A few months back, I saw an opening on LinkedIn and decided to take a chance — I sent a cold email to some of the engineering managers at Celigo, just out of curiosity and hope.

To my surprise, I got a response! About 3–4 days later, I received a call from HR, and that’s how the interview process began.
And I’m super happy to share that I’ve now joined Celigo as a Software Engineer-2! 🤍

Here’s how the process went:

🔹 Round 1 – DSA (Online Coding Interview)
The round started with a quick introduction and discussion about my current work experience. Then came the main part: a LeetCode medium-level DSA question. I hadn’t seen that one before, and honestly, I can’t recall the exact problem now 😅

I shared two different approaches and wrote the complete code during the call.

Result: Cleared ✅

🔹 Round 2 – Low-Level Design (LLD)
This round also began with an intro and some project-related questions.

The main task was to design an LFU Cache, and the problem statement was clearly defined. I built the approach from scratch, and the interview turned into more of a collaborative discussion where we talked through design trade-offs and implementation details.

At the end, I was asked to write the code. I started, but couldn’t finish it due to time constraints.

Result: Cleared ✅

🔹 Round 3 – System Design + Managerial
This was a mix of system design and managerial questions.

The interviewer asked me to explain the architecture of the product I currently work on. I opened up Draw.io and walked through each part of the system — why we use certain tools, how components communicate, and how the system scales.

We also discussed how we’d extend the system to support new features, which turned into a really engaging, deep product-level conversation.

Result: Cleared ✅

🔹 Round 4 – HR Round
This round was mostly about my career journey, team culture, future goals, and a little bit of salary discussion. I had a great conversation with the HR head — very warm and clear.

Result: Cleared ✅

📨 Final Verdict
I got a call for document submission right after the last round, and within a week — the offer letter arrived in my inbox! 🎉

What really stood out to me was how fast and smooth the entire process was. Interviews were scheduled back-to-back, and feedback came in almost immediately after each round. No unnecessary delays.

I’ve now officially joined Celigo, and I’m genuinely enjoying the remote-first culture and the people I work with .

💬 Final Thoughts
💡 Cold emailing works — don’t underestimate its power.
💡 Be ready to dive deep into your current work — real-world experience matters a lot.
💡 Even if you don’t finish the code or design, your thought process and communication are just as important.

If you’re preparing for interviews or applying to product-based companies, feel free to reach out — happy to share what worked for me 🤍