I was invited to complete a case study and then attend an on-site interview in NYC. They took a long time to respond to my case study. What I don’t understand is why the company expects such a significant investment from interview candidates. The case study alone takes around 48 hours to complete, and on top of that, they require travel to NYC for the final interview without reimbursing travel expenses. That feels less like an interview process and more like a loyalty test, especially given that they are primarily hiring new graduates who aren’t yet earning full salaries. Paying out of pocket in today’s job market is particularly burdensome and unfair. Not to mention considering the amount of effort required, the offer itself was not especially appealing. I can see this being attractive mainly to candidates who are struggling to secure offers elsewhere or are aiming for any opportunity adjacent to FAANG. I was also confused by their hiring logic. They previously had strong engineers from top computer science programs, yet those individuals now seem to be replaced by graduates from schools like Brown and Columbia, which are not top-10 CS programs nationally. Overall, the entire process felt disorganized, confusing, and unfair. I landed an offer but didn't not enjoy the process or the culture I sensed from it.