Painful. Started with bumpy introductions (from the interviewer) then on to the coding challenge. I interview candidates regularly at my job and introductions are usually the easiest part but I figured maybe this was the interviewer's first time. The coding starts and I explain my thought process and the code as I write it. During this I pointed out that I almost never have the optimal solution on the first go. Generally I find a solution then optimize it but as things progressed it seemed the interviewer expected a minimal complexity- character-for-character solution on the first try. By the end what started as "find the intersections" became "count the occurrences" while finding the intersections but also reducing complexity and use a literal object but not as a hash map like you mentioned in the beginning. The hints became so misleading I wasn't even sure of the problem I was solving anymore and the interruptions to my solution completely fried my ability to think through the problem. Needless to say I did not pass the interview but towards the end I frankly didn't want to. I was stuck trying to understand the requirements and their expected solution but when I asked for clarification I received the equivalent of "google it". At the end of a failed interview there is no reason the interviewer can't explain the solution he or she was looking for... unless they can't explain it.

The interview process for the Frontend role at Atlassian started with an initial coding interview conducted through Karat. It was a live, structured session focused on JavaScript fundamentals and problem-solving, designed to evaluate core coding skills. After successfully completing that round, I proceeded to two technical coding interviews with Atlassian engineers. These focused more on frontend-specific challenges involving React, component design, and debugging. Overall, the process was thorough and collaborative, with a clear emphasis on both technical ability and practical problem-solving.