I applied online. I interviewed at Astera Labs in Feb 2026
Interview
Recently went through initial screen for two separate roles. Got connected with first HM for the role that I specifically applied for and where my relevant experience was a great match. During the course of the discussion, I blurted out that I was a "Systems person" and HM immediately pounced on that refereed me to his sister team, which did "systems validation work". And this is when things went south real fast. The second interview was straight out of the Dante's inferno. Not sure, whether the person I spoke to was having a bad day at work, but here is what transpired. I typically don't post reviews never reviewed my former employers nor my interview experience, but I had to get this out of my chest.
First red flag, they logged into the half hour phone screen 5 minutes late. No apologies. Just straight out "monologue about his day being filled with meetings". He then went on to introduce himself for a full minute or so. Not a word about "tell me about yourselves". I guess they were not interested in my actual "experience" but what I actually "knew". Like I were interviewing for a NCG role straight out of college. Anyways, the questions were probing, I give it to him, But any response I gave him, he lobbed back at me saying that was not right. Halway through while he asked me explain something regarding "Jitter measurement" he stated munching on sandwich. On camera. I don't know about you, but I found that super disrespectful. And he proceeded to interrupt me mid-sentence while I was trying to make sense and keep calm at the same time.