Sometime in October when I was thinking about applying for a job, I signed up and took the automated test, but indicated that I was only looking around. Sometime in early november I indicated that I was looking for a job immediately and joined the queue. I was in the queue for weeks, but eventually was able to schedule a 45 minute one on one interview over google hangouts. The interview involved a discussion of projects I'd worked on in the past and a brief coding project. They give you 3 or 4 to choose from. The problems were pretty standard whiteboard programming type problems, but you could use an IDE which made the whole experience pretty comfortable.
After I passed the first round interview, I was scheduled for a 2-3 hour interview. The process involved a 30min-1hr problem, somewhat more complicated than the intellect check from the first interview. This was followed by 3 or 4 short systems engineering problems. They then had me talk about two topics I felt comfortable with from a list of like 20. This "deep dive" segment seemed more like a passion/engagement check than a real test of knowledge or skill. Finally, it seemed like I'd passed and they passed me off to someone to discuss what sorts of companies I was interested in and what I was looking for.
Once you're through the screening process, they open up a section of the website where you give your availability for phone interviews and express interest in different companies they suggest for you. Companies will schedule phone interviews with you and once you've made contact, the company's hiring manager drives the process just like a normal hire. This is the only recruiter I've worked with that allows you to go 1-to-1 in all your interactions with the company, and coming off the back of some bad recruiter experiences, it did a lot to build trust, I really enjoyed it.
Some general thoughts about Triplebyte:
The thing to understand about Triplebyte is, they really do have the goods when it comes to ins with great companies. They helped me score a great, very lucrative position at an Amazon subsidiary. I honestly didn't know I could get a job this good. If you're looking for a job with a cutting edge company in the bay area, TB is a great recruiter.
That said, they are just a recruiter. They have an "ideal" process that they'll describe to you, where the companies you interview trust TB's process enough that they'll do a brief phone interview and then call you out to the bay area if they like you. This was true of about half the companies I talked to (nearly all yCombinator companies). The company that hired me put me through my paces before flying me out (it was a totally ordinary hiring process after I started talking to them). Notably, the one yCombinator company that gave me their own tech screening had TB's CEO as an investor, so make of that what you will.
The queue before you get your 1 on 1 is also very slow. It takes long enough to get through it that I think most experienced developers will probably bail before getting through it. The only reason I was able to stick around long enough to complete the process is that my first round of interviews involved a series of ridiculous events that required me to start the job search over from scratch. They've been pretty straightforward about the fact that they know it's a pain point, they're seeking the funding to expand to fix that atm, and also increasing the cull rate of the automated test. So maybe by the time you're reading this, the problem is solved. They move very fast once you're out of the queue and since they allow you to work 1:1 with the companies you're interviewing with, the actual hiring process was extremely positive.
Altogether, I would say that if you're looking to find one of the hot west coast jobs that you hear about from time to time, I'd at least start the process with them. If you get out of the queue, you'll have a great hiring experience and potentially, a great job.
