Applied for Senior Software Dev (Runtime).
Screening felt rushed with limited role insight (likely due to hiring volume). Coding interview lost time to intro questions; solved anagram problem with basic approach and partial optimisation, but ran short on time. Some ambiguity around acceptable AI use.
Didn’t progress to system design stage, which seems more critical for the role.
In hindsight: move faster through small talk and treat coding and system design as separate focuses.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Create a function that Returns true if the inputs are an anagram of each other, and false if they are not.
First there is a Screening interview, then a technical interview, systems interview, final stage with management/ cultural fit. A lot of stages for the job. The technical interview is with coderpad but isn’t too hard.
I applied online. I interviewed at PolyAI in Oct 2025
Interview
If you don't have to (I know the job market is tough), don't apply for a position at this company. Even though I completed their coding task with 100% success within the given time — and everything seemed to be going well, with no negative feedback or red flags — I was suddenly rejected in the next round without any reason or explanation.
It’s really frustrating because I invested significant time and effort into their process, only to receive a generic rejection email afterward. The lack of transparency and respect for candidates’ time says a lot about their hiring culture. Given how abruptly things changed without any feedback, I can’t help but wonder if there was some kind of bias or discrimination involved. Whatever the case, it left a very unprofessional impression.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What's the most proud of thing you have achieved?
Several programming language questions that needs data structures and also good code structure knowledge.
