Asked to be introduced to a Valve employee by a common friend and inquired about working at Valve. Since I was local, the initial screen was in person rather than over the phone.

80% was a discussion of my experience and background and 20% was a specific coding problem. Once I passed that, an on-site loop was scheduled.

There were supposed to be 5 interviews, including a lunch interview. All Valve interviews are with pairs of developers. All of them are very smart, so bullshitting your way through will definitely not work. Although there are plenty of questions about coding and algorithms, I got the feeling that cultural fit is even more important than technical skills.

Valve is a truly unique and awesome place to be (Google for their employee handbook). Not having a boss can be great, but it is definitely not for everyone. This is why cultural fit is so important. They are looking for people who can really, really work as part of the team without having a boss. I guess that this is what the lunch interview is mostly about. It is definitely not a mere social event like at Facebook and Google. I guess that people who have made this mistake are among the reviewers who mentioned being rejected after 3 interviews (lunch is usually the 3rd one).

Having entrepreneurial or game modding experience is definitely a big plus because it shows that you can work independently.

In the end, I got the offer but, after some very hard deliberations, decided to join another company which is a different kind of awesome. Apples and oranges...

resume and experience related questions