JetBrains Interview Questions
& Process

So this interview process was seriously one of the worst I've ever seen. They totally ghosted me, no official rejection or anything. I was stuck waiting for a while after an initial recruitment step and had to chase them just to see if they were still moving forward. The first tech interview threw the classic 'reverse the list' problem at me, but then they wanted a formal proof of its computational complexity! Honestly, it's been a pretty wild situation in my 10+ years of work. On the flip side, another tech interview was actually great, we discussed how to make database queries and network traffic faster. The HR chat was also super nice, but yeah, they ghosted me in the end, so I guess they were just being friendly until they didn't need me anymore.

The hiring journey for the SMM position was quite the commitment! It kicked off with a standard chat, but then demanded a detailed test assignment, essentially an unpaid project that ate up significant time. After I submitted my hard work, the process hit a few frustrating speed bumps, with feedback being repeatedly delayed thanks to their internal calendar. I then had to come back for a second interview just to dissect the results of that assignment. Ultimately, after all that effort, this drawn-out, month-long process concluded with a final rejection that, frankly, felt like a cold shower—a deeply disappointing end to a major investment of my time and talent.

The interview process included an initial HR call which lasted about 30 minutes. This was followed by a 90-minute technical interview. After that, there was a take-home assignment to be completed within 7 days. Then, a 90-minute System Design interview. I also think there was a behavioral interview, but I'm not sure about the exact stages. The HR call involved standard questions about my experience and salary expectations. The technical interview had a senior engineer, an engineering manager, and an HR person shadowing. It started with me discussing a project for 20 minutes, then they asked questions about it for another 15-20 minutes. Next, there were 20 minutes of questions about a programming language (Go in my case), 10 minutes on databases and message queues, and 10 minutes on infrastructure. The last 10 minutes were for my questions. A downside was the HR person's English, making it hard to understand the process, and the technical interview wasn't in English, which I regret not pushing for. Feedback was minimal. My tip is to avoid jokes and try to figure out the expected answers, as deviating from their handbook, even with correct information, might be seen as wrong.

The interview process at JetBrains felt really well-thought-out and respectful. It kicked off with a screening call, then an interview with a Senior Designer, followed by a take-home test. The final stage was an interview with the Lead Designer, Product Manager, and Team Lead. The discussions were engaging, pushing me to think about problem-solving, design choices, and how I communicate. Even though it didn't end with an offer, the whole experience was professional and left me feeling encouraged.