Speechify Software Engineer interview questions

Interview process seemed easy enough but they do not give feedback as a policy so it is difficult to gauge. Started with recruiter screen, followed by a 50 minute timed take home assessment. These types of take homes are very open ended and it's hard to understand every requirement

There was no recruiter call. The interview process began with an automated coding challenge, which felt poorly designed. Since no one from the hiring team attends, it costs them nothing to run; even if they're not seriously looking for candidates. The issues weren't about difficulty; I don’t mind hard interviews. The problem was fairness and quality. The test environment didn't work properly, and the “technical support” link was broken, showing a lack of care. One question asked for an SSML parser. They expected candidates to understand SSML specifications (e.g. only one tag allowed) within the limited time. Yet their own test cases didn't follow valid XML or SSML rules; one test expected the parser to treat `< speech >< p > hello ` (note the blank character between < and the tag names) as correct, though it's invalid XML/SSML. This reflects a larger issue: companies expect exceptional candidates but don't meet basic standards themselves. Automated interviews may be free for them, but is your time free to give? I was told I "made it to a stage in their recruitment process that few candidates achieve" and I was given resources to reapply after 60 days. But, thank you; your interview process clearly demonstrated that you're not good at evaluating people's performance, and this isn't a place I'd want to work.