Applied online > a weird video interview where I answered prerecorded questions, which wasn't as bad as it seemed like it would be > short HTML / QA code challenges > in person interview in Portland. The early stages were very impersonal and gave me lots of doubts about how legit the company was. I almost didn't reply at a couple stages because it felt potentially scammy. The in person was the complete opposite, it was the warmest, most personal interview I've ever had. She seemed genuinely interested in understanding me as a person and it felt more like a first date than a job interview. It was kind of disarming being asked such strange questions (what's your favorite animal, for example) but it definitely spurred a real conversation. There were no technical questions at all or many questions about the usual "tell me about a time you overcame adversity at a job", which makes me a little worried about the calibre of the team if it's this easy. It was definitely a fun interview.

I applied in response to a post on Craigslist, and was contacted via email to set up a phone interview. The phone interview was basically a get-to-know-you conversation, at the end of which the interviewer invited me to an on-site interview. They went ahead and explained that it would include a technical test, and gave a high-level overview of what would be on it. This was great, because I was able to bone up on the relevant bits of coding. The on-site interview was with two managers, and was exactly as the phone interviewer described. It went very well, and I was offered the job within the week.