Stay away. Terrible and dishonest HR – the worst I've seen in a long time.

I was called for an on-site interview after applying. I arrived in the morning and met with the recruiter, who took me and a group of other candidates to their main cafeteria/restaurant where we ate before the interviews started. After a while, the recruiter disappeared, and we became worried because it was about time to start interviewing. We went back to the main lobby and had the receptionist call the recruiter to meet us again (this was weird).

Out of nowhere, the recruiter reappeared, took us into a conference room, and showed us videos about Yahoo on YouTube. I was expecting a (brief) office tour, but it never happened, so apparently, it wasn't part of the plan. Anyone can watch videos about Yahoo at home, so I'm not sure what the point was. Then, some developers arrived, and we all split for one-on-one interviews in conference rooms. The interviews were standard software engineering coding questions (algorithms, data structures, design patterns, etc.), and each interview lasted 45 minutes. I completed three interviews, and then they said we were done for the day and that the recruiter would reach out soon.

Despite my follow-up emails, the recruiter simply ignored me. It took the recruiter about a month to reply. I assumed they weren't interested in moving forward, but it turns out I was wrong. The recruiter said I did really well and that they would prepare an offer package and present it to the Hiring Committee. I thought this was good: yes, HR was inefficient, but the office looked nice, and I enjoyed interviewing there, so I gave them the benefit of the doubt. And then the wait began again – it was another full month until the recruiter reached out (despite my efforts, the recruiter kept ignoring my follow-up emails) to say that the offer package was approved by the committee. They sent me the offer, which was conditional on getting a US visa. They also mentioned that I could work from their office in London if I didn't get the visa for some reason, since I don't need a visa to work in London. I accepted the offer.

Then I waited a couple of months while Yahoo took care of preparing my visa petition. I eventually received confirmation that the petition had been sent to USCIS (the government office in the US that approves/denies visa applications). Apparently, there's a year cap on the number of visas, and there are more applicants than the allotted number, so USCIS runs a lottery to see who gets a visa.

For four months, I waited for someone to reach out with updates. I got tired of waiting and contacted the immigration attorney who prepared my petition. They informed me that I didn't make it in the lottery and also that Yahoo had mentioned I wouldn't be joining the company the month before (which is why the attorney hadn't told me about the lottery results).

I got upset and immediately emailed my prospective manager at Yahoo, who said the same: that the recruiting department said I wouldn't be joining the company anymore. I also found out that they didn't have a place for me in London because the team I would have been working with was in Sunnyvale, California.

I'm really sad about what happened; I expected much more from a company like Yahoo. The way candidates are treated is unprofessional. Recruiters don't reply. HR lied by saying I could go to London if I didn't get a visa. The whole company seems pretty messed up.

Needless to say, even though I accepted the offer, I obviously won't be working for Yahoo. I recommend other candidates stay away.

Common algorithms questions.