I interviewed for a backend engineering role through an HR consultancy. Here’s a summary of the two rounds I attended: First Round – Associate Architect The first round was a detailed and engaging technical discussion that lasted about 1.5 hours. The interviewer was polite, friendly, and focused primarily on topics mentioned in my resume. We dove deep into system design concepts such as load balancing, in-memory storage, message queues, and API performance (e.g., diagnosing slow APIs). The questions were conversational, and follow-ups were based on my responses, making it an intellectually stimulating experience. The round concluded with a LeetCode easy-level problem, for which I proposed two solutions—both were well received. Second Round – Director of Engineering This round was noticeably shorter, around 20 minutes. The tone was more abrupt, and the interviewer seemed to be in a rush. It began with a few basic Python output-based questions and then shifted to resume-based queries. Unfortunately, the interaction turned dismissive—my prior work was compared unfavorably to student-level projects, and my compensation was questioned in a critical tone. The interviewer spoke at length about their own accomplishments, which overshadowed the evaluative nature of the interview. The experience felt less constructive and more one-sided. Final Thoughts While the first round felt fair and insightful, the second round lacked the same level of professionalism and objectivity. The overall experience was mixed.