Airbnb Interview Process - Mid-level Software Engineer

I applied through Airbnb's careers page for a Mid-Level Software Engineer position. After a few days, a recruiter reached out to schedule an introductory call. We discussed my background, previous experience with Java, Spring Boot, microservices, and distributed systems. The process consisted of four rounds.

The first round was a recruiter screening. We discussed my experience, motivation for joining Airbnb, and expectations for the role. Nothing particularly difficult.

The second round was a coding interview. I was asked to solve two LeetCode-style problems involving strings and intervals. The interviewer was interested not only in the solution but also in edge cases and time complexity. I managed to solve both problems.

The third round was a system design interview. The task was to design a simplified accommodation booking system similar to Airbnb. We discussed API design, database schema, caching, and concurrency. One of the main topics was preventing double bookings when multiple users try to reserve the same property for overlapping dates. I think this round went reasonably well, although I struggled with some follow-up questions about scalability and consistency.

The final round was behavioral with the hiring manager. We discussed challenging projects, disagreements with colleagues, technical decisions, and how I handle production issues.

Unfortunately, I didn't receive an offer. The recruiter informed me that they decided to move forward with other candidates. I wasn't given very detailed feedback, but I suspect my system design performance could have been stronger.

Overall, it was a positive experience. The interviewers were professional, and the questions were relevant to the actual work. My advice would be to practice LeetCode Medium, prepare system design fundamentals, and be ready to explain your previous projects in detail. Don't underestimate the behavioral round either.