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Senior Software Engineer Interview Experience

February 22, 2025
Negative ExperienceNo Offer

Process

I applied online. The process took one week.

The interview process consisted of multiple stages:

  • Initial Screening: A standard HR call discussing experience and expectations.
  • Take-home assignment: This was supposed to take four hours, according to HR, but in reality, implementing it properly took sixteen plus hours. The task was to build an invoicing editor with a focus on code quality and user experience.
  • Debrief: A follow-up interview where I walked through my solution, answered technical questions, and received some minor feedback on functionality.

After all this effort, I was rejected with the reasoning that I "lack product mindset," a vague, undefined criterion that was never communicated beforehand. The interviewers focused on why I didn't implement a specific feature, which was never a requirement, rather than evaluating the actual quality of the solution.

Main issues with the process:

  • Misleading time estimates: HR claimed the take-home test should take four hours, but in reality, it required sixteen plus hours. Either HR is unaware of the workload or is deliberately misleading candidates.
  • Unclear expectations: Nowhere in the assignment was "product mindset" mentioned as a key evaluation factor, yet that was the final rejection reason.
  • Subjective feedback: The rejection was based on one specific missing feature, which was not required, instead of a structured evaluation of my implementation.
  • Disrespect for candidates' time: Investing sixteen plus hours in an assignment only to be rejected based on arbitrary reasons is highly unprofessional.

If you're considering applying here, be prepared to spend far more time than they claim and to be evaluated based on shifting, undefined criteria.

Questions

  1. Implement CRUD for invoice.
  2. Implement invoice list pagination.
  3. Implement Invoice list search.
  4. Cover everything with tests.

That's definitely not a 4h task.

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Interview Statistics

The following metrics were computed from 5 interview experiences for the Pennylane Senior Software Engineer role.

Success Rate

20%
Pass Rate

Pennylane's interview process for their Senior Software Engineer roles is very selective, failing most engineers who go through it.

Experience Rating

Positive20%
Neutral0%
Negative80%

Candidates reported having very negative feelings for Pennylane's Senior Software Engineer interview process.

Pennylane Work Experiences