I applied to PayPal Singapore via internal referral.

There were three rounds of interviews. The first and second rounds were on the same day, hosted on HackerRank (if I'm not mistaken).

The technical interview questions touched on arrays, hash maps, and a few Java and Spring concepts. During the interview, if you were stuck, the interviewers would offer hints to help you along. The interviewers were also incredibly friendly and pleasant to talk to. I was stuck on a Java question, and my interviewer gave me another chance by letting me attempt a SQL question. I did not expect to hear back from PayPal, as I felt I had underperformed.

Surprisingly, HR called me back within one hour to inform me that the interviewers felt I had a great attitude despite my technical strengths and would like me to proceed with the next round. They mentioned that they are looking for candidates who do not give up and that it is okay if they are not strong at coding.

My next interview was disappointing. The manager called me on my phone number instead of through the interview platform. He only asked me to introduce myself and whether I had any questions. He mentioned that since I had passed the previous interviews, this session was merely a chat. I was very hopeful and excited, as according to what the manager had said, it seemed like I would be getting the job.

I was then informed by HR that I could expect an update within two weeks. However, on the third week, HR informed me that my third round of interview did not go well. I was baffled, as the manager literally said the interview was only a chat, so how could it have gone wrong?

I contacted HR again to inform him of how my interview actually went and that there was no way it could have gone wrong. The HR personnel then brought up that PayPal had changed its hiring requirements and that they were looking for someone with stronger technical skills. He also mentioned that he would get back to me.

I did not ever hear back from him.

Overall, the hiring process has left a great distaste in my mouth. HR and the manager from my third round were unprofessional. I was shocked when I was informed that PayPal was looking for someone with stronger skill sets, despite being told by previous interviewers that they were keen to have me as I have a good attitude towards solving problems. Disappointing.

Spring Concepts

Check whether two strings are anagrams of each other, and how to improve your code.