I was reached out to by the hiring manager, then had a mix of technical and executive interviews. Apparently their hiring process goes by whoever is available first.
I had an overview talk of the company and the direction of the engineering team with one of the VPs of engineering. It was pretty standard and low stakes. More of a culture fit interview.
Before the next interview I was given a prompt on systems design of a booking portal for patients, doctors, and admins to use. It was mainly focused on the functional use cases, scalability, and availability.
The systems design interview was with the director of engineering. We went in depth about the functional use cases, focusing deeply on the table structures and tradeoffs of usability for patients vs doctors, and only briefly (10 min or so) went over the overall system design. Unlike more standard systems designs, it seems that the interviewer expected a fully scaled out design from the get go. When I asked if this is what he expected, he started to antagonize me, asking why I started adding scaling components only after he asked me to.
After the interview, the hiring manager quickly called me back to say they would not move forward with me. The hiring manager was very gracious and forwarded me to another company they had a connect with.
Overall, I was very disappointed with the technical portion of the interview and the conduct of the interviewer.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Engineering Interview Exercise: System Design for an Online Scheduling Solution for Patients
Objective:
Design a scalable and reliable online scheduling system that allows patients to book, cancel, and
reschedule appointments with healthcare providers. The system should be user-friendly and
accessible to both patients and healthcare staff, ensuring efficient and effective scheduling of
appointments.
Requirements:
1. User Types:
o Patients: Can view available time slots, book, cancel, and reschedule
appointments.
o Healthcare Providers: Can view and manage their schedule, set available time
slots, and manage appointments.
o Administrators: Can manage user accounts, access reports, and configure system
settings.
2. Functional Requirements:
o Appointment Booking: Patients should be able to select a healthcare provider,
view available time slots, and book an appointment.
o Appointment Management: Users should be able to cancel and reschedule their
appointments.
o Notifications: Users receive confirmation and reminder notifications via
email/SMS.
o Provider Schedules: Providers can set their availability, block out times, and
adjust their schedules.
o Scalability: The system must support a large number of users and appointments
without performance degradation.
o Accessibility: The system should be accessible via web and mobile devices.
I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Astrana Health in Jun 2024
Interview
Seems to be some internal reorganization happening. Process was protracted and disorganized. I found if off-putting and it made me consider if it was really the type of place I would want to work.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Nothing special really, Got the impression that they did not have a standard interview process in place. Seemed scattered
Candidates applying for Software Engineer roles take an average of 30 days to get hired, when considering 2 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Astrana Health overall takes an average of 21 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Astrana Health as a Software Engineer according to 2 Glassdoor interviews include:
Skills test: 50%
One on one interview: 50%
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