I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at LinkedIn (Sunnyvale, CA) in Mar 2017
Interview
First, a 1-hour phone screen that focused on my resume and system questions, followed by a short coding question using a collabedit. The interviewer pointed out a small mistake I made in the coding question, and let me fix it (was a stupid one). He was very nice and easy to understand.
Then we proceed to an on-site interview. 6 rounds, 1 hour each. One round on communication, two rounds on system design, one round with hiring manager, one round on coding, and one hour of lunch.
I had 2 interviewers scheduled for 4 out of the 6 rounds, but one of the interviewers did not bother to show up.
Based on the feedback from the recruiter, I feel like the system design questions are more about a mind-reading exercise than assessing my analytical skills. One of my system design interview was with two - I think - not very experienced interviewers, and perhaps I gave them an answer that's not what they expected. I addressed every potential weakness of my design they brought up (which they didn't let me finish saying what's in my mind in the first place), and from the recruiter's feedback now I understand they weren't happy about my answers, because it's not exactly the one they had in mind. They said I had "challenges" in those interviews, which I respectfully disagree.
I understand some questions are designed to be vague and expect me as a candidate to ask clarification questions, but the interviewers decided to stay abstract. So I can only answer in very general terms.
LinkedIn needs more experienced interviewers to assess a candidate's skill. Since most of my interviews had two interviewers anyway, you might as well assign one experienced and one not-so-experienced interviewers at the same interview.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
I respect the NDA I signed with them and hence unable to provide more details
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at LinkedIn (Bengaluru) in Mar 2014
Interview
Coding Round 1 - Coding emphasized
Coding Round 2 - Algorithms emphasized
Software Design / Architecture
Technical Communication
Host manager round
I think key take away is you need to have good problem solving / algorithmic skills. Good to read engineering blogs of companies to get a grasp on design problems. Be honest, Don't be desperate.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Dynamic Programming problem
Straight forward write code problem
Reasonable design problem
People manager - Work history review + How would you solve this area?
Technical communication - Explain your best project
I interviewed at LinkedIn (Sunnyvale, CA) in Feb 2017
Interview
Worst interview process in the valley. Junior engineers take interviews of the senior candidate. They have certain solution of a problem in mind and if you don't solve it that way, you are gone. Basically align with their thought process.