They reached out to me and I was really hesitant because I wasn't a storage expert nor did I think storage was that exciting. Also when I reviewed some of the people's experience here on Glassdoor, I thought I didn't want to get into a trick-question grilling. I have worked hard enough in my life and I had just finished almost a decade at Google.
My experience was the exact opposite. I met the director of engineering and he was incredibly impressive. The conversation and questions focused on what I consider the most important aspects of engineering, not semantics, tricks or format. It was clear that "he gets it".
Then I started to do some research on the company and wow - their technology was awesome. I had no idea that you could even do with storage what Pure has done. The challenges they have taken on were really interesting and uber challenging. For an engineer its awesome. So then I started getting interested. Smart people, cool engineering, ok... now we are getting somewhere.
My second round of interviews were tough. They got to the nuts and bolts of engineering. I met the CTO and some Sr. Engineers. I got the dreaded binary tree question and what boiled down to algorithm questions. It was very clear, and I what I think people miss in these comments, is that they are looking to understand how people think and problem solve. I certainly didn't condescending attitudes or negative pushback. They are also very focused on a cultural fit and they almost want you to succeed. Which is great, that is what you want. However, if you come in looking for a Sr. Title or try to BS your way through, they will know.
I decided to take the job and yeah great place to work. Like Google in the early days, super smart people, everyone focused getting stuff done, and maybe big pop in the not-so-far future. Probably one of the best decisions I have ever made.
My advice to people interviewing here. Do not focus on title or what your position will be. They are looking for people who can problem solve and with little ego. You definitely don't need a background in storage, in fact the whole flash thing makes a background in storage something that may not help you. Focus your energy showing you can solve challenges. Even if you don't get it right, showing that you can dive into a problem and break it down and figure out approaches, is what they are looking for.