It wasn't so much an Interview, more of a chat for a potential opening. Upon chatting to the person I was, I realised they knew absolutely nothing about the Technical Talent Market across Australia or New Zealand. Everything they were doing was "experimental" and a dire disaster. At the time I was having conversations with other companies, my position was in limbo (which had now been made permanent) so was willing to look at new things and apply my expertise.
Coming from a much larger established company Atlassian has been poaching from, with experience in the area and vast knowledge of the talent market, I felt the individual I was speaking to was actually quite intimidated, rather than excited to nab me up, manage me and use my wealth of experience and knowledge. I had to follow up with my referrer as she didn't get back to me on our conversation.
Terrible communication. I've heard this from a few people and candidates I've worked with in the past, but I didn't think they'd burn a bridge with someone who had quite a bit of a potential and value to add and energy for such a young company looking to mould itself on a much bigger competitor (which I am part of), so I was surprised and mildly offended.
From my experience and from what I've heard from insiders is that their HR department is a huge political bloodbath, with people clambering over each other for "titles" without have expertise in those areas or having unrelated industry expertise, trying to adapt and scale it to technology without much success.
Would not consider talking to anyone about Atlassian about any openings in the future. Would urge anyone considering making a career move to Atlassian to really investigate the culture, individuals motives, their passions and whether or not they're hiring for the company, the technology and the future, or hiring to find someone to spin their wheels and make a lot of noise.