I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Stream (CO)
Interview
The recruiter was excellent throughout the process and very supportive, and up until the culture fit step, the experience was smooth and professional. However, things shifted afterward. The culture fit interview, which was supposed to be a formality, felt forced and unnecessarily tense. Then a last-minute step with the CTO was added, which was postponed several times. When it finally took place, the conversation felt judgmental and dismissive, with assumptions about my background and unfair criticism of my motivation. Despite doing well in the technical and earlier rounds, the process ended with rejection, leaving the impression that internal bias and shifting expectations outweighed actual performance.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
System design for an event driven system, database optimizations for performance
The introductory call covered a range of topics, including an in-depth discussion of past experiences and engineering approaches, followed by a brief but focused technical conversation and a hands-on system design challenge.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What would be your considerations when designing a public API
The initial call lasted about 40 minutes and was quite standard. We discussed my work experience and some ideas related to the position. During the conversation, the recruiter clearly explained the expectations for the role and answered all my questions directly. At the end of the call, I asked for feedback, and he was honest with me.
I have been interviewing for some time now and have not been successful in many processes, often without understanding the reasons why. This was the first time in a while that someone provided me with meaningful feedback on how I can improve for future interviews. That is why I wanted to share my experience.