Application Process & Interviews at Halter

Mostly straight forward procces little close to interview to being hired

The interview process consisted of four separate stages: pre-screen with a recruiter (30 min), a technical task (4 days to complete), a technical interview (1 hr), and a final culture-fit interview (1 hr) with the team leader.

The hiring process is very long with 6 interviews between multiple people before an eventual decision is made. This can be a long process that for myself, stretched out over six months. The final interview took ~2 hours between my manager and boss, this was the toughest. For this interview, I was asked to bring and present an addition to the collar which would be beneficial and add another string of revenue for the company.

1. Application through Summer of Tech 2. Summer of Tech Meet and Greet Event - 5 min chat 3. Take-home technical assessment 4. Technical + company fit interview

I met the head of my team (production) at a speed interviewing event at university, and after connecting with them on LinkedIn, I was asked to come into the office for another interview. After that, I had another interview with the head of the wider team (Hardware), following which I started a winter internship for a month during the inter-semester break. The more standard process of involves applying for the advertised roles on the website, interviews with 2/3 leads, and technical tests pertaining to the role.

The interview process was great, but was online due to Covid. The assessment wasn't too difficult, but made you think outside the box.

Very smooth and organized. I was always kept in the loop as to where I was in the process and the overall number of stages they put candidates through.

Informal meet n' greet - via Summer of Tech 1x take home assignment 1x tech interview

Personal achievements and goals

"What interests you outside of studies?" "Describe a group project you have done in the past" "Describe a challenging situation you have death with in the past and how you addressed it."

Questions which contributed to the overall decision consisted of problem-solving questions (a large portion of the role). These questions were not related to the role as such but were aimed at trying to understand how you think. Many of the other questions were typical interview questions asking about specific examples from previous employment/studies.

Questions related to take-home assessment General culture questions

I was asked quite a few behavioral and situational questions - like times that I handled team conflict, and an instance where I took a big risk that paid off. I was asked about my background, interests , and reasons for why I picked Halter. I was also asked about engineering projects that I worked on at university.

I don't recall exactly what was asked, but I remember it being very relaxed and after the initial technical questions.

Questions around the technical interview and modelling. What experience I have had with data cleaning and data wrangling in the past.

Take home assignment tasked with building a section of the React Native frontend, while tech interview builds on top of the assignment and asks you to implement several more features under the allocated interview time.

Think about why you are joining and what motivates you for this role and previous experiences

For the non-technical interview, be honest and prepare for questions that ask you to describe a situation you have experienced in the past and how you went about it (mainly related to personal projects, how you respond to challenges and work in a team). For the technical tasks, please don't despair and don't give up. These are designed to be challenging and will likely be above your current level of knowledge and experience. You are primarily tested on how quickly and efficiently you can learn and adapt in unfamiliar situations.

Be prepared! Understand as much as you can in regards to the product and team culture. For the assignment have a clear method of how you are going to test and carry your scenario out. Be enthusiastic! Halter loves it when you are as excited about the product and the influence it will have on the NZ and global dairy industry.

Know how to extend the take-home assessment well

Doing good research into the company, their impact, and what makes them stand out in the field is a must. The people at Halter are very passionate about and committed to the purpose and mission, and the candidates that would be a great fit are the ones that are similar. I also find it helps to make mental notes of a few instances in the past that you can use as examples to back up the skills you have highlighted in your CV. For example, times that you worked on a difficult project, how you managed a team etc.

Just be yourself. You're applying because you think you have what it takes, so you probably do! Halter knows what they are looking for so don't be afraid to be yourself.

Be passionate about what you do and come prepared with a real interest in our values and ultimate product and goals as a company.