Applied in the LinkedIn portal for Staff Engineer. I received a call from a recruiter the next day, and she explained the details very nicely. The recruiter's response was prompt. She scheduled the phone screen (PS) for the very next day for the Staff Engineer role.

I have 8+ years of experience in software development, including working at the world's #1 online retailer for 3.5 years.

The interview questions were simple, mirroring those described on Glassdoor. The interviewer called on time but did not introduce himself, directly jumping into the questions, which lacked professionalism.

There was no NDA, so I believe I can share the questions:

1. Search for "WordDistanceFinder linkedin". http://www.careercup.com/question?id=5725709041401856

2. Search for "TwoSum with test()/store()" methods. https://github.com/fcarriedo/algorithms/blob/master/exercises/twosumtest/TwoSumTest.java

I discussed and coded more than two solutions for both problems, writing bug-free code. I verified my code on other websites after the interview.

My mistakes:

1. I explained that we could use a Set instead of a HashMap verbally, but I didn't type it into the editor. It seems the interviewer didn't make a note of this. The hiring committee raised concerns about data structures, though I actually used a HashMap to support future enhancements, which I also didn't type into the editor.
2. I didn't add comments to the code. During an interview, one expects to explain their code rather than type comments.
3. I used short variable names. I asked the interviewer if short notation was fine (e.g., using "idx" instead of "index"), and he agreed. Again, I didn't mention this in the editor.

Based on these three mistakes, the hiring committee stated they would consider me for a Senior Software Engineer position but definitely not for Staff Engineer, and only after another PS. Now I am wondering whether I should proceed with LinkedIn, as I have an offer for a director-level position with another $3 billion company.

I have conducted more than 100 interviews for my company, but this experience is disappointing.

Advice to LinkedIn:

Please provide training to your interviewers. Ensure you collect accurate data points about your candidates, either by asking your interviewers to type detailed feedback or by speaking with them directly. What you observe is not always the complete picture.

My advice:

Whatever you want to convey during a phone screen, make sure you type it in the editor.