I applied through a recruiter. The process took 2 days. I interviewed at Cruise (San Francisco, CA) in Mar 2017
Interview
Process was fairly standard San Francisco Bay Area engineering interview: meet with engineers and discuss/answer engineering questions. In general, the key difference was that the entire team was super laid back and very conversational. It was clear that they want to hire smart people but aren't obsessed over getting the answers to pedantic questions correct. I left very impressed with their approach to interviewing. This shouldn't be confused with suggesting the interview was easy ... but the questions and dialogue conveyed a sophistication that I haven't observed at other companies.
Their recruiting team is also amazing. They applied no pressure and were really invested in me being excited to work at Cruise. I ultimately, after a lot of indecision, turned the offer down because of the complications of living in San Francisco (have you seen house prices?). Even with all that, the company was super understanding and compassionate.
If you're looking to do Autonomy, these guys are probably the best in the business. They're partnered with a big OEM and they really care about their people -- it's obvious in the personal touches with how they recruit (they sent me a thank you card!). I don't think this is a typical Bay Area company.
3
Application
I interviewed at Cruise
Interview
Waste of time. A car company is asking you to park your car at Costco parking lot, because they don't have a parking lot on their own. And they continued asking you to re-park your car every 2 hours - because Costco might tow it. What a pathetic place!
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
I got annoyed during the process and just wanted to leave. I've never been to an interview where some moron admitted not having a single thing about a technical thing he was asking you...and was exacting an an answer he somehow envisioned to be correct.