Saw a posting on LinkedIn. Applied online, then reached out to a recruiter I was connected to on LinkedIn.

Initial phone call with the recruiter to discuss the role and salary. After the hiring manager reviewed my resume, I was scheduled for a more technical phone call.

The technical phone call was with the hiring manager and another Solutions Architect. It was a very casual conversation discussing the role, McDonald's technology stack, and my background. It was a very nice and easy conversation.

A few days after this, I was invited to come onsite to McDonald's headquarters.

Onsite interview was scheduled for 3 in-person interviews, each ranging from 30-45 minutes. One was with the hiring manager, one with the project manager, and one with three other Solutions Architects.

At the onsite, I learned that almost all of McDonald's tech was outsourced to Cap Gemini and that the Solutions Architect team is incredibly small. At this point, I knew if I had been offered the role, I wouldn't have taken it. This small SA team is likely going to be outsourced at some point, and I wasn't going to join a team that was likely not going to exist in a year or so.

Everyone I met was incredibly nice.

How would your co-workers describe you?

Lightning round:

• What is eventing?
• What is ARN?
• JSON vs XML?
• What is TLS?
• What is a Solutions Architect?