LaunchCode Apprentice interview questions

I first had to send in an example of a program I made. I decided to send in a game, thinking that it wouldn't matter, since it showed that I can both program, as well as finish a project. I then had to do some problems on HackerRank, which I easily accomplished. Later in the week, I had an online interview with them and I thought I did okay, but it turned out I didn't. They sent me an email later that night that told me that I was rejected for an apprenticeship. They felt that my project wasn't good enough to show off to potential employers and that I wasn't prepared to talk about my project. To be fair, I didn't realize I'd have to talk about it. I figured that they already looked over it before the interview, so I didn't prepare for that. After all, this was new to me. However, what truly bothered me, and still does, is that if my project wasn't good enough, then why did they waste my time and theirs by interviewing me? That's what I don't understand. They should have stopped the process in the beginning once they saw that my project wasn't to their liking. Plus, I didn't know what they expected, anyway. Like I wrote earlier, I figured that all I had to do was prove that I could program and finish a project, thus would be a perfect candidate to be trained up to be an effective software developer. Now the site gives better ideas, but when I took the interview, it didn't. It was just a confusing mess.

There is a long process that includes a application, HackerRank coding, and Skype or in-person interview. It was a really long process but a complete waste of time, at the end when you are told they have nothing available and you will be added to a pool of people waiting. It felt like I was tricked since all the advertising and information such as 'your one step closer to you dream job' makes it sound as though you will get a position with them soon. It would be nice to know you have nothing BEFORE the whole process so that candidates get to decide whether or not the long process is worth it, which for me it would not have been. I even took a day off work to go to this useless interview. The lack of transparency on the number of positions they have is wrong and I hope they change since it is border line false advertising.