A recruiter first contacts you and does an initial screening. If you pass the screening, you are scheduled to perform a virtual interview with the software team to discuss your technical ability and background.

I was contacted by a third party about a position as a fullstack developer with Softrams. Before even speaking with anyone at the company, Softrams wanted me to take a lengthy coding challenge involving building a mini Angular app with full unit test coverage. Per the instructions from Softrams, "The results of this assessment will weigh very heavily in determining whether or not you get scheduled for a panel interview." While such coding challenges are expected mid-way through the interview process, it is rare for a company to expect candidates to complete one before even beginning the interview process. Expecting a candidate to devote hours of their time to completing a lengthy coding challenge before even speaking with anyone at the company to get some idea if this was a role they would even be interested in pursuing struck me as extremely disrespectful to potential candidates. If Softrams doesn't respect candidates enough to even speak with them before making them dedicate a great deal of their limited time to their pre-interview coding test, I have no interest in working for them. I declined to take the coding test or move forward with the interview process.