OLA || SDE 2 || WORST INTERVIEW EXPERIENCE || Aug 2022 [Rejected]

Round 1: Online Assessment

I started with an online assessment on the Cocubes platform. It was a 40-minute round with two medium-level questions. I managed to code both problems within 30 minutes. However, the platform itself was quite frustrating, offering only two test cases to verify my code.

Round 2: System Design / HLD/LLD

This round focused on High-Level Design (HLD) and Low-Level Design (LLD, though it leaned heavily into HLD). The interviewer also asked some questions about my previous projects before diving into the core design problem. I was asked to design an online streaming platform.

I began by discussing the necessary features and services, outlining the functional requirements (FRs), non-functional requirements (NFRs), and network estimations. Following that, I opened ExcelDraw to design the components of the application. For the first 15 minutes, the interview seemed to be going well, with the interviewer in sync with my approach.

However, after this initial period, the interviewer completely lost focus. They seemed to be doing their own work during my interview time and barely paid attention, often requiring me to call out to them twice to get their attention for my questions or points. I genuinely felt bad for wasting my energy trying to drive the entire interview while they were disengaged. Despite this, I gave my absolute best to design the streaming platform, covering all possible components. This truly was my worst interview experience to date.