I applied online without a referral. The recruiter contacted me after 10 days and sent an online coding challenge on HackerRank.

The online challenge had two questions and lasted 120 minutes. The first question took 5-10 minutes and was trivial. The second question was a bit more complex. A straightforward solution was not hard to code, but it was open to improvements using appropriate data structures. I was able to pass all test cases within the given time.

A few days later, the recruiter contacted me again to schedule a technical phone screen with one of the forward-deployed software engineers. I had the interview the following week on Skype using HackerRank CodePair. The interviewer briefly explained the projects they are working on. We discussed my background a bit, then moved on to coding. There were two different questions that lasted 45 minutes in total. The first was a simple string manipulation question. The second question involved DFS on a grid. The interviewer asked a few follow-up questions related to data structures, alternative solutions, and running time complexity, which I answered verbally. I coded in C++. They are fine with any OO language you choose. I was also able to ask questions at the end. The interviewer was very friendly and frank – by far the best interviewer I've met. It was fun.

On the same day, they invited me to London for on-site interviews. The recruiters were great at arranging everything. They covered flights, accommodation, visa fees, and other costs (meals, baggage fees, Uber). The process was very smooth.

I had three technical interviews (1:1) on a single day in their offices. Similar to the phone screen, except these were on a whiteboard. They asked about my motivation and background, and I was able to ask my questions at the end.

1. Full coding and algorithms.
2. OOP. More talking and design. I also wrote some code for small parts.
3. System design/software decomposition. Much more talking, design, and sketching on the whiteboard, with almost no coding.

All interviewers were very friendly and caring. The offices look cool. I liked the culture. They might seem snobbish from the outside, but I found that wasn't the case (at least for me).

I was contacted after two days. The outcome was not positive. They provided good feedback on my on-site interviews, which is nice. It was a great experience in the end.

What motivates you?