There was one interview with the hiring manager. Consisted of early high school math. I got all approx. 10 questions right except for one (got 15 instead of 15.4)..I knew I was off slightly. All was done without using any tools. Manager was very very dry and I could feel this interview was not going to result to anything right away.

Interviewing at CarMax – Advice for Highly Technical Candidates Advice: Be cautious about assuming technical acumen from your interviewer. In hindsight, I would have paused to give brief tutorials during my Monty Hall (100 doors, not 3) scenario. When the interviewer changed scenarios and questioned the use of a sample size of 30 while threshold setting, and didn’t understand quartiles being adjusted more simply on the spot, I thought it was her contribution to the fun of collaborative brainstorming. When I said things like “oh yeah that’s just central limit theorem” or responded to her confusion about dividing probabilities with “yeah, that’s just Bayes’ Theorem, but maybe that’s not the right idea here,” I missed the subtle cues that she wasn’t following. I thought we were peers exploring a complex prompt. I now realize I was unknowingly going over her head. I made the assumption that I wasn’t expected to teach or mentor during my case study. That was a mistake. It’s possible your interviewer only has the answer key, not actual depth in the subject. If I could go back, I would have slowed down, gently introduced foundational concepts, and prioritized connection over precision. Even pretending to be confused to let the interviewer prompt and lead might have been a better strategy for helping them feel confident and safe. They seem like very kind people who would benefit from strong technical teammates, but that may only be comfortable if the technical person actively avoids outshining the interviewer. Also, be aware of a possible scripted ending. If you do not advance past the third round, they may say that something came up for the final two interviewers. The recruiter may follow up with the same explanation via phone call. It seems to be a soft landing tactic rather than a malicious dishonesty, but it does create a sense of vagueness around corporate culture. Despite the concerns, I believe CarMax likely has a warm and supportive culture for those at certain technical levels. I was genuinely excited about the role and wish things had gone differently. My hope is that this helps another technical candidate succeed, and perhaps helps the company recognize how much stronger it could become by creating space for open learning and collaborative humility. Best wishes as you interview.