Online Assessment : 2 easy coding questions + few MCQs to be completed in 35 minutes. Passed it easily.
First 2 rounds scheduled on 2 consecutive days. Recruiter mentioned that first 2 rounds will be DSA and LLD in any order.
Round 1 : Interviewer pasted the problem on the coding platform, and explained it. I asked many questions to clarify. The problem was more like a design question with not much clarity. We spent first 30 minutes discussing the question and solution for it. Then the interviewer asked me to code the solution. After completing the most part of the code, with 5+ minutes to spare, I realised that I understood the question wrong. At this point I went completely blank and had no idea how to react. I just apologised and asked to end the interview. (Interviewer was very professional and checked if l need any hints/helps to continue.)
Round 2 : Key value store with getRandom implementation, I discussed my approach and gave the optimal solution quickly. Interviewer was happy with the solution and asked me to code it. I completed pretty quickly. Then he asked a follow up regarding concurrency, which I answered comfortably. (Interviewer was very experienced, professional and friendly.)
I knew I was going to be rejected after that very poor 1st round. However I was told that round 2 feedback was very positive and they want to proceed with next 2 rounds. I had no issue giving interviews :)
Round 3 - Hiring Manager : It lasted for around 45 mins. He asked questions about my previous projects, it's architecture, my role in the projects, about the technical decisions we made etc,. It didn't go bad, but I wouldn't say it went very well also. I was very candid in explaining the decisions, as most of them were influenced by other factors than technicality.
Round 4 - System Design : This was a whiteboard round, where I was asked to design a feed like system. I discussed various approaches, didn't feel very comfortable with interviewer as I did in previous rounds. It is really a pain to draw things on a whiteboard virtually if you are not used to it. I struggled to draw things. I was explaining things, but just couldn't show it on whiteboard. I felt like there was a gap between my fundamental understanding and the interviewer's. I observe this a lot in our industry on day to day basis, that the answer for why's are not objectively sorted out. And I think, in cases like this, with little experience on both the sides, it is very much possible to not understand the other's perspective.
Didn't recieve any rejection mail, but it is pretty clear that I got rejected owing to that first round. Also I didn't do exceptionally well in other rounds.