I applied online. I interviewed at Standard Bots (Glen Cove, NY)
Interview
"Beware the "Everyone is casual and friendly here" along with the "Lunch" at the end of the interview process.
I applied for an overstuffed position that I was overqualified for. 1st interview was a screen with a recruiter and the 2nd was a technical interview with the production manager. Both interviews went really well and they knew I was overqualified for the position so they questioned me accordingly. In addition, they told me that the company was very casual and friendly so I could also be casual. I was given no information about who my direct manager would be, working hours, or anything throughout all the interviews with the everything is casual and friendly reason given. Because the first 2 interviews went so well they told me that in order to be given an offer I had to take a tour of the facility with the mention of a courtesy lunch after.
I show up for the tour and get hit with a surprise 3rd interview with 2 new people. We do the interview and then we do the tour. At this point it's about 2 hours and change I've been there and they say now it's time for the lunch. I go to a diner with 3 other people and there's small talk where I listen to them gripe about the job and talk about getting drinks during lunch for about 15 minutes. I don't engage in that convo but then they start talking to me and drop the bomb that they're having their first audit ever soon. I take the opportunity to try and bond so I say I wish I could start after that. After hearing them complain about work and talk about drinking, I didn't think I said anything crazy.
The next day I get a verbal offer and four days later I'm asking about the start date and recruiter has concerns. Turns out the friendly "courtesy lunch" was a stealth 4th and final interview which I guess I failed badly. The recruiter said that I said I wouldn't help with the audit. I was taken by surprise at this and try to clear things up. He says ok and I could get the official offer that day. The next day he emails and rescinds the verbal offer due the team saying I don't have an all hands on deck mindset. I don't get what all the trickery was about and if they had just said upfront what they needed me to do I'd have been fine with anything."
Over all not bad. Everyone was kind. Interview process seems to drag on a bit. Felt slightly uncomfortable with the lunch with potential coworkers, I feel that would make more sense after you get the job officially.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Basic. What was something you worked on that applies to Standard Bots.
I applied online. I interviewed at Standard Bots in Jul 2025
Interview
I was interviewing for a full-stack web/server role (i.e. not robotics or embedded). The first round was a LeetCode question solved with a tree structure traversal. The next round involved building a velocity/gravity simulator. I dropped out of the process by this stage because they weren't testing anything related to the actual work I would be hired for.
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
Parse a string of data into a data structure containing a series of currency conversions, and then create a function that can convert from one currency to any other.
A ball is at the end of an arm attached to a motor. Simulate how fast the motor would have to spin, and at what point it should release the ball, for the ball to travel X meters.