Recruiter Screen -> Phone Screen -> Homework -> Onsite

Phone Screen is a technical discussion with a manager about your experience and approach.

Homework is as described. Like everyone else, I thought it was more a 4-6 hour task than the 2-4 hours Carta suggests.

Onsite is very long:

• Tech Discussion about the homework: Discussing tradeoffs, approach to the code, and what you'd do to handle specific scenarios. Preparation is limited to your own expertise.
• Systems Design: A typical design question and discussion of tradeoffs. I struggled with this, but in hindsight, I felt I didn't fully understand the way the questions were worded.
• Behavioral: A "tell me about a time when..." type of question.
• Product: This was unusual. They aimed to understand how you would triage issues with a product person, your thought process, and how you'd compromise.
• Hiring Manager: A 30-minute session where you do all the asking and the HM just answers. This supposedly doesn't count towards your interview.
• Recruiter Wrap-up: This was unclear because the recruiter did not show up!

Throughout the interview, everyone (except for the behavioral round) seemed disinterested, lacked energy, and offered no human connection.

Both technical rounds featured pairs of people who didn't seem engaged in the conversation, appearing more interested in you answering pre-written questions rather than discussing them.

My Hiring Manager round included someone who yawned, rested their head on their hand the entire time, and gave one-word answers to open-ended questions (e.g., "How would you describe the decision-making process at Carta?" "It depends."; "How is work-life balance at Carta?" "It's good."). It felt like the longest 30 minutes of my life.

The Product Interviewer was acceptable, although they sounded rushed and lacked personality.

My recruiter did not show up for the wrap-up. I emailed but received no response. The recruiter reached out a few days later to say I was rejected. This makes me wonder if a decision was already made halfway through my onsite, as the interviewers seemed even more disinterested after the first half.

Overall rating: 2/10. I wouldn't recommend interviewing here. Too much time is spent on the homework and onsite, and none of the people I spoke with truly connected with me.