After my profile was shortlisted, the recruiter called and scheduled an interview. They explained the interview process in an email, which I have copied below.

We intend to cover 5 rounds, with details provided below. Each round would last for an hour on average.

1. Coding Round: (Example: removing duplicates in a set of numbers, or the sum of prime numbers in a given set of numbers with optimized, clean, and bug-free code).
2. Problem Solving and Coding: Using Data Structures and Algorithms.
3. Software Design: (Example: design Twitter or Facebook).
4. System Architecture and Design: (Example: design Twitter or Facebook).
5. Hiring Manager Round

The recruiter called the next business day. As I am not working in Bangalore, I asked them to arrange logistics. They then told me there would be one telephonic round, and the rest would be onsite. I agreed, as they would ensure the candidate is up to the mark before I spend on logistics.

When I attended the interview, I was surprised to see the level of questions and their expectations. None of the questions aligned with the process the recruiter explained over email. All were theoretical Java questions, which I remembered preparing when I was a fresher and in college.

Trust me, there was no DS, Algo, or problem-solving.

I am sure if we have to go to service-based companies, interviews would be like this, and people focus on those skills only, rather than DS, Algo, and problem-solving. But I didn't expect this from a product-based company. I ended up wasting 30 minutes, and thankfully, I didn't have to waste a full day by traveling to their office.

I can guess what quality of work they might be doing if it's just language.