I was contacted by a recruiter for a London Software Engineer position.

There were 4 interview stages.

After a week, I received a rejection email from the recruiter.

Conclusion: solve a ton of LeetCode problems, especially medium, and prepare to lead your interviews yourself.

1. Call with a recruiter: The first call was to evaluate my expectations, inform me about the company, and ask some default behavioral questions. After that, I was scheduled for a technical phone screen interview.

2. During the 45-minute phone screen, I had to solve two LeetCode-style medium questions. It's important to be able to explain the solution, evaluate space and time complexity, and write readable code. Following this, I was scheduled for another call with a recruiter.

3. The recruiter shared feedback from the phone screen, outlined expectations for the next steps (onsite), and asked more behavioral questions. Afterward, I received a link to provide my availability for a full day of four interviews.

4. The onsite consisted of four interviews: two algorithmic, one behavioral, and one system design. a. The first algorithmic interview was similar to the phone screen: one interviewer, one easy and one medium LeetCode-style question to solve in 45 minutes. This was the worst technical interview experience of my life. The interviewer seemed disengaged, looking away from the screen and doing their own work as if on a deadline. I felt like I was mostly talking to myself. After I explained the complexities, the interviewer asked for the time complexity of my code a minute later, which was frustrating. I finished the easy question in 10 minutes, but spent another 10 minutes debugging and explaining it, then waiting for the second task. I was disapproved solely because of this interview; the others were fine. b. The second algorithmic interview had two interviewers: one shadowing to gain experience and the other as the actual interviewer. This interview was much better. The interviewer was very communicative, explained things, asked questions, and was engaged throughout the process. In addition to two LeetCode-style easy questions, this interview required understanding the problem, asking clarifying questions, and delving into topics like memory management. c. The behavioral interview consisted of standard questions, such as discussing a time I had an argument with a teammate and detailing past experiences. d. The system design question involved discussing a new feature for one of Meta's products. It was a typical system design interview, similar to those found in books or on YouTube.