[From here on I will use "I" for mc rather "he". Thank you]
When he entered the room The air in the interview room felt heavier than outside. A faint scent of coffee and printer ink lingered.
At the far end of the table sat three interviewers — two men and a woman — each with a file open before them.
Female Interviewer her Hair dark brown, shoulder-length, neatly tied back in a low bun. Her Eyes, Sharp hazel, observant, with a hint of warmth.
She was wearing navy blue blazer over a cream blouse; tailored black trousers.
She looked Calm and professional, and Energetic.
Male Interviewer who was setting on her right side
His hair was short, jet-black, slightly receding at the temples. dark brown eyes, intense, constantly scanning notes or the candidate's responses. In light grey shirt, sleeves rolled up to elbows; dark tie slightly loosened. He was smiling Looking toward me making the environment some ease.
The Man in left side with Sandy blonde hair, neatly combed to the side. Blue eyes, approachable but with a practical, assessing look.Wearing white dress shirt, dark green tie, navy trousers; blazer on chair.
I approach the seat in the middle and said "good morning Ma'am, good morning sir".
Female interviewer said "Good morning, please have a seat," she said with a reassuring smile, though her eyes remained sharp.
Thus the interview start
"So, Why did you leave your last job?" asked right side male interviewer.
I First listen carefully showing interest then there was a pause of 3-4 second then I replied"There was a change in company direction and several projects, including mine, were discontinued. It was a difficult period for the team, but I took it as an opportunity to upskill and focus on strengthening my skills in React and cloud integration. I'm now ready to bring that knowledge to a team where I can contribute more meaningfully."
Instead of giving answer on "fired for performance" I answered positively.
"There was a mismatch between project expectations and my role at the time — I've learned from it by improving how I communicate progress and manage time."
"What did you learn from that experience?"he asked again.
"It taught me the importance of clear communication and understanding project priorities from both the technical and business sides. I now make sure to align my work with company goals early and get feedback regularly."I answered.
" How do you ensure performance optimization in web apps?"he asked.
"On the frontend, I use lazy loading, memoization and code splitting. On the backend, I use caching , indexing in databases, and async request handling."
"Describe a time when you handled a production issue."
"Once, a backend service started throwing 500 errors during peak hours. I quickly analyzed logs, identified a memory leak in a loop, patched it, and set up monitoring with PM2 and CloudWatch to avoid recurrence."
"What's the biggest challenge you faced in mobile development?" Asked female interviewer.
"Managing app performance on low-end devices — I optimized by reducing image sizes, and implementing background tasks efficiently."I answered.
"How do you handle different device screen sizes?"asked man who was right side of female interviewer.
"I use responsive design utilities like Flexbox in React Native and test across devices using Android Studio Emulator and BrowserStack."I answered.
"Describe your ETL pipeline experience."
"I built data pipelines using Airflow and Python scripts that extract data from APIs, transform it with Pandas/Spark, and load it into Redshift. I also optimized queries to reduce load time by 40%."
"How do you handle large datasets efficiently?"
"I use distributed frameworks like Spark and partition data intelligently. I also store intermediate results in Parquet format to speed up future processing."
"Tell me about a time you disagreed with a manager or team member."
"I disagreed with the tech stack choice for a new feature. I presented performance data and proposed an alternative. We ended up doing a quick POC to test both options — and the team appreciated the data-driven approach."
"What motivates you now after your last experience?"
"I'm motivated by working on products that have a real user impact and being part of a team that values continuous improvement and open communication."
"Where do you see yourself in 2–3 years?"asked female interviewer.
"I see myself leading a small technical team, mentoring junior developers, and designing scalable solutions for end-to-end systems."
The woman nodded slightly, jotting something down. The man on the left raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
female interviewer said,"Thank you for your time, Mr James, get back to you soon," she said, her tone courteous but unreadable.
I stood, nodded, and walked out, unsure if he'd impressed them or simply survived.
After my interview , the girl with blonde hair and formal dress in blue was called.
"Go, don't be nervous and chill " Said Sailey.
I stepped out of the office building, the tension from the interview still coiling in my chest. The crisp autumn air did little to soothe the fluttering hope—and anxiety—that had been with me for the past hour. A few steps down the street, a small coffee shop caught my eye, its warm amber light spilling onto the sidewalk like an invitation.
Inside, the aroma of freshly ground coffee beans wrapped around me, comforting and grounding. I approached the counter and ordered a cappuccino, watching as the barista expertly frothed the milk, creating a soft, velvety cloud. When it arrived, I cradled the cup in my hands, feeling the heat seep into my fingers. The first sip was a gentle balm—the rich, slightly bitter espresso cutting through the creamy sweetness of the milk, a hint of chocolate lingering on my tongue. For a moment, I let myself forget the interview, letting the quiet hum of the café and the comforting warmth of the coffee anchor me in the present.
Each subsequent sip felt like a reward, a small celebration of surviving the ordeal, and as I stared out the window at the city moving on without me, I allowed myself a quiet hope that maybe—just maybe—this day would end well.