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user@intervues:~/experiences/…$
Level: Senior-Level
Round: Full Journey · Type: Multiple Types · Difficulty: 7/10 · Duration: 360 min · Interviewer: Unfriendly
Topics: Coding, System Design, Behavioral, Debugging
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Interview date: 2025-12-31
Got offer: False
My interview process consisted of a technical screening followed by an onsite interview with five rounds.
In the technical screening, I had to implement invoice and payment matching. I spent too much time parsing datetime strings for comparison. I should have used string comparison directly.
During the onsite interview:
Round 1 (Intro Coding): I had to send email notifications based on user subscription schedules. The coding portion took about 20 minutes, and the rest was casual conversation.
Round 2 (Integration): This round was fast-paced and required quick coding. I wasted time on basic tasks like string formatting and handling epoch seconds. The problem was invoice reconciliation, and I completed 2.5 parts. I had to make API calls, including passing authorization headers and placing invoice file content in the request body.
Round 3 (Debugging): I encountered a common Mako debugging question. I got stuck on the last stretch question, which involved a template compiler and missing tags.
Round 4 (System Design): This was my weakest round. I was asked to design a ledger with an API to record transactions and another to query merchant balances. I had practiced similar problems before, but the interviewer spent about half the time questioning how to model price/money in the transaction API, which didn't leave me enough time for the actual system design. The interviewer seemed to expect deep payments-related experience.
Round 5 (Hiring Manager Behavioral): I discussed a large project I had worked on and answered standard behavioral questions. The interviewer didn't seem very familiar with the role, which felt like they were just filling a placeholder.
After a week, the recruiter said I would move to the hiring manager call and reference check. They conducted 30-minute phone calls with each of my references. I also spoke with the hiring manager for 30 minutes, who asked about my previous work and my interest in their team.
I thought the process went well overall, but I received a rejection email a few weeks after the hiring manager call without any feedback. I might not provide references until I have an offer in the future, as it felt like a waste of their time. My references were close contacts, so I suspect they chose another candidate from the pool of qualified individuals.