I went through five interviews with Veeva, and they interviewed my old tech lead for a sixth.

The whole process took four months, with a pause of over six weeks between getting the final interview and the verbal offer.

Lots of very personal questions relating to my childhood and early career came from two different interviewers. I felt somewhat uncomfortable with that.

Only two of the interviews were technical, but all interviews were with managers and technical staff. No HR or recruiters were involved.

The offer was below my current salary and would only beat it in the most positive scenario, with on-target bonuses added up. It didn't make financial sense for me to take the offer, even after going over it with my financial advisor. The company was not willing to negotiate.

By that time, I had another offer that was much more appealing, and my own employer had given me a raise that went beyond this offer anyhow.

During the process, they evaluated me as less-than senior, which might be reflected by the lower offer. I also got the feeling that the delay in the later stages of the process—it took them one month to interview my ex-tech lead for a reference, and then another month for the offer—might indicate I was not exactly the first pick they had in mind.

We feel that someone's upbringing is very important in shaping who they are today.

Can you describe the first twenty years of your life?

Who should own "MLOps" in an organization?