Interviewed for a Java Backend role at Persistent Systems and the experience was frankly disappointing and outdated.
The interview covered only basic Java fundamentals. There was no discussion around system design, HLD/LLD, scalability, concurrency, APIs, databases, or real-world backend engineering—which is unacceptable for a role advertised at a senior/architect level.
The interviewer (a long-tenured “senior architect”) was obsessed with exact Java syntax, to the point of not tolerating minor typos, instead of evaluating logic, problem-solving approach, or time/space complexity. This felt more like a college viva from 2015 than a modern backend interview.
In today’s engineering interviews, syntax is trivial—IDEs, compilers, linters, and tools like Copilot/ChatGPT handle that. What actually matters is:
System design and architectural thinking
Writing scalable, maintainable solutions
Explaining trade-offs and optimizations
None of that was evaluated.
Overall, the interview process felt stuck in the past and raised serious doubts about how Persistent Systems evaluates technical talent. If this is how senior engineers are interviewed, it’s hard to see how strong backend teams are being built.
The guy I interviewed with has been with the company from last 17 years and only recently migrated to Canada. And if you have one scheduled, please ask the interview his experience and how long back he migrated to Canada and how long he's been with the company, and if the description of the guy is similar to the one I posted, please ask for interview to be scheduled with any other guy who's right into it's senses.
