I applied online. The process took 3 weeks.

Recruiter interview:

• Pretty standard script-read.
• Not much to note.

Hiring manager interview:

• Asked thoughtful questions and shared some interesting insights about the team and role.

Coding interview: I joined the video call for the coding assessment. A growth engineer joined, introduced himself, asked a bit about my background, and explained that I'd be building an app from scratch.

He asked if I'd heard of Hooks, describing it as Suno's TikTok clone, and briefly scrolled through it on his phone. He told me to just make something like that. He then had me share my screen and start building.

I asked if there were any specific requirements, features, or any general direction. He just told me to build it however I wanted, adding that since there are hundreds of features I could implement, I should just choose whatever—and use whatever tools I desired.

After that, he muted himself and began eating potato chips. I decided to use Claude Code. As I began, I asked if he wanted me to talk through my thought process.

He unmuted, finished chewing for a moment, said that I could if I wanted to, and muted himself again. About 10 minutes in, he came off mute to ask me to explain some of my decisions.

I told him that since I was starting from a blank slate with no real requirements or target outcome, I was using the LLM to initially scaffold the app and establish a baseline starting point. He muted himself again, and the interview proceeded in total silence.

For most of the interview, he stayed muted. Every now and then he'd crack a smile or laugh, seemingly messaging with coworkers, while I just kept building.

I built the app. With about 10 minutes left, he came off mute once more and asked me to go over my architectural decisions—which I didn't have much of an answer for.

Do you have any questions for me?