Ciena Software Engineer interview experience

There were two in-depth technical rounds: the first was live C coding where I had to write code with all test cases running against it, and the second was a broader system-design-style discussion with senior leaders.

That later round was also where personality and day-to-day collaboration came up alongside the technical conversation, since I was speaking with a mix of senior management and a director. The whole experience stayed organized, and even though it didn’t end in an offer for me, it felt like I got a real look at how they evaluate engineering thinking rather than just checking