PayPal Software Engineer interview experience

After that, I went into two rounds focused on data structures and algorithms, with LeetCode-style medium to hard problems.

The next step was a design round where I had to design a Splitwise-style application, and then I moved into a managerial discussion with the hiring manager. Those later rounds shifted the focus away from just solving problems and toward explaining tradeoffs and how I’d think about building a real system.

I ended up not getting an offer, but the progression made sense as I moved from core coding to application-level design and then to role fit. The overall difficulty