Medium interview questions

I was excited about Medium as a daily user and decided to apply for the job. I was contacted by their recruiter and started the process. They asked me to do the first technical screen on-site, since I was near by. I decided it would be great to check it out. First technical screen went well, I met some amazing people and went great. Then came on the on site interview. I was reading their engineering blogs about their interview processes, and it sounded great. It didn't sound like traditional interviews, and I felt genuinely drawn in to the company and the culture. I was excited to learn more about the company and felt pretty good. But... It turns out I was misguided. They asked me 2 technical questions (tic-tac-toe, hangman), and 1 system and design question (design an elevator?), which didn't align with what they had on their engineering blogs. Regardless, I tried my best, and 1 week later, I was rejected. I never even got a chance to meet the recruiter, not before the interview, not during the interview, certainly not a call after the interview. The rejection was so generic, I felt pretty bad. I've done many interviews, and every single company gave me feedback on how I can improve for next time. At Medium? Nothing, just "found someone better" Overall, I'm disappointed at the process. It felt like it was all talk, no action.

Recruiter reached out to me. The process included an HR call, an in-person meeting with the hiring manager, a take home assignment and an in-person presentation of the results of the assignment. They took 1 week between each step, including letting me know about the final decision. The guy who interviewed me seemed very shy and uncomfortable around women.