Two rounds, focusing on behavioural skills with some technical questions as well. First screening was straightforward then to the hiring manager. This process was not too different to other interviews that I have been in during other times.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How would you approach a situation which you haven’t been exposed to before.
I applied online. The process took 6 months. I interviewed at Stan (Sydney) in Jan 2024
Interview
Let me spin you a yarn about the interview process at this here outfit. It was a real wild ride from the get-go. First off, it took over six months to hear back after I threw my hat in the ring. Six months of dead silence, leaving me in the dark like a cowboy lost in the desert at midnight, wondering if they even got my message.
When they finally hollered for an interview, things went from bad to worse faster than a horse spooked by a rattlesnake. The pay they dangled was insultingly low, not even close to what’s fair for the work. Felt like they were trying to swindle desperate folks, treating us like greenhorns who don't know better.
The managers conducting the interview clearly didn't have a clue what they were doing. It was obvious as a snake in a horse trough they lacked any training on how to give a proper interview. They were unprofessional and disorganized, stumbling through their questions and constantly looking at their phones instead of paying attention to me. Their complete lack of respect stuck out like a sore thumb.
The questions they asked were another major red flag. Most of them had no relevance to the role I had applied for. It seemed like they had just pulled random questions out of a hat without understanding the position they were hiring for. They had no idea what skills or experience were actually needed for the job.
To make matters worse, the overall atmosphere was incredibly disrespectful. People were sauntering in and out of the room during the interview, chatting loudly, and showing no regard for the fact that a formal interview was taking place. It felt chaotic and unprofessional, like they didn't care about making a good impression or respecting the candidate's time.
In summary, the entire interview process was a disaster. From the long wait to hear back, to the low pay, to the clueless and disrespectful managers, it was clear this outfit is a real mess. If this is how they treat potential hires, I can't imagine how they treat their actual hands. Do yourself a favor and steer clear of this place.
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
Do you like being rewarded for all your unpaid overtime, burnout, and gaslighting with a pizza?
I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Stan (Sydney) in Jun 2024
Interview
Avoid at All Costs!
Applying for a role at Stan was the biggest mistake of my job search which cost me valuable time and was entirely humiliating. I have never been so disappointed in a company, its people, or its hiring process. I couldn't have imagined such an archaic approach still existing in the modern tech job market. Do yourself a favor and don't waste your time—this company certainly doesn't value it.
I applied via LinkedIn and had a brief call with an in-house recruiter, who promptly assigned me a take-home task. Despite my aversion to such assignments, I decided to give it a shot. My jaw dropped when I saw it was an 8-hour assignment—the most absurd demand I've ever encountered. The task came with a laundry list of technologies to use and stringent project setup requirements.
Feeling deflated and unwilling to commit to such a time sink, I decided to prioritize my other, more promising interview preparations. However, two days later, the recruiter followed up, expressing keen interest in my completion of the assignment. Mistakenly thinking they were genuinely interested in me, I agreed to time-box 8 hours for it.
Before my self-imposed deadline, the recruiter checked in again, signaling a sense of urgency. So, I dived in, dedicating an entire workday to the task. I meticulously completed every requirement, ran performance and accessibility checks, optimized the solution, and submitted it.
Then came the void. I sent two follow-up emails, which were met with deafening silence. Finally, after a week, I received an email stating that the team was too busy to process my application. They couldn’t spare 30 minutes to review my hard work but expected me to donate 8 hours of my life? I was infuriated. How can a business operate like this and expect to earn trust from developers?
If you value your time and effort, stay far away from Stan. This company doesn’t respect candidates' time or contributions. Don’t waste 8 hours on work that will never be acknowledged. Apply to companies that truly value people and their time.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Implement Stan home page and 2 program pages, fetch movie/tv series from the fake API (implement backend yourself to return provided json), have a written from scratch animated carousel with lazy loaded content to scroll between the movies and load more movies on keyboard press. In addition preset a webpack and project in a specific way, optimize, add keyboard navigation to support specific keys, add mobile support, add tests, download specific font and use it, write comprehensive documentation, etc... 8 hours expected.