Revolut Software Engineer interview: distributed systems and opaque system design

The process started smoothly with a recruiter screen and technical rounds rooted in practical distributed-systems patterns. I cleared several early stages, but I did not get through the system design interview. That round was difficult because I could not tell what the interviewer wanted me to emphasize or how quickly to move through the discussion.

The earlier coding and technical work was concrete. I worked through URL-shortener and ledger-style problems, along with questions about concurrency and data handling. In system design, though, the discussion and feedback often seemed to drift toward less important details. That used time I needed for the core architecture and trade-offs.

I did not receive an offer. The uncertainty lingered because I thought I had cleared the early gates, yet system design seemed to depend heavily on the interviewer's style. After I failed, communication appeared to stop and I was left waiting rather than receiving a quick, clear close. The process tested depth, but system design felt less transparent than the other stages.

Location: Dubai. Overall feedback: Neutral. Offer status: No offer.