The interview process consisted of a coding assessment, two phone interviews, and a in person interview. After applying, I was given an online coding assessment. It was fairly long and took several hours to complete. It consisted of debugging Python code, writing code to reverse a string and sort an array, and writing code to parse a JSON database. A few days later the recruiter said I did "very well" on the coding assessment and set up a phone call. The call was a typical conversation about my background and what my goals were. The recruiter then set up a phone interview with one of the Engineers to discuss my assessment. The last phone interview asked me some basic software engineering related questions and didn't discuss my coding assessment at all. I was asked about recent projects I had worked on, the size of a string being stored for a word processing application, and how I would set up a database for a store. A few days after that I received feedback that I had again done "very well" in the interview and a final in person interview was set up. That interview consisted of questions on how to fix a database design and then finding bugs in a C code program. The final interview was disappointing as I had explicitly told the interviewers that I had no experience with C. All in all the final interview seemed like it had little to do with what I was told by the recruiter or what was in the job description. I received an email the following week that they would not being extending me an offer.

initially got asked if i'd be okay with moving on with the process despite being out of state. then, got the email for the test. After finishing, had a preliminary HR interview with a recruiter and had an interview with an SVP regarding my test results. Didn't move on after that, but since i was out of state, the final interview in place of an onsite interview was supposed to be a video interview. In terms of going over your test results, they go through all of your answers and try to talk about some of the things you've missed which I made a dumb mistake for on a question. Additionally, we extended some problems and went over how I'd approach things. Then, as with the earlier review regarding the person who applied to a full stack developer role, also had the same question about the text editor. Stumbled on this for a while until the guy gave enough clues to lead me on the right path. At the end, i got the chance to ask him questions. At the end, I could tell I wasn't moving on since he said the stereotypical "we'll be in touch" and got a rejection email days later. Honestly, since I've had terrible experiences with big companies where I'd apply to a developer role and get placed on IT support, I think working at mintel seems great. The opportunities for working with different technologies and growth seemed good, though if I got an offer, I'd be skeptical about the offer since I read through all of the company reviews and they all talked about how they give salaries waay below market and especially considering it's chicago, salary is a big factor... overall, def seemed like a great place to work, but they really should update their salaries to market. Things like health insurance and other benefits which are more beneficial for people with families don't matter much to millennials such as myself. so i'd imagine there are more older people than younger people. tldr; great company but does not give salaries that a big company should. More great for people with families than younger people.