Cipher Tech Solutions Forensic Software Developer interview questions

I applied through Handshake.com (job portal for students). Heard back a couple of weeks later from HR. She was extremely nice and will explain everything to you. The first step was a phone screening from the person who contacted me. I believe this was a fairly straight forward phone screen. The next step is a programming challenge, and you can use one of a few languages to complete it. HR emails this to you. It is 3 questions; each one uses parts from the previous questions. This is NOT a bunch of leetcode questions. For me, this was implementing a: 1). Linear feedback shift register 2). "File parser" (a file format specification was given to you, and you had to extract the actual contents) 3). JPEG extractor (find the jpg files in a binary file and extract them). Expect to spend a while on the challenge. It is challenging, but it is interesting (and in my opinion better than leetcode). I suggest to spend time cleaning up your solution. They care that it is readable and not spaghetti. If it passes the tests but is not readable you may not pass. Do your best to make this the best code possible (they told me they liked my use of a data structure). A few days after submitting my results, I heard back from HR that my submission had passed. The next step was a Skype interview (no video) with the two people who had reviewed my code. They mostly made comments about my submission and asked about my résumé. I heard back less than a week later saying that I had passed the interview. The last step is an informal interview with the CEO. This was basically to meet me and make sure I was a good fit. If you passed the previous interview, you do not need to worry. The next day, I was emailed a contingent hire agreement which I had two weeks to sign and email back. Overall, the process was challenging but better than the average leetcode interview. Everyone was extremely nice and professional. From experience, Java is a bit funky to complete this challenge with because you are working at the byte level. It is possible but can cause frustration. Be aware that if you do not currently have a Top Secret/SCI clearance, it will take several months.