Continuing my interview experience series, this one is from LinkedIn.

Company: LinkedIn
Interview Date: February 2025
Role: Software Engineer (Full-Stack) — Frontend Heavy

I applied through LinkedIn's Easy Apply button and was pleasantly surprised by how well the recruitment team managed the process. The recruiter explained the entire interview structure in advance and even gave me sufficient time to prepare.

Round 1 — Initial Screening

A rapid-fire discussion focused on:

• Frontend optimization techniques
• Input/Output-based JavaScript questions
• Polyfill implementations

Result- Passed ✅

Round 2 — JavaScript

This round was entirely focused on core JavaScript.

The interviewer asked several I/O-based questions and then asked me to build a feature using pure JavaScript - no framework, no library, just vanilla JS.

Result- Strong Hire ✅

Round 3 — Coding & Algorithms

Two interviewers joined the discussion and asked separate DSA problems involving:

• Graphs
• Dynamic Programming

I successfully implemented solutions for both questions. However, one interviewer wasn't fully convinced with the approach I chose for one of the problems.

Result- Hire ✅

Round 4 — Software Design & Architecture

One of the most interesting rounds.

I was asked to design Google Sheets using vanilla JavaScript without any framework or library. I discussed features, implementation details, scalability considerations, and later explained the architecture and design decisions using Notepad.

Result- Hire ✅

Round 5 — Pragmatic UI

I don't remember the exact problem statement, but the round focused on implementing a real-world user interface similar to a popular website using raw frontend concepts.

Result- Hire ✅

Round 6 — Product & Technical Taste

This round was conducted by a Project Manager.

The discussion revolved around:

• Product thinking
• Technical decision-making
• Problem-solving approaches
• Real-life engineering tradeoffs

The interviewer presented practical scenarios and evaluated how I reason through problems.

Result- Strong Hire ✅

Round 7 — Hiring Manager

The final discussion was with the Hiring Manager.

We had a long conversation about:

• How LinkedIn operates as a product
• Why I was looking for a change
• Handling pressure and difficult situations
• Team collaboration and ownership

While the discussion was insightful, I could sense that some of my answers did not fully align with what the manager was looking for.

Result- Weak Hire

A few days later, the recruiting team informed me that although the overall interview feedback was positive, the final outcome was average and they decided not to move forward.

Final Result: No Hire