Recently, I had the opportunity to interview for a New Grad Software Engineer role at Stripe, and it was one of the most challenging and insightful interview processes I've been part of so far.

The Interview Journey

1. Online Assessment
   One coding question to kick things off.

2. Phone Screening
   A multi-part problem-solving round. I was able to solve 4 parts within 45 minutes, followed by a 15-minute discussion related to Stripe and some questions.
   Clearing this round felt really motivating and pushed me forward to the Virtual Onsite.

3. Virtual Onsite
   Stripe allows you to choose your preferred language - I went with Java.
   Round 1: Advanced Programming Multi-part problems; I solved two parts along with follow-up questions on edge cases (45 minutes). This round went fairly well.
   Round 2: Bug Squash (Most Challenging) This round stood out. I was given a large, complex codebase and asked to identify and fix bugs. While I managed to find and fix the issue with the interviewer's guidance, I realized I wasn't as strong as I wanted to be in advanced Java and deep debugging. I truly felt I could've done better here.

4. Final Round: Managerial Discussion Focused on teamwork, past work, ownership, and how I approach problems.

$TheOutcome$
A few days later, I heard back from the recruiter that they wouldn't be moving forward with my application.

Of course, it was disappointing - especially knowing exactly where I could have performed better. But more than anything, this experience gave me clarity: on my gaps, on what real-world debugging looks like, and on how high the bar truly is.

$Reflection$
Every interview teaches something. This one taught me a lot.

Back to learning. Back to building. Onwards.