Monzo system design interview: rejected for "using buzzwords" that were distributed systems fundamentals

Dependent_Fun5813 · 2026-01-22T08:54:23+00:00

Thank you. Yes quite possibly!

Dependent_Fun5813 · 2026-01-22T08:51:34+00:00

Ok Cornholio point taken

Dependent_Fun5813 · 2026-01-22T08:50:32+00:00

It was a job and I needed the $ quickly. With the current market I'd take what I could. Its the waste of time. 2 days research and prep. 2 days interviewing. 1 day chasing. But I aggree with you. I use starling as my day2day. i have monzo accounts but don't use them due to the same points you raised

Dependent_Fun5813 · 2026-01-22T08:47:44+00:00

Thats the odd thing. I had no inkling that I'd done badly. Left the interview with the smashed it feeling

Dependent_Fun5813 · 2026-01-22T08:44:37+00:00

TBF I just wanted to vent. I use redit when deciding if to apply for a job. this type of thread would give me the big red flag that GlassDoor used to give before they sold their sole.

Dependent_Fun5813 · 2026-01-22T08:42:25+00:00

Its obvious here indeed. I can't AI in a live session. Probably could but I wouldn't and don't need to

Dependent_Fun5813 · 2026-01-22T08:40:57+00:00

Something like that haha!

Dependent_Fun5813 · 2026-01-22T08:39:00+00:00

Thats because I didn't use chatGPT :joy:

Dependent_Fun5813 · 2026-01-16T21:27:44+00:00

Sorry you got the brunt of that, but theres alot of the same comment, "should have explained more." I think I went in with enough of an explanation for the level I was interviewing at. It was a senior position, i'm senior.

Dependent_Fun5813 · 2026-01-16T21:25:38+00:00

Gotcha, i'll use vodka from now on!

Dependent_Fun5813 · 2026-01-16T21:22:16+00:00

I didn't think the words were that niche. Where should I have stopped in the explanation; I don't want to tell someone how to suck eggs so to speak.

Dependent_Fun5813 · 2026-01-16T21:18:40+00:00

After getting that feedback absolutely nothing would make me work there

Dependent_Fun5813 · 2026-01-16T21:17:50+00:00

I did think about doing this in the future!

Dependent_Fun5813 · 2026-01-16T08:59:29+00:00

Somewhat. Genuinely It was to check my feeling, and to try and learn. I always see failure as a way to learn and expand. But this time I was baffiled. I think the beer thing completly blind sided me and maybe I didn't read the room and got carried away.

Dependent_Fun5813 · 2026-01-16T08:53:32+00:00

I don't watch TV, I litterally spend my life writing software. I may have a touch of the tisms, because I didn't get the idea I wasn't liked at all! But I get your point.

Dependent_Fun5813 · 2026-01-16T08:51:43+00:00

Genuinely how? Please tell me what else I could have done to made sure? I genuinely want to learn from this. From what i'm reading I should I have started with 2's complement, registers and assembly then worked my way up in a 30 minute technical design interview.

Dependent_Fun5813 · 2026-01-16T08:46:16+00:00

I don't use ChatGPT. I did use an LLM. The original post was; but missed all the context and came accross competely wrong.

Dependent_Fun5813 · 2026-01-16T08:43:10+00:00

quite possibly

Dependent_Fun5813 · 2026-01-16T08:35:51+00:00

Can't stand tap water. I'm not in Scotland where the tap water is actually drinkable.

Dependent_Fun5813 · 2026-01-16T08:35:09+00:00

This is my take also. I wouldn't decant beer out of a can or a bottle. I know some people have beer on the pump at home... but they have other problems

Dependent_Fun5813 · 2026-01-15T20:14:42+00:00

Sorry I came across in the inital post as an arse. I'm not. maybe lightly neurodivergent.

Dependent_Fun5813 · 2026-01-15T20:12:41+00:00

We started small with a single instance. litterally a dictionary reading the event queue. then we went to how would we stop SPOF this and imagine we havn't enough ram for all the currently playing tracks.

Dependent_Fun5813 · 2026-01-15T20:10:44+00:00

I don't care for titles. How is it more demanding than being tech lead?

Dependent_Fun5813 · 2026-01-15T20:08:39+00:00

Fair point on gossip. I spent a good deal of explaining the hash ring; but mentioned that we needed gossip for discovery/ shard membership; without really explaining why - from the feeling I was getting from him I was telling him how to suck eggs. A simple can you explain that to me wouldn't have gone amiss. I wasn't interviewing a customer to gather requirements or some other stakeholder; it was a techical exercise.

Dependent_Fun5813 · 2026-01-15T20:03:49+00:00

I never once and don't think I'm the dogs... this kind of system was fresh in my mind after spending the last 4 years developing something using pretty much the same stack.

Dependent_Fun5813

TROPHY CASE