I found the interview at Toast stressful.

The direction I was given beforehand was that we would be using HackerRank and it was a system design question that may involve some coding. This made it hard to prepare because I couldn't be sure if it was a system design interview with a little coding, or coding with some system design questions.

In the interview, the question was a basic design question made confusing by the lack of focus. I tried to get feedback from the interviewer to see if I was going in the right direction at times, but this was usually met by repeating the question or changing direction. After about 15 minutes of this, my confidence was broken, and I struggled to answer some basic questions, even when they related to things I do every day. By the end of the interview, I felt like the most inept software engineer ever.

It's likely that I'm not a good fit for Toast, and that's fine. But a candidate should not come out of an interview feeling like this.

For Toast, I'd suggest:

• HackerRank is not a good tool for discussion-based questions. Flicking around between screens and trying to get arrows to line up only wastes time and adds to stress.
• Be more selective with your candidates. About 15 minutes in, I could see I wasn't a good fit for Toast.
• Reflect on the interview process. If an experienced candidate is struggling badly with your question, there may be room for improvement in your approach.

A basic system design question. It is not difficult, but also not clear.