I had my resume sent by a professor at my college to NI. A Senior Software Engineer contacted me and asked me to apply through their system and within a few days gave me a screening call. I was asked to interview with them, and was told in an email to dress business professional and to arrive shortly before 9 AM. The scheduled interview was within two weeks of the screening call.
Not one person in the entire building was wearing business professional clothes, including my interviewers. The woman who met me in the lobby to take me to the first of three interviews I was scheduled for met me and took me to a room, then handed me a packet of information about NI. I wasn't even given an opportunity to tour the building, even though I had been waiting for nearly half an hour in the lobby.
Shortly after I was left in the interview room the first team arrived. They asked basic questions, and seemed friendly enough. I was asked to come up with a sorting algorithm for a deck of cards and then asked to develop methods for shuffling those cards.
Literally as soon as the first team left, the second person (the same who I spoke with on the phone) interviewed me. He actually brought some of the hardware he worked with into the interview to show me, which I appreciated. He asked me to use a diagram to create a workflow. The objective was to determine how to effectively complete the processes and pick up that it was a matter of processor core optimization.
When the second interview ended, I was immediately taken to a different floor (though the interviewer bothered to walk me by one of his team's work areas to show me) where the final team was already waiting to interview me. They were the radio frequency team, and it was obvious the moment I sat down that the main guy interviewing me had zero interest in hiring me. I could tell from the tone of his voice that he felt he was wasting his time before I had said a thing other than pleased to meet you. He asked questions such as where do I see myself in 5 years, and what was the most interesting problem I debugged. He then gave me basic programming problems, and the interview ended with questions about salary and which team I preferred working with.
By the end of it, I had been interviewing nonstop for 3 hours strait. Not once was I offered a drink or any time to read the packet of information I was handed. At the end of the third interview, which I could tell the interviewer cared nothing for as he barely acknowledged any of my comments and made remarks about how far I could go at NI with just an associated degree, I was shown to the lobby and not even offered lunch. I received a rejection email within two business days. Good riddance. They don't even offer competitive salaries. I was looked at funny when I even asked for 50k even though I made as much without a degree.
