Initially, I just did some phone calls with management and HR people, sounding one another out about what the others' goals were. I have an interest in low-level software, which seems to dovetail well with F5's product line. I felt there was a good match. I'm a senior person with a lot of experience, from serial and video drivers up through system management of these devices, as well as lots of network experience.

Next, I was invited in for a day of interviews. I generally get nervous during interviews and don't think well. I had two technical interviews where we chatted about goals, products, experience, etcetera, leaving about 30 minutes for the coding questions.

After the tech interviews, I went out to lunch with the managers who initially seemed interested but cooled as we talked. I expressed interest in low-level stuff, but I think they're more interested in exporting that code to a service environment.

The next day, they were good enough to call and obliquely inform me I didn't get the job because they had found a better fit, with assurances that I was the right guy for F5.

I've contacted them subsequently with no reply.

The first tech question concerned parsing an algebraic expression in a string. I had about a half an hour.

Next, after a similar chat, I was asked to implement a ring buffer.