Status: 1.5 yoe
Position: SWE @ mid sized company
Date: Dec 18, 2020

I started preparation for interviews in general a little more then year ago after I had failed an onsite at a larger tech company. In between that time I made a committment to try and do two new problems and then redo 4 old ones everyday. At the time of this interview I would say I have done ~75% of the problems on here which tbh was way more then what you need to get a job.

Application
I had applied via the portal for a different role in late October and was about to be given a virtual onsite however the role was filled up so I was stuck in limbo for a bit. The only way I got another chance was by cold calling other recruiters.

Online Assessment

• Basic OA with 2 leetcode questions, a part to explain your questions and a work survey.
• The problems I got are 2 from the OA list in discuss.

Virtual Onsite

• Round 1

  • This round was interesting in that it had no LP but had a system design and then a coding problem
  • The system design was very a very detailed question however the coding problem was extremely vague.

• Round 2

  • A round full of LP and a lot of follow up for each one. Make sure you know your stories pretty well

• Round 3

  • 2 coding problems and then 2 LPs
  • The problems were on the easier side and are prob in the top 50 overall problems on leetcode
  • A lot of drill down on the LPs as well

• Round 4

  • 1 LPs and then 1 coding problem
  • LP was more of a discussion and asked what I would do better, how I could improve on it
  • Coding problem was extremely vague and required a lot of clarifying questions

Outcome
I messaged my recruiter to find out when the debrief was for my interview and I got the results back the same day as the debrief. I wanted to know before the holidays so that I wouldn't spend my whole time thinking about it and I'm glad they told me this soon. I honestly didn't think i got it b/c I messed up the first round but I guess you never know until they tell you.

Overall a pretty good experiance. I found that the problems were easy but required a lot of clarifying questions to understand what your were suppose to do. LPs weren't bad either, just make sure you know at least 10 stories really well. The only issue I had was that I didn't know I was interviewing for a L5 role so I barely brushed up on system design and that just caused me a lot of confusion.

Happy leetcoding!