Initial screening went well and I felt genuinely excited about the opportunity. The technical interview itself was different from what the preparation PDF described — less collaborative, minimal engagement from the interviewer's side. I didn't receive any feedback after the session; the interviewer went on sick leave and I waited several weeks before receiving a rejection email. I'm fine with rejection — that's part of the process. What was harder was the uncertainty and the lack of feedback. The prep materials set clear expectations around collaboration and communication, and the actual experience didn't match that.

Overall, it was a good experience. There was one interviewer who acted standoff-ish and strange. But, for the most part, it was conducted very professionally. What I didn't like was the Systems interview question, which is a very specific modelling problem and unless you've worked on building such a feature, it's unlikely that you'll recognize such a pattern and come up with a decent solution. And for a mid-level position, it's quite surprising. But I guess they gotta justify the high comps somehow. Also, infrastructure knowledge is not tested at all in this interview, which is atypical. The coding interviews were great. Study typical LLD problems. Leetcode is minimal and simple. Focus on understanding patterns and not memorizing solutions. The HM interview was great. He probed in ways typical EMs have never done before, and it gave me a really good impression of the company and his team, despite also not passing this interview, which I take full responsibility for.