I posted my profile on Hired.com and received a call from a Wayfair recruiter who was very nice and helpful. Then, I had a phone interview, which was just a coding exercise, and I cleared it.

Next, I was invited onsite for a full day of interviews. This involved four solid rounds covering database design, a coding exercise, system design, and cultural fitment. I felt I performed well in all rounds, and my best round was the system design.

However, when I received the feedback from the recruiter, I was told I did great in all rounds except system design, which I believed was my strongest.

Upon researching the system design problem (URL Shortener) online, I found an exact match to the design I presented during the interview. I'm still wondering how the interviewer would have designed the system differently. After days of online research, I cannot find a better design than what I created in just 40 minutes during my onsite interview.

Not receiving the offer wasn't the most painful part; instead, it was the round I had counted on that the interviewer didn't feel was up to par. Even during the interview, the interviewer seemed very impressed with my design.

I'm unsure what transpired during the feedback process. If given the chance, I would still like to understand how the interviewer would have designed the system. I remain unconvinced by the decision and feel it was unfair.

1. Culture fitment - General discussion about my current project and its agile transformation.

2. Coding question involving a chessboard and a mobile phone keypad.

3. System Design for a URL shortener.

4. Database Design.