I was initially reached out by a headhunter agency regarding an opening at eBay. It was for a new team, not the current Kijiji team, so I thought I might give it a try.

After an initial HR screening, the next step was a tech screening, essentially a live coding session. The question was to write my own String comparator. On April 16th, I finished the first technical round. It took them 25 days to get back to me, stating they would like to move forward with a virtual onsite interview. I replied immediately with my availabilities, but received no further replies.

I sent an email after 14 days, and they responded, "Ah, okay, sure, please send me your availabilities." I was a bit unhappy, as I had clearly listed my availabilities in the previous email. Nevertheless, I sent my availabilities again. Unsurprisingly, they got my dates wrong. Despite me clearly stating I was not available on certain days, they scheduled the interview for those days. I had to email them about the dates again, and finally, we got the time slot correct.

The virtual onsite interview was a 5-hour session split over 2 days.

Despite sending the HR multiple emails asking about the interview format—such as whether they were all technical, or if some were live coding and others system design, and who was responsible for what—HR simply did not reply to my emails, as if they were all going to spam folders.

So, with all my questions uncleared, I started the interview. From the look of the interviewers, I could tell it was not a very inclusive setup.

• The first interview was system design + live coding. I got stuck at one point, and the interviewer changed the question for me. Throughout the process, she seemed very disengaged or uninterested.
• The second interview was a system design question.
• The third interview was a behavioral question.
• The fourth interview was a system design question.
• The fifth interview was a live coding question.

When I finished the final round, they said, "We will get your feedback ASAP," which made me doubt they actually would. After 28 days with no replies, I sent them an email for an update. I knew it was a fail, but still. They replied immediately: "Sorry, you've failed."

Frankly speaking, it was not a pleasant interview experience. The HR was very unprofessional, ignoring emails, arranging the wrong interviews, and not providing timely feedback, or in my case, no feedback at all.

Coding questions:

• Implement your own string comparator.
• Check if a linked list is a palindrome.
• Implement a BST.

System design questions:

• Flash sale system
• Flight booking system