A recruiter contacted me on LinkedIn about job offerings. I decided to move forward with an internship application. During the process, I spoke with three different recruiters. All of them were very kind, and one even invited me for a one-hour lunch and tour.

I had a technical phone interview. I didn't get the impression that the interviewer enjoyed conducting interviews, and he may not have done many. Perhaps he was as nervous as I was; I'm not sure.

I ended up using Java, even though the recruiters had told me I could use any language (I specifically asked about C++ and C#). I have no problem with Java programming, but at the time of the interview, I hadn't used Java in a year. I did okay on two questions and wrote a solution for another with a few hints. In the end, I asked standard questions about culture, etc. I also asked a bolder question about his impression of the handling of the NSA/WikiLeaks cases, as those issues mean a lot to me.

A day later, I received a standard email from Palantir (not from any of the three recruiters or a specific person!) stating that they didn't see my experience/skills fitting the position. I found this very disrespectful. When I and one of their engineers spend 45 minutes on a phone interview, I think the least they could do is spend three to five minutes explaining why I didn't fit, so I can improve, etc.

I wrote to one of the recruiters about it, and after a few emails, I received more details. While I don't agree with all the points, I was satisfied to get an explanation. The explanation from the recruiter made this a neutral experience instead of a negative one.

Not anything fancy.

First/second year CS algorithm questions.