The interview process was extremely exhaustive and drawn-out over nearly 2+ months, with 12 rounds in total. It included multiple stages that overlapped in scope and intent. Here's a breakdown: Recruiter Call – Initial screening. Engineering Manager Call – General discussion about experience and role. CodeSignal Assessment – 4 DSA problems in 90 minutes (similar to Leetcode Medium-Hard). Take-Home Assignment – Build a fully working Android app within a week. Technical Round – With 3 panelists, covering Android concepts, take-home review, and a small system design problem. Job Fit Interview – With two Engineering Managers. System Design Interview (Part 1) – With an architect, cut short due to fire alarm. Behavioral Interview – With another EM. System Design Interview (Part 2) – Full 45-minute continuation. Rejection for original role. Reconsidered for a Platform Team role – General call again with different EM. Final rejection. The process felt excessive, especially for a mid-to-senior IC role that other companies fill in 3–4 rounds max. The salary offered was more or less similar to peers in the industry, but the effort-to-outcome ratio felt skewed. Observations & Feedback Passing both the CodeSignal DSA and take-home test felt redundant. Most companies use either, not both, to gauge technical ability. Three separate system design conversations were conducted (including one impromptu), which felt repetitive and time-consuming. The initial EM discussion and the job-fit round were conducted by the same person. The latter could have been used for final evaluation instead of duplicating conversations. Final rejection was not due to technical skill, but based on a subjective “team fit” during the behavioral rounds — which felt disheartening given I had passed all prior technical assessments. Feedback loop was transparent and kind, but the overall time investment was disproportionate to the final outcome.

A very long interview process. HR call -> pre-screening exercise -> talk with the team -> take home exercise -> system design interview. There was quite a long wait between each stage, so the whole thing took about 6 weeks.