I applied through a recruiter. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at PlayStation (London, England)
Interview
Design a distributed system and explain the moving parts, edge cases and how the stakeholders were satisfied. Discuss implementation details and justification for specific technologies. Review legacy code and suggest refactor techniques and abstractions. Solve an algorithmic problem in any language - time limited but not expected to complete it. The phone screen was fairly awkward but being on site was fun.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How will you ensure our specific system exists in 5 years' time?
Typically, an interviewer asks around 6–12 core technical questions, plus 3–5 behavioral questions for this role. In system-heavy roles like this, expect deep follow-ups, so total discussion often expands to 15–20 question threads rather than standalone questions.
Gauntlet of 6+ interviews. Multiple tech screenings and system designs. Poorly coordinated. Recruiter uninterested and unresponsive in general, didn't follow up on my questions and got ghosted at the end. One of the interviewers had poor communication skills and it was the most painful interview I had ever had in my career.
The interviewing process is straightforward. first resume screen, then phone screen, then one tech interview with manager, Then there's the final round panel interview with behavior questions. . . . . .
