I applied for a mid-level developer role but my work was marked against senior-level criteria, which they later admitted was a mistake. Despite meeting all the requirements, writing tests, and delivering clean FastAPI code, I was marked down for minor setup differences (Mac vs Windows, missing env example, handwritten requirements.txt) and told I should have used Docker, even though the brief clearly asked for a simple web app. The whole process felt rigid and unfair, with no chance to discuss my decisions or defend the work. Doing a take-home test before even speaking to someone face to face is a red flag and makes the experience feel like a waste of time. This was clearly a senior role and I was only put forward to be part of the candidate pool. Overall, a negative experience for the quality of work I delivered.

The take-home challenge was a huge waste of time and I got the impression that one of the interviewers was a reactionary of some sort. The permanent salary seemed ok for a senior developer but low for what they were actually looking for which, based on the feedback I received, was closer to a principal or staff engineer (the contract day rate specified was perhaps a better reflection of this requirement). I wouldn't recommend this place to others even if desperate as the take-home challenge shows such a disrespect for candidates' time.