The people I spoke to seem nice, but honestly, their interview process seems like it was written up by ex-Googlers who are stuck in that mode. The technical questions are your algorithmic/recursive types and have nothing to do with web or database programming. Even before I was rejected, I was concerned that they were only focusing on algorithms instead of touching on databases, given that they talk about being a SQL VLDB shop. An interviewer sadly volunteered that these interview questions have nothing to do with what is needed on a day-to-day basis, and I get the sense that they are being told how they need to interview rather than letting them interview based on what they need to validate in an employee.

It is sad that they are the ones with the war chest to do something in this area, but they are going to lose out on many qualified people and waste a lot of time in interviews because they are trying to quiz people on computer science coursework. They need to realize they are asking for vb.net individuals (most long out of school) who also depend on an interpreted language (SQL) that acts nothing like the problems they are culling on.

Also, it took a week to even get a response, and my first phone screening was scheduled out a week after that. Once you get past that, you go through another phone screening, and then you are invited to their office to do an in-person interview. Overall, from initial submission to reject email, it took a whole month for me. A frustrating and disappointing process.

What was a problem you had to overcome, and how did you do it?