I was contacted by a recruiter via LinkedIn for a software engineering role. The process began with a phone screen discussing my experience and familiarity with relevant technologies, followed by a HackerRank test with two LeetCode-style easy questions.

After passing, I was scheduled for a virtual “super day” the following week, consisting of three rounds: coding/PR review, system design, and behavioral.

The behavioral round was informal, focusing on learning mindset and problem-solving approaches, such as handling being stuck on a task. The coding round involved 10 minutes of reviewing a pull request (PR) and a LeetCode medium problem. The PR had issues like hardcoded credentials and poor variable names, but the expectations felt unclear, possibly emphasizing nuanced Java knowledge (e.g., handling volatile variables). The LeetCode problem was unique, not from recent LeetCode lists, and the interviewer remained silent, so vocalizing my thought process was critical.

The system design round was challenging due to time constraints. Unexpectedly, I was asked to review the same PR again, which consumed 10-15 minutes, leaving limited time for the actual design question—a news aggregator, a common problem found on interview prep sites.

On Friday, the recruiter emailed me stating I would receive an offer, sent tax documents, and asked for my availability for team-matching calls. However, on Monday, a different recruiter called to say the offer could not be extended due to an unspecified issue, possibly a system error. After seeking clarification, I received a follow-up email stating only that the company was “unable to move forward at this time” with no further details, though they expressed interest in staying in touch for future opportunities. The lack of transparency around the offer revocation was disappointing and felt unprofessional, especially after investing significant time in the process.

Non-technical recruiter phone screen → HackerRank (2 LC easy) → 3x45 min interviews, "super day" (1 LC medium + PR review, 1 behavioral, 1 system design).