I recently interviewed with Splunk, Cisco, and had a very positive and professional experience. The process began with a Karat screening round, followed by multiple on-site interviews. Karat Screening Round – 3 Components: System Design: Discussed distributed systems versus dedicated servers and performed a high-level design (HLD) for a game parlour card machine. Angular: Covered dependency injection, Signals, and RxJS operators. Coding: Implemented a UI screen based on a reference image using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. After successfully clearing the Karat round, HR collected my details and scheduled four on-site interviews: DSA Round: Solved two medium-difficulty problems on the Codility platform. Angular & DSA Round: One DSA problem plus questions on Angular and RxJS operators. System Design Round: Designed a high-level architecture for a concert booking platform. Manager Round: Discussed current project architecture, role-related behavioral aspects, and expectations from the position. The process concluded with an HR discussion regarding the offer. While there was no negotiation, the package offered was highly competitive and satisfactory.

2 rounds of Karat platform interviews focused on technology skills and DSA, Algo. 1 system design round - Focused on large scale data streaming. 1 Hiring Manager Interview. The experience was deeply disappointing and, frankly, unprofessional. Throughout the interview, the hiring manager appeared disinterested and disengaged—he yawned multiple times, which gave the impression that he was either bored or not taking the conversation seriously. This behavior was both distracting and disrespectful. Additionally, I was asked to solve a problem using Java, which I proceeded to do. However, after I completed the task, the manager abruptly stated that he had been expecting a shell script solution instead. This lack of clarity and shifting expectations during a technical interview reflects poorly on the preparation and communication standards of the team. Interviews are a two-way evaluation process, and this interaction left me questioning whether this organization values professionalism, respect, or the time of its candidates.