I had a positive experience with everyone I interacted with during the process. However, preparing for the interview was such a monumental task that I opted out before even doing the technical screen. My reasoning was due to a lack of time to prepare properly, and I didn't want to proceed to the tech screen without at least basic preparation.

Some suggest doing the screen anyway, and even if rejected, one can try again in six months. However, I really wasn't up to it for a variety of reasons.

I informed them several weeks in advance of the tech screen that I needed to cancel. They were very polite and encouraged me to reach out if I ever wanted to resume the interview process.

I would do it again if it were the right time and I had the resources to prepare. It is a serious endeavor, especially for someone like me with no academic computer science background, despite a master's in statistics, which only helps so much in an SE interview like this.

Did not make it this far – canceled before interview. However, the study materials sent by the recruiter included basic computer science/software engineering data structures and algorithms that would be needed for coding in a scripting language during the tech screen. The resources were great and very comprehensive, but so much that it would be best to pare down to the essentials.

I learned a lot from looking up what other successful candidates had done for their prep. AlgoExpert was my favorite resource, along with books like:

• Cracking the Coding Interview by Gayle Laakmann McDowell
• Popular textbooks