I applied on LinkedIn and received a call from the recruiter. We had a chat about the job requirements and where I might fit in. It was a pretty good conversation.

Next, I was scheduled for a technical phone screen with a Senior Engineer. Most of the interview focused on my knowledge and the technologies Lucid uses, which was pretty interesting. Towards the last 15 minutes, we solved an easy coding question.

After clearing the technical phone screen, I was scheduled for a virtual onsite interview. This is where the issues started. The recruiter's behavior became very strange. She was unwilling to have a phone conversation with me about the onsite interview process or the number of interviews. After I asked several times, she repeatedly stated there would be 3-4 technical interviews. To top it off, she eventually asked me to speak with the scheduling coordinator regarding the interview process. Hesitantly, I scheduled the onsite interview, which turned out to be 5 technical interviews over 2 days.

The onsite experience was horrible. The interviewers kept delving deeper into concepts I was not familiar with. Android Auto and AOSP are not areas I have experience in, yet they continued to grill me on these topics and expressed dismay that I was not proficient in their technology.

I received an offer 2 days later. The recruiter then wouldn't stop praising how good the company is and the "BS" benefits they offer. Then she threw in a curveball: they wanted me to join as a Junior Developer with a drastically reduced salary from what I had asked. Clearly, they weren't going to pay me the money upfront and had wasted all this time.

My biggest mistake was disclosing my salary expectations to the recruiter.

Questions around AOSP and car hardware.