TL;DR I cleared all three rounds — DSA, system design, technical Q&A — and still got rejected. Why? Because the Round 3 interviewer just didn’t like me enough. 👏 At this company, it’s not about your skills or whether you solve the problems — it’s about whether the interviewer "vibes" with you. If you're preparing for interviews here, don’t waste your time overpreparing DSA — that’s the easy part. Instead, study how to read people and impress senior interviewers, because that’s what actually decides your fate here. Interview Process Overview: From what I observed (and also noted from others' experiences), the interview process here lacks a consistent structure. Some candidates had just 1 round, others had 2–3. Some were given assignments, some weren’t. Some rounds were focused purely on DSA, while others involved live feature implementation or system design. If you're preparing, focus on Leetcode Easy/Medium DSA problems—but also be mindful of how you present yourself, especially in later rounds. Round 1: Type: DSA + Resume-based technical discussion Experience: The interviewer was extremely friendly and open-minded. After a brief introduction and questions from my resume, we moved to a DSA problem. I walked through my approach using Excalidraw and implemented a working solution (with a small bug I later fixed). Although the session ended unexpectedly early (with 10 minutes still left), it seemed my thought process and problem-solving approach were the main focus. Verdict: Positive experience. Respect to the interviewer for maintaining a healthy discussion environment. Round 2: Type: DSA + SQL Experience: Unfortunately, I was sleep-deprived and ended up zoning out during the first DSA question. The interviewer noticed and offered to switch to an easier problem. Even then, due to nerves, I jumped straight into coding without a clear approach and struggled. Despite this, the interviewer was very supportive and even extended the time by 15 minutes. I managed to complete basic test cases. We ended with a simple SQL "group by + aggregate" query, which I solved quickly. Verdict: I thought I performed poorly, but surprisingly, I was moved to the next round—possibly due to my SQL strength or overall potential. Appreciate the interviewer’s patience and support. Round 3: Type: System Design + Technical Concepts + DSA Topics: SQL vs MongoDB, Redis modes, Node.js internals (event loop, middleware, etc.) The DSA task involved implementing Run-Length Encoding (encode and decode functions). Finished early with time to spare, and felt confident. However, the interviewer came across as distant and unengaged. He offered no feedback or redirection, and I had to explicitly ask if my answers were adequate. No red flags were raised during the call, so I assumed the session went well. Outcome & Feedback: I received their rejection mail the same day I appeared for the 3rd interview round. When I contacted HR for feedback, I was told: 1. My database skills were lacking (according to the 3rd interviewer). I really don't know how he came to this conclusion. 2. The Round 3 interviewer expected a faster and more optimal approach, given my experience. This was confusing since: I finished early (5 mins left) and the interviewer never asked for improvements or additional test cases (I'd asked him explicitly). If speed or optimization was a key metric, it wasn’t communicated or emphasized during the session. I found HR's reasons behind my rejection to be vague. It felt like the 3rd interviewer didn't get a good feeling about me (despite solving the DSA problem and answering most of the questions correctly), which is why he disapproved of me. Final Thoughts & Tips: The process felt subjective, especially in the final round. Decisions seemed influenced more by personal impression than purely technical capability. Interviewer attitude can significantly affect the outcome—not every round is a meritocracy. Tips for future candidates: Get enough sleep before interviews—mental clarity matters. Set up your environment early, then relax. Don’t cram last minute. Think out loud—show your thought process. Prepare a strong intro—confidence in the beginning sets the tone.