Bias against older candidates is a concern mentioned in employee reviews, citing a lack of older employees and a "Microsoft style" hiring bias. My interview experience was consistent with these observations, even though I had not read them prior to my interview. The interview team and Director performed poorly on teamwork and work environment focused questions that I posed.

The phone interviews were very standard. The "homework" assignment seemed trivial but contained a "trick" designed to trip up less experienced candidates.

The team I was interviewing for was working on a beta version of their product that was not yet released or available for download. As they were distributing the beta, I asked the phone interviewer if they could send me a copy, but he declined (more on this below).

The onsite interview was highly disorganized. The HR representative was a no-show, so I waited in the lobby until the first technical session, which was delayed. All technical segments were conducted with two interviewers. The lead interviewer scheduled for the first session was also unavailable, so they quickly found a replacement who clearly had insufficient time to review my background. The coding questions in this session did not seem appropriate for my experience level, likely due to the interviewer's lack of preparation time. I remained cheerful and upbeat during the session, which seemed to irritate the lead interviewer. He appeared annoyed that he had to interview me on short notice, and his demeanor showed it.

The second session also consisted of coding exercises. This was followed by lunch with two team members. Again, one of the scheduled individuals (a manager) was not available, so another person was found to fill in. Both were junior staff, which was acceptable, but they seemed somewhat uncomfortable at first, especially the replacement. The lunchtime discussion was mainly informal, but I took the opportunity to inquire about the beta version of the product. They stated it had been packaged as a 'public' beta and would be easily shareable with candidates. They seemed surprised that no one had sent it to me already. This presented a concerning inconsistency. I did not reveal to them that I had previously requested it and was told no by the phone interviewer.

Another technical session followed lunch. Yet again, there was a change, but the manager originally scheduled for lunch joined this session. The other interviewer was the same person who conducted the phone interview; he was not pleasant at all. The questions in this final session were pointless, as they were merely more "trick" questions. Furthermore, the interview team did not collaborate effectively during this session.

Note: My interview took place months ago.

Nothing specific, except most questions were not effective.