Phone interview: ask about background
On site interview: presentation about research projects and experience of product development.
A small start-up company, with good and clean labs. People in that company are very nice.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Introduce the research background and research projects
I applied online. I interviewed at C3Nano (Hayward, CA) in Oct 2020
Interview
I had an interview with C3Nano for R&D Engineer. First round was a phone interview followed by a Video call, where presentation followed by technical questions and foreign language test happened.
After the interview they said they were interested and wanted to reach my referees and said would send a mail about contacting them. I informed my references about the same. Having no mail on this I followed up, but the mails were not answered. I reached out to Senior executive in the company and mentioned about this. They replied with a mail that the company cannot offer salary I’ve asked for (The salary was in the market range). So, I asked what is the salary the company is willing to offer and we can negotiate on this.
The mails were ignored again, so I reached out to the senior executive on this, if he can help. He ignored the messages and mails.
I happened to read a Glassdoor review where a same instance happened 2yrs ago, but trusting the people with whom I interviewed to be professional I went forward. Seems the company chooses to unlearn from its previous mistakes.
This is irresponsible and reflective of a culture at C3Nano.
I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at C3Nano (Oakland, CA) in Aug 2018
Interview
Email correspondence led to a phone interview with the hiring manager. Arranged an in-person interview. In-person interview with CEO, CTO and hiring manager. Gave a presentation of my choice, followed by discussion, questions, a lab tour and reference check.
I received an initial offer in writing following my reference checks. I negotiated the offer and asked for 3–5% increase in the wage, completely standard. I was informed via email a few days later that the offer had been rescinded due to budget cuts and other ‘things happening in the group’. They did not even have the professional courtesy to contact me by phone or answer my calls.
Their inability to have the budget foresight for an important engineering role makes me question how coordinated this company is. I think it was irresponsible and reflective of a culture that I do not wish to be a part of. I hope C3Nano figures out their financial situation before any further offers are extended