Databricks Senior Software Engineer Interview Experience — Strong-Hire Feedback, Rejected at the Hiring Committee

I just got the update — rejected at HC. I really can't help venting about this: they set expectations so high and then tell you you got rejected at the hiring committee stage.

I was interviewing for a senior fullstack role.

Phone screen was mid-June — the classic high-frequency anagram LeetCode question. I finished in 20 minutes, wrote my own test, and as soon as it passed, that was it — call over.

Two days later I got word that I passed, but HR was on vacation so the onsite got scheduled for early July.

The onsite had 5 rounds:

• Frontend System Coding — the classic autocomplete question, with retry / debounce / latest-request-wins / caching.
• Frontend Coding — the UI was already built, I just had to write the data-fetching logic. It was pretty convoluted — needed multiple layers of API calls stitched together.
• Backend System Design — design a messaging app, basically the classic Slack-style question, with the requirement that it support message deletion.
• Algo — the exact "optimal compute" problem.
• BQ — a normal behavioral round.

I finished interviewing the Friday before last. The following Monday they told me they needed references. Two days after that, HR called and said my interview feedback was very strong — a bunch of strong-hire ratings — and that there was a good chance I'd get the offer.

I gave references from my direct tech lead on my previous team, the tech lead of a sister team, and an ex-manager — all people I have a good relationship with.

A week later (which is today) I got the news that the hiring committee didn't approve me. No feedback given. HR told me it could be for any reason, but based on her read it wasn't a technical one.

I'm genuinely exhausted and drained by this. For this job search I put my main prep effort into frontend system design, but to prepare for this role and another fullstack role, I spent a week cramming backend system design. There was some amount of question-spotting luck involved, but getting a strong-hire on it already felt like enough. And then it turns out I still got rejected at the hiring committee. I'm guessing there was a backdoor reference — I noticed that some leadership who'd already left the company had been creeping on my profile. Seriously, who is able to pass this company's hiring committee, lol.

I hope things go better with my other interviews.