I made it to a code screening, where I was asked to build a pretty complex system within a short timeframe (45 minutes). I'm fairly certain I was on the right track, but I feel pretty strongly that it's a ridiculous task to achieve if you haven't done that exact sort of thing before.

While it's entirely possible that you aren't meant to finish it, talking through the problem as I went yielded zero reaction from the stone-faced interviewer. There was no discussion, no engagement, no nudging—it was like talking to a wall.

Others may have different experiences, but I came away thinking that they are screening for people with the exact same experiences as them. I was disappointed in this because I find tremendous value in building teams where people may not know the right answers to complex situations immediately, but given enough time, they can find the best one. This was probably the only time I've ever felt that the hiring manager should have chosen a LeetCode problem instead, because this was not a great problem selection for a 45-minute React prompt.

Build a virtualized list in React.