2026 XtalPi Boston Automation Engineer Interview Experience

This interview was for the Boston-based Automation Engineer position at XtalPi. The primary responsibilities in the job description included system integration, on-site deployment, commissioning, and operational support for robotics and laboratory equipment, along with some software development, electrical interfaces, and communication-related tasks. This post provides a brief record of the interview process and content.

I applied via campus recruiting by emailing my resume directly to HR and received an invitation for an intro call two days later. Counting the intro call, there were five rounds of interviews in total. The entire process took about six weeks, followed by an update call and onboarding-related confirmations.

Round 1: HR Intro Call

The first round was a preliminary discussion lasting about 30 minutes, conducted bilingually in Chinese and English. The HR representative first introduced the role and learned about my career preferences, then went over my internship and research experiences listed on my resume, without diving into deeply technical questions.

The intro call took place on a Friday, and I received an invitation for the hiring manager (HM) interview that same day. It was initially scheduled for the following Monday but was later moved to Wednesday.

Round 2: Boston Hiring Manager Interview

This round lasted about 45 minutes, entirely in English, conducted by the manager of the Boston automation team. The interviewer began with a detailed introduction of the role's day-to-day responsibilities and nature, after which I was able to ask questions directly about what was discussed. I asked about the team size, team composition, and how AI is integrated into the experimental workflow.

The interviewer then began asking questions, mostly to verify relevant experience, along with some behavioral questions, such as:

• Have you ever handled issues like system startup failures or equipment malfunctions?
• When encountering system issues, how do you typically troubleshoot them?
• Have you participated in hardware/software joint commissioning, testing, and system integration?
• How do you collaborate with other engineers?
• How do you learn unfamiliar topics or systems?

There were also several questions targeted at my resume:

• What were your specific responsibilities in the project, and which parts did you implement independently?
• For the performance or resource optimizations mentioned on your resume, how were they specifically implemented and measured?

Overall, this round leaned more toward past experience and behavioral questions. Certain technical details from the resume were singled out for discussion—such as implementation and optimization approaches—without extensive standalone technical trivia. The key was to articulate clearly how the projects were executed.

About a week after this round, I received the notification for the next interview.

Round 3: Technical Interview with the Shenzhen Team

This round lasted about 45 minutes, conducted entirely in Chinese. Because the interviewers were based in China, it was scheduled during Eastern Time (ET) evening.

This round dove deeper into technical topics. There was no live coding; it mainly focused on fundamental concepts related to the projects on my resume.

Communications & Technical Fundamentals

• What are the differences between CAN and RS-485?
• What is the difference in communication speeds between the two?
• Have you done any electrical-related work?
• What relevant experience do you have in electrical design, schematics, and hardware interface verification?

The communication-related questions were not overly obscure, though answering them completely on the spot can be tricky; in such cases, you can explain based on your projects and understanding. I couldn't recall the exact speed difference at that moment, so I simply explained that I didn't remember off the top of my head, as the project chose between CAN and RS-485 based on factors other than communication speed differences.

Projects & Experience

• What was the core of the project, and where were the primary challenges?
• Why did you choose this implementation approach?
• What is the practical utility of what you built, and in what scenarios would it be used?
• Compared to methods that directly utilize existing device data, why was this solution still needed?
• Did the project involve work outside of software?

Questions directly related to projects were crucial. The interviewer followed up on answers and even challenged certain points, testing both project familiarity and real-time responsiveness. Even without prior preparation for these exact questions, you can explain your thought process using practical experiences. Ensure your answers stay consistent with your resume and earlier statements, explaining the full context clearly.

Other Questions

• What are your future career plans?
• What do you know about XtalPi's business?
• How do you understand the Boston-based role?

Therefore, although this was called a technical interview, it wasn't purely a technical Q&A. It is still necessary to think ahead about your understanding of the company and your career trajectory.

At the end, the interviewer noted that the Boston team requires well-rounded capabilities, as the work involves deployment, integration, and troubleshooting across various modules within complex systems.

The day after this round, I received the invitation for the next round with the department head.

Round 4: Head of Automation Interview

This round lasted about 30 minutes, also in Chinese, speaking directly with the Head of Automation Lab in Shenzhen.

Before the interview, HR mentioned that the department head had a very busy schedule, and the interview time was rescheduled once. In the end, it was scheduled during a 30-minute window between two of the head's meetings.

This interview felt more like a conversation. The interviewer first confirmed some basic information, asked what I knew about XtalPi and the role, and then spent considerable time detailing the work involved and expectations for new hires.

Perhaps because time was tight, the interviewer essentially answered in advance the questions I had planned to ask during the Q&A segment 😂. However, since it was a dialogue, after a section was explained, I could ask follow-up questions or share my perspectives based on past experience. In short, it is important to keep the conversation flowing rather than just listening passively without feedback.

