I walked away from a $250,000 interview
Interviews go both ways
If you’re applying to any company then you’re likely interested in them. But the company also has to be interesting to you as well.
Whether you’re interested in the work, culture, or compensation, everyone has standards for where they work.
Here’s a story about one that didn’t meet mine.
Application
I was looking for a new role beyond Microsoft and applied to Affirm as a software engineer. A recruiter quickly responded to my application and started the interview process.
I was prepared for the standard interviewing experience which included coding problems, behavioral questions, or system design. But when the first phone screen was scheduled, I realized this wasn’t the company for me.
Phone Screen
When I had my phone interview, the interviewer was quick to jump straight into the coding question. I wasn’t surprised to start writing code but I did find the question very coding intensive. I thought we could talk through it and share my thoughts but it seemed like the interviewer only cared if the code worked and nothing else.
30 minutes later the interviewer noticed I was stuck implementing the solution. As much as I’d like help, he tells me
“I’ll be right back, I’m going to grab some water.”
It might seem jarring but I tried not to let it bother me and thought that was part of the interview to see how you handle disruptions.
Shortly, I was actually able to implement a working solution and they were happy moving me forward to the onsite.
Onsite
For the final round at Affirm I was prepared to have 4 onsite interviews. They would be typical coding or behavioral questions I was used to. But when I started my first onsite interview, I knew the company and I were ready to reject each other.
The first round started where the interviewer had me jump straight into coding a working solution. This wasn’t a format I was used to and it was important to me to ask question to clarify the problem. After understanding the problem better I proposed a few solutions.
We chatted but couldn’t reach an agreement. The interviewer was eager to have me implement her solution and wasn’t open to what I was proposing. I’m sure she had an interviewer solution in mind but I wanted to take the time to kindly explain a simpler implementation that was easier to code. She didn’t have the patience and told me
“I don’t understand but go ahead and start coding. All I care about is if it works.”
30 minutes go by as I’m chatting verbally through my solution. I wasn’t sure if she was muted during the interview but then I hear the same phrase as I’m coding:
“Let me go get some water, I’ll be right back”.
I didn’t know what to make of this but I knew not to be reactive. The company just wanted to see if I could code and I made sure the interviewer verified it worked.
Canceling the Onsite
When the first interview was over, I wasn’t excited thinking about the rest of the interviews. I skipped the second onsite interview and emailed the recruiter a rare message.
“I’d like to withdraw my candidacy from Affirm.”
An onsite is typically 4+ hours and I’m sure we’re all relieved to save time on an opportunity that wasn’t mutual for both of us. While the role offered much more than my Microsoft compensation, my experience during the interviews made me realize finding a culture fit goes both ways.
I’m not sure if I was a culture fit for them but it wasn’t a culture fit for me.
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