I had a phone conversation with HR within hours of sending in my application. The HR representative was a great guy, and in fact, the entire HR staff is exceptional and very professional.

The hiring manager called the next day, and I was invited for an in-person interview.

I was interviewed for the entire day by about six people, I guess, and I was less than impressed.

They have this thing with C++ where they want you to answer everything about the syntax, etc., which has little bearing on how well a programmer will fare in the programming world. I think it's a very narrow-minded approach, but it is what it is; they do know how to make money.

They refer to someone who has been there for five years as a long-term employee, saying, "Oh, he has been here for a long time," and someone with ten years as a "lifetime employee." So, it seems people do not stay here for too long.

I was not too impressed with the talent, but as I said earlier, they make good money, so they must have top talent somewhere, just that I did not see it.

There is a brain teaser that they ask about a string burning from both ends. It's a very old one, but the interviewer asked the wrong question. How could I tell him that he was asking the wrong question?