The overall experience felt professional, and most of the rounds ran cleanly. One interviewer came across as standoffish, which threw me off more than anything technical, but the logistics and tone were mostly well handled.
The part I struggled with was the systems interview. It involved a very specific modeling problem that didn't resemble the general patterns I expected. Unless I'd previously built something with that exact shape, it was hard to recognize the pattern and come up with a decent solution. Infrastructure knowledge also didn't seem to be tested in that systems component, which felt unusual compared with what I've seen elsewhere.
The coding rounds were the bright spot. The questions were great and closer to typical LLD-style problems, even though LeetCode itself was minimal and simple. I also had a hiring manager conversation where the probing felt unusually deep and gave me a strong impression of the team, although I didn't pass that round either.
I didn't get an offer, but I owned the miss and left with a clearer picture of where the bar was.
Location: Canada. Overall feedback: Neutral. Offer status: No offer.
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