Reddit Software Engineer Interview Experience — A Word-Search Rule Clarified Too Late

The author reports an unsuccessful Reddit coding screen involving word search. After presenting the task, the interviewer remained quiet while the applicant worked. The author did not confirm the movement rules and implemented a more permissive search than the interviewer expected. A typo also consumed about ten minutes.

Although the applicant’s own tests passed, the interviewer said near the end that the intended search had to continue in one direction. The session ended when time expired, without a chance to revise the solution. The author accepts responsibility for not clarifying the requirement while also describing the communication as unhelpful. The account illustrates a mismatch between the applicant’s assumptions and the stated rule, without reporting a separate employer explanation for rejection.