The time investment specific to this one employer seems to be a big weeder for interest and time availability, which is partly a problem.
One anecdatum, but which might not be that unusual:
When I applied (while working a very time-consuming and stressful key role), I had a small amount of time to catch my breath and context switch, that I could passably focus on thinking about other companies or interviewing.
So I decided that I had to choose between applying to Oxide and spending the same time prepping for a certain FAANG's Stanford fratbro shibboleth hazing rituals. I decided to go with my heart, and with the opportunity that seemed more inspiring, rather than a bit jerky.
After suffering through the "tenure packet" assembly headache, I waited, and waited, and then got a rejection email, without even a screening call. And a key sentence in the rejection email actually came across as snide, given that the writer seemed strong verbal. Which made me doubly regret not spending the same time practicing the FAANG's Leetcode whiteboard performance art.
(I ended up taking a comparable principal engineer job at an even more exotic hardware&software company, where they could hire people just by having very experienced other engineers, managers, and execs talk with them, no nonsense.)
The bad experience with the bespoke tenure packet also biased my decisions on my current search. One very interesting place I looked at, the extensive screening with a very knowledgeable person went exceedingly well, but when they presented me with the hiring group's systems programming take-home (huge time investment, with a dozen cleverly-spec'ed hard problems to nail, basically solving most of their hard software systems problems), and I didn't have time for that, I demurred.
I also now have even less tolerance for the Leetcode cargo-culting, and any other obnoxiousness, while having more appreciation for wise and intuitive hiring teams.
One factor, put loosely and jokingly, but there's a lot of truth to it: "If you like me, you must be good people."
> spending the same time prepping for a certain FAANG's Stanford fratbro shibboleth hazing rituals... Which made me doubly regret not spending the same time practicing the FAANG's Leetcode whiteboard performance art.
Lol, Do you have a blog? I would subscribe to your substack.
One anecdatum, but which might not be that unusual:
When I applied (while working a very time-consuming and stressful key role), I had a small amount of time to catch my breath and context switch, that I could passably focus on thinking about other companies or interviewing.
So I decided that I had to choose between applying to Oxide and spending the same time prepping for a certain FAANG's Stanford fratbro shibboleth hazing rituals. I decided to go with my heart, and with the opportunity that seemed more inspiring, rather than a bit jerky.
After suffering through the "tenure packet" assembly headache, I waited, and waited, and then got a rejection email, without even a screening call. And a key sentence in the rejection email actually came across as snide, given that the writer seemed strong verbal. Which made me doubly regret not spending the same time practicing the FAANG's Leetcode whiteboard performance art.
(I ended up taking a comparable principal engineer job at an even more exotic hardware&software company, where they could hire people just by having very experienced other engineers, managers, and execs talk with them, no nonsense.)
The bad experience with the bespoke tenure packet also biased my decisions on my current search. One very interesting place I looked at, the extensive screening with a very knowledgeable person went exceedingly well, but when they presented me with the hiring group's systems programming take-home (huge time investment, with a dozen cleverly-spec'ed hard problems to nail, basically solving most of their hard software systems problems), and I didn't have time for that, I demurred.
I also now have even less tolerance for the Leetcode cargo-culting, and any other obnoxiousness, while having more appreciation for wise and intuitive hiring teams.
One factor, put loosely and jokingly, but there's a lot of truth to it: "If you like me, you must be good people."