I was interviewed for a Software Engineer position in Singapore on the Emerging Technologies team.

The first stage was a phone interview, which was more of a background check and a technical proficiency assessment to gauge my strengths. Following that, I proceeded to an onsite interview consisting of four back-to-back rounds.

The first meeting was with the recruiter, to discuss my current career outlook and salary expectations. The second round was with an interviewer who was half an hour late, requiring me to contact the recruiter again. This interview focused on Java, security concepts (PKI, authentication, encryption), and Linux commands for checking CPU stats and searching for open ports remotely. During this round, the interviewer demanded very specific answers, such as exact filenames for configurations (e.g., for Tomcat or sysctl files), which was quite frustrating. I believe individuals with experience in other technologies might find this challenging, even if they understand the underlying principles. Furthermore, they were unwilling to answer questions about the role, citing secrecy and a "you'll find out if you join" mentality, which felt rude.

The third interview focused on networking and core Java and SQL knowledge. I found it helpful to prepare by reviewing TCP/UDP concepts and the basics of Java. The fourth interview covered general questions across various topics, including Java, shell scripting, and SQL.

For the second onsite interview, I met with the hiring manager. We discussed my past work, server architectural concepts, and design principles. It seemed they were evaluating my knowledge against their existing setup. The hiring manager mentioned there would be one more interview for the final round.

The third and final round was with the Engineering Director (the hiring manager's superior). This discussion centered on my background and reasons for seeking a new role. A technical person accompanied the director, likely to assist with verifying technical concepts. The director then spoke about the team's vision and assessed my knowledge of scaling deployments.

However, after the final interview, I received no news regarding the outcome – nothing at all. The recruiter contacted me once to check on expected details, but despite multiple follow-ups, there has been no further communication. I am terribly disappointed with this behavior. At least providing information about the outcome, even if it's negative news or issues with requirements, would be the least one could expect. I'm unsure what is causing the delay, and this seems to be the case even for less qualified candidates.