I had the opportunity to interview for an SDE-3 position at Vimeo after applying multiple times and reaching out to a recruiter. The interview process consisted of three rounds.

The first round, lasting 1.5 hours, focused on Data Structures & Algorithms and Low-Level Design, conducted by an SDE-3. I discussed user threads and kernel threads, and also faced a medium-level DSA problem involving two arrays to find the maximum difference under certain conditions (this part was not a specific LeetCode type problem). For the LLD part, I was asked to design a Chess game, where the interviewer specifically looked for basic SOLID principles and Design Patterns, and I coded a few parts of it.

The second round, also 1.5 hours, was with an SDM and primarily focused on LLD and Java. We had an in-depth discussion about Singletons in Java. I was then tasked with designing a Logger in a local IDE, emphasizing proper Design Patterns and requiring runnable code. The interviewer asked me to zip and send the code, which he then tested. Additionally, there were Java questions regarding String, its various implementations, and memory allocation.

The third and final round, a 1.5-hour session with a senior SDM, covered LLD, SQL, and Java. I faced SQL queries and was asked to design a braking system for a bicycle in a local IDE. This question was quite ambiguous; the interviewer wanted me to consider the bicycle as a game object and think about its behavior in a basic physics context, such as how applying brakes would slow it down. I also answered Java questions related to the Equals and Hashcode methods.

Ultimately, I was rejected after the third round. I believe my inability to properly grasp the requirements for the braking system design and deliver an overall extensible code led to this outcome. Despite the rejection, my overall experience with Vimeo was positive, and the recruiter was very helpful throughout the process.

I received an interview call a few weeks back from a Vimeo recruiter for a Senior Software Engineer role based in Bangalore. After a successful recruiter screening, my first technical round was scheduled.

The interviewer began by asking about my current project and some behavioral questions before moving directly to a coding question. It was a simple array-based problem, which I solved optimally. Following this, I was asked about URL shortener system design. This felt like a common and well-known problem, and I was able to come up with the design quite easily.

A day passed without any response, so I emailed the recruiter. He promptly called me back to schedule the next set of interviews, confirming that I had cleared the first round. He scheduled two additional rounds with barraiser.com (a third party) due to Vimeo employees being on holiday.

The second round was DSA-based, followed by some questions on my project. I was very close to the solution, though I missed one edge case; however, the interviewer seemed convinced by my overall approach. This round felt like it went very well, despite that minor slip.

The third round was purely focused on High-Level Design (HLD) and Low-Level Design (LLD). Unfortunately, I don't remember the exact question asked in this round. Surprisingly, this round went really well compared to the previous one. The interviewer was very pleased with my high-level design, table schema, and API designs.

Once again, I faced a long wait—over 10 days—for the recruiter to return from holidays. After two more days of no email response, I decided to call him. He immediately checked my candidate records and informed me that I had passed both the second and third rounds. He then scheduled the fourth round, which was a hiring manager round, with a Director-level employee.

As expected, the fourth round primarily focused on cultural fit and an LLD problem involving "bicycle creation for an app." The interviewer specifically mentioned he wanted a "very sophisticated design." I answered many of his questions and managed to propose an LLD that incorporated some design patterns while adhering to his basic requirements. I also took the opportunity to ask him some questions about the company culture. He indicated that feedback would be communicated by the end of the day or the next.

However, despite all these rounds and positive indications, Vimeo simply ghosted me without communicating any feedback. My emails went unanswered, and multiple calls only yielded the response, "we will let you know." I later discovered through online reviews regarding interview experiences that they have a history of ghosting a significant number of people. It's incredibly disheartening to be led through such a long process only to be left in the dark.