Was approached by an external recruiter, who pointed me to their internal recruiter. Was a typical HR workflow. I did have to give three reasons I wanted to join them (yet, they called me...go figure). So I went through a technical screen with some programmer not long out of ivy league. We actually had a good talk about a lot of things. When we got to the heart of the matter, I worked on a rather simple C++ class to model a typical problem with embedded systems. However, the problem had many gotchas, and won't be typically correct on an interview cycle. However, the guy was quite cool about it all. I was given strong feedback that my communication was clear, and he seemed to enjoy speaking to me. So...I thought I had a strong interview. However, this is one of those times things took a rather hard left-turn: I was told a few hours later that I was given a pass. Of course, I was shocked, and wanted feedback as to why. To my surprise, their internal HR called and explained their side of things: it seems someone else was involved in the decision-making and make the call to pass. Someone I had not talked to. I wouldn't say it was a totally negative experience...except at the very end. At the end of the day, it is their show, and reinforces my belief that preparing for interviews like this, is pointless. So if you want to go there, and you do well, great. Just don't be surprised if they flake on you too. Of course, I can't recommend these guys...because of this unfortunate outcome.