Interview process was straightforward. Screen with hiring manager and a 30 minute tech screen where I was judged on my SQL skills. Unfortunately (and surprisingly) was knocked on the SQL portion despite having successfully run all the code. The rationale was stuff like me not having spaced the code well (??), I didn't use aliases for all columns (but I did use it prudently for cases where I should), and that I was "too hard on myself" simply because I checked my code and said "my fault" for one instance where I noticed a mistake I made?
Quite ridiculous - and the person interviewing me was rather junior. If you ask me - I think given the feedback and the person conducting the tech screen I personally think there were other factors at play here (which are out of my control like preference around personal characteristics/attributes or the makeup of a person versus the skills and abilities they brought to the table). I think this person held preference for a certain type of person and worked to knock my candidacy from there. And if you want me to be brutally honest I think that prejudice was at play here since from my experience I was dinged not on merit but on nonsense like coding aesthetics and something unrelated to the actual assignment results. It probably tells me about the wider culture at Block where favoritism and bias based on whether or not you are of a makeup versus the work you do matters most.
The recruiter was absolutely amazing though and thorough - I truly appreciate all the time she took to go over the job, set up the interviews and take time to chat and listen to my thoughts/feedback.
Hopefully one bad apple doesn't describe the whole company or team I was interviewing for but this was my genuine experience.