Key takeaways that left a strong impression:

• Interdisciplinary talent is needed, with the ability to learn across domains.
• Systems are complex; one cannot only understand the small piece they are directly responsible for.
• The team organizes cross-domain learning and sharing sessions among employees.
• New hires require training, along with proactive and initiative-driven communication.

The interviewer had another meeting right after, so the session ended right on time. Although I had prepared plenty of talking points on projects and company business beforehand, they were barely needed.

After the weekend following this round, HR notified me on Monday that the team gave positive feedback and arranged an interview with HR + HRBP.

Round 5: HR + HRBP Interview

Duration was about 30 minutes.

Before the interview, I thought this round would cover compensation and start dates, but it didn't get there yet; it still focused on project experiences and behavioral questions.

The questions were roughly as follows:

Project / Technical-Related

• What do you see as the challenges in software-hardware co-design/coordination?
• When faced with complex systems, how do you typically analyze and troubleshoot issues?
• How did you resolve difficult problems in previous projects?
• ...

Career Planning / Behavioral-Related

• Based on previous interviews, what is your understanding of this role?
• How would your peers in China and peers abroad evaluate you, respectively?
• What role do you typically play in a team when working on projects?
• What differences do you see between working styles and collaboration in internships versus academic research? Which do you feel suits you better?
• What do you value most when job hunting, and what factors do you prioritize?
• What are your future development plans?

During the Q&A, we also discussed visa sponsorship and potential opportunities for inter-regional mobility in the future. No guarantees were made at the offer or contractual level, and roles in China would depend on whether suitable openings exist at the time. This only reflects that specific discussion and should not be taken as general company-wide policy.

At the end of the interview, HR stated there would be an update the following week.

Follow-up Communications

An update call was held on the Friday of the week following the HR interview, primarily discussing my intent to join, salary expectations, OPT status, and potential start dates.

The offer call took place the following week, followed by an email confirming the verbal offer. After confirming acceptance of the verbal offer, the company initiated the background check and formal offer process.

Summary and Key Takeaways

The overall timeline was as follows:

Date	Day	Recruiting Progress
Sep 15	Tue	Submitted application email and resume to HR after attending a JHU virtual recruiting event; HR confirmed receipt on the same day.
Sep 17	Thu	Received invitation for Recruiter Call; began coordinating interview times.
Sep 25	Fri	Completed HR Intro Call (~30 min); received Hiring Manager interview invitation on the same day.
Sep 30	Wed	Completed Boston Hiring Manager Interview (~45 min, English). Mainly discussed relevant experience, behavioral questions, and role overview.
Oct 7	Wed	Received invitation for technical interview with Shenzhen team; coordinated time for the following week.
Oct 12	Mon	Completed Shenzhen Team Technical Interview (~45 min, Chinese). Covered project experience, technical fundamentals, career planning, and understanding of the company.
Oct 13	Tue	Received invitation for Head of Automation Interview, initially scheduled for the next day.
Oct 14	Wed	Interview postponed to the following day due to a meeting conflict on the interviewer's end.
Oct 15	Thu	Completed Head of Automation Interview (~30 min, Chinese). Discussed role understanding, team objectives, current challenges, and skill requirements.
Oct 19	Mon	HR shared positive feedback from the team and invited me to the HR / HRBP interview.
Oct 21	Wed	Completed HR / HRBP Interview (~30 min). Primarily behavioral questions; Q&A touched on visa sponsorship and cross-regional mobility.
Oct 29	Thu	Received invitation for update call, planned for the next day.
Oct 30	Fri	Conducted update call.
Nov 4	Wed	HR scheduled a call and conducted the offer call on the same day; subsequently sent benefits information and emailed to confirm acceptance of the verbal offer.

This role was geared toward new graduates, and in my experience, the overall interview difficulty was moderate. The key focus boils down to two main points:

1. Thoroughly know your projects and past work. It's best to maintain notes on your work to avoid forgetting technical details over time. Before interviews, prepare a few real-world examples: recall what issues arose and how you resolved them, ensuring you can recount the full story end-to-end.

   You can tailor the emphasis depending on the interview stage. For example, during technical rounds, elaborate slightly more on the technical tools and methods used, serving as hooks for follow-up questions; in HR or executive rounds, dial back implementation details and emphasize how you coordinated, collaborated with others, and contributed to problem resolution.

2. Understand what the target role truly entails and its function within the company or department. In almost every round, interviewers described the role and team from slightly different angles. Synthesizing these details gives you a more comprehensive understanding of the position after each round.

   Furthermore, starting from the technical team interview, nearly every round asked about my understanding of the role. This felt like an ongoing pop quiz: after each session, you need to debrief and assimilate newly acquired information into your own perspective, ready for the next round of discussions.