was a quick summary with the recruiter, which I appreciated. It was nice of them to touch base and let me know when I would hear back.
I did not receive an offer. The feedback was that I was fine in all technical areas, but the hiring manager just didn't think there was a strong connection. I really appreciate the willingness to share feedback afterward. I think many companies are unwilling to share feedback because they are trying to cover up inappropriate biases.
In this case, I think the hiring manager was a bit capricious and just didn't like something about me that he couldn't really describe, wanting to wait for a candidate more like himself. The recruiter even messaged him to try to change his mind; my guess is he just really didn't like me as a person.
I would have appreciated talking to him BEFORE the take-home or onsite to figure that out early. I definitely feel like Carta wasted my time.
I would steer clear of this DS/ML team; it seems like the hiring manager is biased against people not like himself. The team was more male-heavy than most, and based on the manager's attitude, it seems like I wouldn't have fit in anyway.
No hard feelings toward Carta—the recruiter was really nice, and I think it's great that they are transparent. It's very uncommon, and more companies should be like this!
Summary Feedback:
- It's awesome to share feedback when rejecting a candidate. Thank you for being transparent!
- Be better about responding to emails. For example, the recruiter said she would schedule a prep call with me before the interview but did not and never responded to my email asking about it. I don't really need a prep call, but consistency in communication is important.
- MAIN FEEDBACK: If you have a capricious hiring manager, make sure you schedule a hiring manager conversation FIRST, before the take-home or onsite, so you don't waste a candidate's time. If a candidate meets all technical bars, rejecting them with a fuzzy "I just didn't like her" is really rude. We could have figured that out BEFORE I invested time into Carta's take-home and onsite.
Questions
Basic ML questions about sampling, feature engineering, data transformations, etc.
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 1 interview experience for the Carta Senior Machine Learning Engineer role in San Francisco, California.
Success Rate
Carta's interview process for their Senior Machine Learning Engineer roles in San Francisco, California is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.
Experience Rating
Candidates reported having mixed feelings for Carta's Senior Machine Learning Engineer interview process in San Francisco, California.
Carta Work Experiences
- 1.0High turnover and a chaotic CEO hinder progressSenior Machine Learning Engineer • Former EmployeeLondon, EnglandJuly 14, 2026Pros: It is a very fast-paced environment where you have to navigate the constant ambiguity thrown at you by the CEO, who thinks he is an AI genius.Cons: There were failed acquisitions, including Vauban, Capdesk, and Accelex. The CEO is unable to stay calm, have a clear vision, and delegate. Instead of delivering a clear vision, he goes into the weeds of implementation and confuses technical solutioning with product vision. The problem is the CEO. Again, just to be clear, it is the CEO. He laid off the whole French engineering team of Accelex or Carta LPPA for economic reasons while claiming the business is doing very well. Management turnover is very high. The CEO does not expect you to constructively engage with his vision. You need to exactly agree with what he says and be a yes-man. Otherwise, his management, or what is left of it, will take care of laying you off with random reasons, such as a PIP or making you work on no projects. Most of the management is from an ethnic and cultural background quite dominant in Silicon Valley, where challenging authority is a big no-no. It is no surprise they are successful there. The greater point is that there is a lack of ethnic diversity. If you are not from that background, it is unlikely you will be promoted into a managerial role in the engineering department. There is a dying solution with the threat of AI and better competitors with more innovative solutions. Everyone knows about this CEO because of his behavior and lawsuits. Initially, I was siding with him and thought critics were just haters. However, you would not believe how these lawsuits are just the tip of the iceberg, and no one respects this CEO, even in his own company. The best is that people on his side treat him like a genius child who needs to be minded and have translators so normal employees can understand him. The worst is that people see him like Elon Musk, but minus the talent and with a ton more of anger and sadness, as he would share why he is divorced.
- 3.0A shell of its former selfSenior Software Engineer • Current EmployeeSan Francisco, California, United StatesNovember 4, 2024Pros: The products and problems space are interesting.Cons: Mismanagement and lack of accountability for the execution of product goals.
- 5.0A place to grow and buildSoftware Developer • Current EmployeeSan Francisco, California, United StatesApril 5, 2017Pros: eShares is a place that hires for trajectory, and so inevitably, employees have space and support to grow and improve. eShares does business differently than most places and manages people differently as well. The way it is done provides a lot of space to bypass bureaucracy and clutter and just build things that will propel the whole company forward. As an engineer, I don't get specs and blinders to just go heads down and chomp through programming work. I am integrated with our customers, find their needs, and help build to support the business. It's a more holistic environment, and it allows for more meaningful engineering work. Inclusivity is a priority, and it is constantly being worked towards.Cons: It's a startup; there are always growing pains as the staff expands and corporate structures evolve. There is a lot going right, but sometimes there are hard situations and setups that still need to be improved.
