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This is the fifth post recounting our interview experience with The MathWorks. Today’s post focuses on the aftermath of the technical phone interview. Click here to see a list of related posts.

If you got past the phone interview, you can breathe a sigh of relief! WHEW! Now the real fun starts.

A week or two after my phone interview, I was contacted by Martha Burns to set up the on-site interview. Martha is the Corporate Recruiter for The MathWorks who I found to be amiable and good-natured. I immediately took a liking to her. I was also in contact with Andrew Tseng, the manager of the Engineering Development Group. Andrew was pretty friendly and was easy to talk to. He explained the interview process to me and gave me an idea of what to expect.

Martha indicated that the on-site interview would consist of two parts: the technical interview, and then the behavioral interview. She stated that I would be sent home immediately if I did not pass the technical interview. More on the technical/behaviorial interview in the next installment.

Martha helped me set up a date for the interview and then had HR take over all the travel arrangements. The entire process was quite seamless. The MathWorks was even kind enough to honor my request to stay in the Boston area over the weekend. They agreed to fly me in on Thursday night and fly me out on Sunday evening.

The Calm before the Storm

The flight out to Boston was not too bad, but there is the 3 hour time difference which makes things a tad complicated. The interview was scheduled for 9am on Friday, but I did not arrive to Boston until 10pm on Thursday. 10pm doesn’t sound so bad, but I had to take a shuttle to the neighboring city of Natick (where The MathWorks is located) which took another 1.5 hours. After that I had to check into the hotel and order some food and before I knew it, it was already 2am! So be prepared to not get a full night’s rest, or to fly in at a more reasonable time.

I woke up at 7am the next morning to prepare for my interview. I had brought along some slacks, a button up, and a tie. Little did I know that I would be the only person on the entire campus wearing a tie (okay, I didn’t get to see every single person at The MathWorks, but I wager that I was the only one wearing a tie that day). Once I got to The MathWorks campus, I got some quick breakfast at the cafe. A couple of The MathWorks employees saw me in my shirt and tie and immediately recognized that I was here for an interview. They offered me some encouraging words, “Good luck on the interview!” and promptly went back to their work.

Next Time

The next installment will be a monster of a post. We’ll talk about our preparation for the on-site interview. We will discuss both the technical and behavioral interview so this is the one post you probably don’t want to miss!

Quan and Dan are just two normal guys who happen to know a thing or two about MATLAB. Together, they team up to bring you the latest MATLAB offerings. They are a tandem just like peanut butter and jelly. Stockton and Malone. Jordan and Pippen. Samwise and Frodo.