I had around a 2 hour technical interview with them. During the interview, they asked me to design a system and then write the code for it.
To be honest, I actually liked the format. It was more like “if we were working together, how would you approach this?” rather than a typical algorithm-style interview. So I focused mostly on the design part. We spent most of the time discussing the system design, because in my opinion implementation can always be done, but the important part is making the right design decisions and understanding the trade-offs.
I answered all the questions they asked. I also pushed back on a few points, because system design questions are open-ended and there is never just one correct answer. At the end, I had to use AI to generate the code, because implementing an end-to-end product in such a short amount of time was simply not realistic. I generated the code, reviewed what was written, and explained the parts I would improve. Since the time was very limited, I also couldn’t spend as much time as I wanted crafting proper prompts, but I still talked through how I would improve the implementation. I also told them that if they wanted, I could explain every part of the generated code and discuss how I would make it better.
In the end, I was rejected. Of course, every company has the right to choose the candidate they think is the best fit. But based on how the interview went, the rejection did not really make sense to me. Honestly, I left the process feeling like my nationality may have played a role in the decision. I obviously can’t prove that, but that’s the feeling I had after the whole experience.
In the rejection email, they said they would be happy to arrange a feedback call if I wanted more insight into the decision. I replied and said I would like to have that call, but I never got a response after that. Offering feedback and then ghosting the candidate is not a great experience.
Overall, the technical interview format itself was actually good, but the final decision and communication afterwards were disappointing. People applying should keep this in mind.