I was contacted via LinkedIn by the hiring manager. We first talked on the phone. He was polite, willing to answer my questions and asked me what I was looking for. ****Preemptively, I spelled out very clearly that I was not a software engineer and wasn't qualified for or interested in a position that required those skills. ***** He seemed unphased by this and asked if I wanted to do a phone-based or take-home-project coding task to see if his software team could work with me. Interpreting this as an acknowledgement that this was indeed *not* a software engineering position, I opted for the take-home project. It was pretty open-ended and I invested a good amount of time working on it (> 6 hours). I was sick, had to submit an unfinished project (that was still quite substantial) and was about to withdraw my candidacy when I received an email invitation to do an onsite. Apparently, my coding skills were fine. At this point, I figured it would be worth my very limited time to take a day off because: *He knew I wasn't a software engineer and because he had seen my code in great detail.* I was told I would hear back about scheduling in a couple of days. I didn't hear back for about a week so I checked in. This should have been a red flag. He was sick and it took a few more days and one more email from me before it got scheduled (another red flag). At the interview, I met with 8 people throughout the day for about 5 hours. I was asked a mixture of behavioral and technical questions, including some pretty amorphous questions from the software team that seemed inadequate to gauge technical skills I would need to work well with them. I thought it went reasonably well nevertheless and was told I would hear back later that day about a decision. I didn't. I sent a conscientious and warm thank you email and got no response. UPDATE: Heard back from the hiring manager days after he said he would give me a decision and the thank you email. He said unapologetically that they decided to go with.... someone with more software experience! I took a day I had planned to spend with family during December break to do the interview and many evenings working on the project he gave me and there was no acknowledgement that he could have saved me the time from the beginning when I clearly said I WAS NOT A SOFTWARE ENGINEER by saying, "Oh, okay. Sorry, we need someone who is quite proficient with software. Best of luck." Wow. The interview process for tech startups really needs to change. Human beings are an end not a means to an end. Here is my advice for prospective employees: If this or any other company is acting flaky and not treating you with respect, even subtly, stop the interview process. Walk away. It will only get worse as the process evolves. It's time for workers to stand up for decency, dignity and respect in the workplace. I will say that I've recently interviewed with other companies that follow through and seem to care about how the interviewee feels throughout the process. They did not string me along and waste my time. So, change is happening elsewhere.