I interviewed for a SDE 3 role.
There were 5 rounds :
1. Offline coding :
I was given a problem statement to implement using any programming language. The code had to be submitted on codu.ai in the given timeline (around 2-3 days).
2. Product thinking :
This round is about how well a candidate can think through product designing. How well does a candidate understand the products he has worked on - eg. what are the defining metrics for a project, what was the problem that was being solved. Also given a hypothetical situation or a product, how will you design a product solution for it. The discussion in the interview was quite interesting. The interviewer listened attentively and was able to drive the discussion in a proper direction by asking thoughtful questions. He was also able to explain the vision for Navi really well.
3. Hiring Manager:
This round is a mix bag of all other rounds. The hiring manager can ask any question that fits in any of the other rounds. The HM tries to ensure that the candidate is actually thorough with the projects they have worked on. This was followed by a design problem to automate a workflow in their current Navi product. Similar to the product round, the interviewer listened attentively and asked questions for further info that they were looking for. After this we discussed a problem solving question related to arrays. I was not able to come up with the most optimised solution and the interview provided a hint after which I solved it and we moved to behavioural questions.
4. Design round:
The design round was with a lead engineer. This is where things went south and I decided not to proceed further with the remaining round. The engineer had previously cancelled the interview. When the rescheduled interview happened, he joined late and cut short the interview abruptly in the middle of the discussion to leave. During the entire interview, he sounded least interested in the interview since there was no proper 2 way communication. Whenever I would ask for a clarification, all I would get was a condescending reply.
5. Cultural fit :
This round was also cancelled and by that time I had also experienced the design round and hence informed them that I will not like to proceed for a reschedule.
The repeated cancellations where I was informed about it either 10 min prior to the interview or after I had been waiting on the call for 10 minutes, really made it a frustrating experience. Despite the cancellations, the recruiter expected me to cancel my prior commitments to accommodate the changed interview schedule. The design round was the final nail in the coffin where I was sure that I do not want to work with such engineers.
