We started off with a Karat algorithm assessment. You have to answer two questions in under 45 minutes, which is hard to do given the interviewer asks follow-up questions. I managed to solve one problem, and indeed that decided to move me forward.

The next part was a half-day interview in which you do about four 1-hour interviews. I was informed that I was applying for a React developer position, but I was never asked any React questions. They expect you to be highly proficient in vanilla JavaScript instead.

What's interesting about that is as a React developer, you are discouraged from writing any vanilla JavaScript. So, being that I've been a React developer for 7 years, I'm going to be a little rusty on that end. But if I needed to ever use vanilla JavaScript, it could be easily Googled. We all learned it at some point.

React is a skill that takes years to master. What if a candidate is great at vanilla JavaScript but not good at React? Does that make that candidate a senior React developer?

React discourages vanilla JavaScript, so it'll take years to get to the level of a senior React developer. React is its own world. It's not only about code. It's about:

• Conventions
• Ideology
• Performance
• Hooks
• Memoization
• Server-side rendering
• Best practices

Then there is the world of Redux, Sagas, selectors, error handling, debugging, pipelines, Webpack, etc.

So it was interesting to see that all of the interviews used language that I used to use 6-7 years ago. It took me some time to remember. I was able to answer most of the questions correctly.

I didn’t get the offer because "I wasn’t sharp enough on vanilla JavaScript, but the candidate's React skills are telling." I've worked at top tech companies and have been offered senior React developer positions. A previous company offered me a staff front-end developer position, so I know I am qualified.

Moral of the story: Do not do this interview if you are an experienced React developer. There are much bigger and better companies that have interview processes that actually make sense, and you will have a much better chance of getting offers there.

Mainly useless questions in this modern time. Maybe 10-20 years ago.