I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at Alkami Technology (Plano, TX) in Jun 2017
Interview
Recruiter reached out, followed by phone screen with a software development manager a few days later, followed by a 3 hour long in-person interview a few days later.
The 3 hour long interview process was broken down into 4 different interviews: The first interview consisted of meeting with several members of the team I would be working with (asked about background and then technical whiteboarding questions), followed by an interview with the CTO (soft-skills and past experience questions), followed by an interview with more team members (had to discuss my background again followed by more technical whiteboarding questions), and another interview with the team's QA, Scrum Master, and Product Owner (had to discuss my background again followed by soft-skills and past experience questions).
The technical questions we're all algorithm based and required writing full C# programs on the whiteboard. I personally would never waste mine or the potential candidates time having to write out C# on the whiteboard but to each their own. I would also not use all algorithm based questions but instead would use one algorithm-based question and one 30-minute architectural and conversational style question where you ask the candidate to talk through building a system from front to back and then ask supportive and deeper probing questions as the candidate reaches key points in the system design to hone in on the candidate's strengths and weaknesses. Again to each their own but their technical questions wouldn't give me a good enough impression of a candidate's actual skills if I were a hiring manager.
I was not presented an offer but I'm glad because I wouldn't have went with Alkami given their large list of cons. I ultimately found another opportunity that was much better and didn't have any of the cons that Alkami has.
Pros:
- Competitive salary
- Catered food everyday
- Lots of restaraunts in the area
- Seemed like a lot of smart people working there
Cons:
- 50 hour work weeks (I was told repeatedly by the recruiter, during the phone screen, and on-site visit that they required a minimum of 50 hour work weeks)
- Work from home seems to not be an option
- No 401k offered
- No bonuses
- No profit sharing
- No commuter/toll-tag reimbursement (the building is quite literally at the intersection of two toll highways (121 and Dallas North Tollway so you will almost inevitably have to take tolls to get to work)
- Dark/dim lighting throughout (some people like that)
- Open floor plan (of course every business is doing this now and requires knowledge workers to wear headphones to try to drown out the noise)
Interview process ended up being a waste of time. Went through screening and resume in first interview. Passed that and was told I would be able to select the language. Got to technical interview and was told only C# would be allowed to write code in. So, the interviewer let me use javascript and helped me to convert it to C#. Passed all coding exercises and then was told that I wouldn't be a good fit for them since I didn't have the requisite years of experience in c#. Almost like they didn't even read my resume during screening or technical interview. My interviewer also did not understand ternary functions so some advice - avoid them. My interviewer also did not understand most syntax or even the problems for the technical interview.
Their lack of preparation and the interviewer I was given was very disappointing and shed a pretty bad light on the company overall.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Questions about coding solutions around FizzBuzz. Very easy
I applied online. I interviewed at Alkami Technology in Mar 2023
Interview
They interviewed me on some of the basics of the programming language I used and did an informal "are you a good fit" interview as well. It wasn't all that hard. They put a lot of faith in the good fit and didn't get too frustrated if you answered slightly wrong. It's more about your justification.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
"If you were in a situation where you had to create a connection to external system what would you do?"
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Alkami Technology (Plano, TX) in Jul 2019
Interview
Sufficient balance of technical exercises with plenty of room for dialog about the job, what the company offers and room for candidate questions.
One con is the drug test. Its 2020 already but this is illustrative of how alkami trusts its people (AKA - they don't).
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Technical interview covers basic "fizzbuzz" type questions and later progresses to application design