The interview process consisted of four technical rounds spread across several weeks, but the overall process felt disorganized and inconsistent.
The first round focused mainly on coding and data structures/algorithms, along with some basic React questions. The second round included another coding problem and a frontend system design discussion covering component design, state management, and technical trade-offs.
The third round focused more heavily on React and frontend knowledge. After this round, the recruiter told me that the feedback was that my understanding of certain technical details was not deep enough for the original role. I was then told that they might consider me for another position that better matched my experience.
However, I was later invited to an additional interview without a clear explanation of whether it was for a new role or team. During the interview, I found out that it was still related to the original position. This made the process confusing because the expectations and direction seemed to change several times.
The fourth round focused almost entirely on detailed frontend fundamentals, including an in-depth comparison between React and Vue, how React Native works internally, framework implementation details, and an image-related coding question involving lazy loading. There was no algorithm question, and the interview content was very different from what I had been preparing for based on the earlier rounds.
My experience with the interviewers in the first two rounds was generally positive. However, the communication style in the third and fourth rounds felt less welcoming and less collaborative. Both interviewers were based in China, and the interviews were conducted mostly in Chinese. The interviewers appeared very focused on testing specific technical details, but there was limited clarification, interaction, or guidance when I struggled with a question. As a result, those rounds felt more like rapid knowledge checks than constructive technical discussions.
Overall, the biggest issue was not simply the difficulty of the questions, but the lack of clarity and consistency throughout the process. The role, interview focus, and next steps were not communicated clearly, and the final round did not appear well aligned with the expectations set earlier.
Candidates should prepare for coding, frontend system design, React fundamentals, framework internals, React versus Vue comparisons, React Native architecture, browser behavior, performance optimization, and image lazy loading. It may also be helpful to ask the recruiter to confirm the exact role, team, and interview focus before each additional round.