It started with call with the recruiter, it went well.
The recruiter was good in describing the role and also sharing the interview process, he helped in detailing the nature of interview which definitely helped in the preparation.
Round 1 : Staff Software Engineer
He asked about the problem faced with manager question, we had a good discussion on that.
Then he gave a coding problem to solve, it was a LT Medium.
I was able to solve and move on to next round.
Round 2: Interview with hiring manager
The interview started with detailed description of my current work and it was a to and fro interactive session with a very good discussion. I was positive at the end of interview and got a call from the recruiter about the next round.
Round 3 : Interview with Sr Director
This was more of a behavioral STAR interview .
An one hour interview covering various topics from team work to innovation etc.
Round 4: Interview with Sr Director (Cross Domain)
This interview started off well, the interviewer was interested in the work i am doing. On explanation , the interviewer raised question on the work being very normal and not special, i did explain the importance of the work and the impact it has on clients as well as other products in the company. The interviewer did not seem convinced.
Round 5: System Design
It was a system design interview with another Staff Software Engineer, we interacted well, he asked me to design a shopping cart of an ecommerce platform.
We had a good discussion and interview ended on a positive note.
In couple of days, I got call from recruiter that they will not be moving forward with an offer.
I had a mixed experience interviewing here. On one hand, the engineering team is top-notch, and the technical discussions were great. On the other hand, the final decision seemed to hinge on a subjective assessment of 'organizational impact' rather than technical mastery.
As an interviewer myself, I believe a technical interview should evaluate how a person implements a solution. Here, the feedback was that my work was 'common' (so is the case for any eCommerce platform or any Social Media Network), which ignores the nuance of building custom, high-performance architectures in specific environments.
Candidates should be aware that high-level technical success might be overshadowed by how 'unique' or 'grand' the interviewer perceives your previous company's problems to be.