The entire process was very positive.

The first interview was a phone screening with the recruiter, followed by a Hangout interview with a manager on the team. He asked a couple of questions about how I would design a system, as well as behavioral questions such as how I had handled a conflict with a coworker.

Afterwards, I was invited for an onsite interview where I spoke with three different managers from the department. They asked questions mostly about how I would design things, and a couple of managers did ask about my resume. Each person was quite friendly and laid back. However, it felt strictly business, and there was no tour of the facility, though they were hospitable and offered snacks and drinks.

The final interview was another Hangout interview with the overall lead.

When it came time to negotiate with the recruiters, they would not budge on salary or department, even though I expressed some concern initially that the role seemed less technical than what I had desired. After I originally declined the offer, they asked that I think it over some more. After that, they offered to see if another department were willing to hire me. At that point, it was for a department with a manager I did not meet during the interview process, which made it difficult to determine if it would really be a good fit.

I ultimately declined. My company countered on salary when they heard about the offer, and I was already in a challenging and pleasurable work environment. It didn't seem worth the trouble to relocate and displace my spouse's employment to take a risk on a less technical role with effectively less buying power salary-wise.

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