I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at xAI (Addis Ababa) in Mar 2026
Interview
Was reached out to on linkedin cause they liked my github and was fast tracked to an interview. Except suddenly last minute they told me they couldn't hire from my country.
Which is better than the other person I guess, finding this out now rather than at the final step. They intially used 'payroll software ineligibility' as an excuse but the truth is they have an internal no-hire list and if you're applying as an international contractor, for your peace of mind check ahead of time if your country is on it. I have no clue why they contacted me if they couldn't hire me, fairly unprofessional.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Experience did not go anywhere due to recruiter not checking if they could hire me before reaching out to me.
Initial interview was simple tell me about yourself.
I was asked to present a project explaining the core technical details and going down to system design choices that were made.
One 1hr assessment Medium - hard leetcode.
Completed the assessment then had a 30 minute technical interview with an engineer. The second interview was with a manager and that was a 1hr technical interview that was similar to the type of work I'd be doing.
I got the offer but it was rescinded before my start date due to restructuring.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
For the 30 minute interview had to implement some code and talk about pros and cons of my choices.
For the 1hr interview, had to look at java code and review it before giving pros and cons of each approach. Had to translate code from one language to another.
