First applied online, after 12 days received an invitation for a HireVue interview. I got two chances to record myself for every question.

8 days after this, there was an email request from HR for an initial phone screen. It was very conversational and went very well. HR immediately sent me a HackerRank assessment with 3 questions in total, 60 minutes. It is very simple; think about easy-level LeetCode problems. I could only use Java and C for it, which was a little frustrating because I hadn't used Java to practice algorithms, but it turned out the problems weren't difficult.

A week after I submitted the OA, I received an email that invited me for an onsite interview in their Boston office. Note that you can request online interviews if you are not living nearby to their local offices.

The onsite interview was also simple. My interviewer was a young man (graduated three years earlier than me). First was a bunch of behavioral questions, mainly focused on schoolwork (prepare some stories and you will be all set). Then I got a few technical questions. The questions were mainly on REST, CRUD, Agile, Java, OOP, and SQL. You can tackle them if you pay attention in your Java class.

The two whiteboard problems were:

• Code a multiplication table. The time complexity is O(n^2); I don't think there is a better way. Follow-up: Is there any way to improve the time complexity? After I thought for a while, I told him that assuming every number in this table has a match, the complexity can only be reduced to 1/2*n^2, which is still O(n^2). As you can see, no improvement.

• SQL table. Write a RESTful method to insert a record into a table. The interviewer was not looking for actual code, just make sure you explain the general idea of how to use the POST method and what parameters would be, so as to what happens in the model. Follow-up: Write a RESTful method that counts the record of each type. Just explain we need to create a GET method, then explain what will happen in the model.

Got the offer via phone three hours after the interview. They only gave me one day to accept it, so I accepted it immediately.

Summary: In overall, HR was very responsive and professional throughout the entire process, and I can see that they care about each applicant. However, the pay is significantly lower than other technology companies in the Boston area. But at this stage, I am looking for experience more than money, so I took it. If money is a huge factor, think again before taking the role.

Code a multiplication table.

Describe a team project.