I applied through a recruiter. The process took four weeks.

I used to work at MongoDB, and I felt the interview process was a good balance between not giving me an unfair advantage over candidates who have never worked at MongoDB, while also understanding they know who I am. All job interviews are about understanding what makes a person tick and whether they'd be a good fit for the company and the role. In my case, they already knew my character and were obviously interested in having me back. But companies change, people change, so it's still important to make sure there's still a good fit.

I still had to go through all the stages—recruiter, hiring manager, tech deep dive, panel/role play, along with background checks. I actually appreciated that because it was a chance for me to show that I wasn't taking this opportunity to come back to MongoDB for granted. It was the right time and opportunity for me to make an impact at the company again in a new role.

Role play as a customer having performance challenges in a PoC. How do you handle it?