Il flattered and curious but pretty sure there is no way they could pry me away from my current company.
Then there's no harm in going through the process, maybe getting to see their main campus, eat some free food, and have a low stress interview because you don't care about the outcome. :)
I interview
far better if I'm there for fun instead of because I need the job. And... if it's the company you somewhat imply, their interview process is
awesome. Best I've been through in terms of me leaving feeling that they got a good feel for the depths of my knowledge and that I'd been able to represent my knowledge well.
Big tech company is known for working people hard and would likely be a worse commute, though they offer a commuter bus which may or may not stop in my area.
Can't help you with Bay Area commute. That just sounds awful all around.
However, again, if I think it's who you're talking about, I would make sure to distinguish between "hours spent at work" and "hours spent working." There's a large disconnect, and if you were fresh out of college, living in a cardboard box of an apartment, and had a work campus that was basically a college campus with unlimited funds, where would
you spend your time? It doesn't mean people are working, but they may be "at work" 80+h/wk. Playing a board game in the evening after you hit the gym isn't exactly work, though.
This is all leading up to my question: how far should I take this out of curiosity? What would you do in my shoes?
Pull the string. There's no downside. Options are:
- You don't get through the interview process/don't get an offer. No change, except a bit of time spent working on interesting interview questions.
- You get an offer, decide not to take it because your current position is better, and can brag about having turned down an offer from whoever.
- You get an offer, your eyeballs do a cartoon bulge double take, and you say, "Yeah, you know, that's worth taking."
The only real downside is a day or two of interviews (phone/onsite), which I find fun anyway.