The interview process consisted of:

• 3 DSA rounds (LeetCode Hard)
• 2 System Design rounds
• 1 Managerial round focused on projects and behavioral questions.

The process was well organized in terms of scheduling.

The interviewers seemed rigid in evaluating candidates by narrow checklists rather than engineering depth. Feedback reflected a bias towards specific solution paths, even when alternate valid approaches were discussed clearly and with tradeoffs.

The interview culture also gave little space for collaborative discussion; it felt more evaluative than explorative, especially in architecture rounds. I was also penalized for choosing a simple, scalable design before incrementally adding complexity.

Advice to Management:

Staff+ roles demand open-mindedness and an appreciation for diverse design perspectives. Encourage interviewers to listen with curiosity rather than just matching against predefined answers.

LeetCode hard questions and a couple of system design questions