I was attending the 2017 SHPE conference. Prior to the conference, I had been invited to apply for an engineering role with Goldman, so that I could be interviewed once I arrived. I was sent a HackRank test, which was fairly easy, and then scheduled for a 45-minute interview.

Once I got to the conference, I was interviewed and asked questions of medium to easy difficulty. I enjoyed my interview at this point and was beginning to consider a role with Goldman.

After leaving the interview, the recruiter emailed me, stating that the engineers liked me and wanted me to chat with a few more of them. She also mentioned that if I couldn't return the same day, I could meet them at a Hospitality Suite, which is a relaxed, casual environment held in the evening. Thinking this would be a casual chat, I decided to return the same day to the interview booths.

When I returned, I chatted with one engineer who seemed interested in me and my aspirations at Goldman. It was a good conversation. He then suggested I meet another engineer. The second engineer arrived and asked if I wanted to do some technical questions. At this point, I thought this was meant to be a casual "get to know me" type of discussion, but figured a couple of technical problems for fun wouldn't hurt. He then began asking me rather difficult problems out of the blue, and I struggled to come up with clean answers on the spot. I had no idea this was going to be part of the "chat." He technically "interviewed" me for over an hour. I suppose because I couldn't perform well in his idea of a casual chat, he suggested to the others not to move forward with me.

I felt as though I was deceived because I could have easily opted not to return the same day, had a casual chat at the hospitality suite, and prepared adequately for a real technical interview later. It was completely spontaneous, and I wasn't ready to give my best performance after a long day of conference activities and other interviews.

A recruiter called me about a week later, informing me they had decided not to move forward with my application. She did say that if I wanted to reconsider roles with Goldman in the future, I should reach out. I thanked her for her time, and she seemed a little taken aback that I didn't ask any follow-up questions.

I don't think I will ever consider a role there in the future, and I will advise my friends similarly because of this peculiar process I experienced.

Implement a HashMap class.