The interview process took 8 weeks.

I was referred by a friend and was contacted by an engineering manager first. We set up a phone screening for the week after.

Then two weeks went by, and I was contacted by a recruiter. She wanted to set up a phone screening, but after a few weeks, she told me the hiring manager wanted to go on-site after hearing about my phone screening. Somehow, I got lost in the flow of things.

They flew me out the next week for four interviews, a very short deadline and notice. After my fourth interview, they tacked on a fifth. The last was with the hiring manager.

He told me normally, when he meets recruits, it is a good thing, so I should not worry. However, he did not want to give out an offer yet. He wanted to see where to put me. He said I was good, but not what he normally hires (i.e., not a new grad or experienced professional). I was changing from teaching in academia for five years.

After I got back on Tuesday, I was informed on Wednesday night (a 3-hour time difference) that my recruiter received my feedback and wanted to schedule a time to talk the next day. We talked on Thursday, where she gave me an offer for SDEII. Very exciting.

I did negotiate, but not on the yearly salary or bonuses, as they were very competitive and above what I was expecting.

I will abide by the NDA, so I will not disclose the actual questions.

I can say that I was asked some fairly tough questions.

One was an actual problem I was asked to solve. They showed me the design requirements.

The last of the four interviewers said she normally does not ask this difficult of a question, but for me, she would. It was tough.

I will say to study your basic data structures and algorithms, such as sorting, searching, trees, recursion, and design patterns.