The interview experience was disappointing. The recruiter joined the interview late, and during the conversation I was told on the spot that I was being considered for multiple roles, with the role I originally applied for not being their main focus. This was not communicated beforehand.
After the interview, I did not receive any feedback despite following up. Overall, the process felt unstructured and lacked clear communication.
I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at StackOne (United Kingdom) in Oct 2025
Interview
Interviewed for Lead AI role.
Interview process:
- Round 1: Call with CTO - engaging conversation, interesting product vision
- Round 2: Take-home test (implement RAG system with evals, 4-hour guideline)
- Round 3: Technical follow-up with 2 AI engineers (CTO not present)
Received negative feedback on the take-home, but CTO wanted to proceed with follow-up interview, suggesting the test might not fully capture capabilities. During follow-up, couldn't get clear answer on what was inadequate about the submission, and was repeatedly asked about time spent instead, implying expectation for more features beyond the 4-hour scope.
Ultimately rejected. Found the process confusing: CTO showed interest but wasn't involved in final evaluation, effectively delegating veto power to team members. Evaluation criteria for take-home remained unclear throughout.
Pros: Interesting product, CTO was thoughtful and engaged
Cons: Opaque evaluation standards, time expectations unclear, inconsistent decision-making process
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Take home test: Rag system implementation with evals
I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at StackOne (United Kingdom) (London, England) in Jun 2024
Interview
First round: culture fit interview.
Second round: take-home product strategy assignment that needed to be presented to the CTO,
Third round: meet the other founder (CEO).
Everyone that I met at the company was lovely, clearly very intelligent, genuine people.