I applied through university. I interviewed at Kikoff (San Francisco, CA) in Aug 2023
Interview
First interview was a recruiter call. Then it was followed by a technical screen, which was a standard coding question. Then onsite comprised of two more technical questions alongside a chat with the cto.
typical first round -> situation around the question not just a lc -> string parsing -> asked runtime qs as well -> interviewer was very chill & nice; encouraged me + pointed in right direction
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
the question was basically a build up from string parsing w/o using fancy libraries; asked abt runtime and edgecases in a real world
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Kikoff (Toronto, ON) in Jan 2025
Interview
My interview process started positively, with a smooth recruiter experience and engaging initial technical rounds. However, the final technical interview did not meet my expectations. I began the interview by asking clarifying questions about the coding problem to ensure I fully understood the requirements. Unfortunately, the interaction became challenging as my approach to solving the problem was not well-received.
I proposed solutions, including using a ListNode in combination with a dictionary to implement the LRU Cache, and even suggested using an ordered dictionary. However, my ideas were dismissed without much discussion or collaboration. I attempted to pivot to a dictionary-based solution but was informed that the interview would end early as the discussion was not progressing effectively. This abrupt conclusion left me feeling the interaction lacked professionalism and a supportive tone, which I hoped for from a senior-level technical interview.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
The overall process included medium-to-hard level LeetCode-style problems in earlier rounds, which were fair and reflective of the role. However, the final interview could have been more constructive and focused on problem-solving collaboratively.