Today, everything was different.

Mika was staring at the whiteboard that was just in front of him. The very same whiteboard he had seen so many times as a Developer was now the sole reason for his suffering.

The white and spacious meeting room, which could easily accommodate 20 people, was nothing unusual, but being one of the two people inside that room was overwhelming.

The lights inside the room were too bright.

All of this only highlighted Mika’s feeling of being in the spotlight. Almost like he was being interrogated by the other party.

You can do it. It’s the last interview, and you’re done, he mumbled to himself. He was tired, and his head felt like it was spinning.

Job interviews for a Software Engineer role at the big tech companies are no joke, and he knew perfectly about this as he spent the last several months preparing for them in addition to doing his full-time work.  

He bought top-rated courses from tech gurus that he was following online, and was reading like crazy all of the materials that he could find about interviews at top tech companies.

Cautious that it wasn’t enough, he even subscribed to an online course where he could practice his algorithms and data structures knowledge. Mika did all of this to make sure he was ready when he would get a call from a recruiter. 

And now he was here, having his final round of interviews with his dream company - Mnx. He admired them for innovation and their high-quality products to the point where all his laptops were produced by Mnx, same for the accessories.

Truth to be told, he never thought that this day would come. He was a self-taught developer, a career changer, and he still remembered all of the struggles he went through to land his first coding job.

It was tough, and he made a lot of sacrifices to get to where he is now. I’m not going to give up, I can do it, he repeated in his head several times. He took a deep breath and was just about to continue when he heard a question coming from the other side of the room.

“Are you okay?” 

“Yes, I’m fine,” Mika answered while turning his head to the interviewer. 

“You sure? It must have been a long day for you. How about taking a 10-minute break?” the person continued, their voice low and soft.

Compared to Mika’s strong German accent, the other person’s English was so fine that, if not for his name and nationality, it would have been hard to tell he was not a native English speaker.

“No, really. Everything is fine.” 

Is it a part of some test? What should I do? Various thoughts were running through Mika’s head. He read about those situations on online forums where people were sharing their experiences interviewing at big tech companies.  

Some of them were saying that you should always be suspicious and never take things for granted until you actually land a job offer. Others mentioned situations where interviewers seemed to be polite and reasonable people, only to find out later that they had been checking candidates' behavior by asking them those types of questions and using it as an excuse to not proceed further with the interview process. Of course, there were also stories with a happy ending, but it’s always hard to predict the final outcome.

“You don’t have to worry about taking a break. I won’t reject you because of that,” the interviewer replied with a reassuring tone, almost like he could hear what was going on in Mika's head right now.

“Actually...” Mika hesitated for a second, tapping the marker on the whiteboard, but then decided to continue, “...actually I am a little bit tired, and I feel like my brain is about to explode. If that’s okay with you, I would like to take a short break.” 

“Would you like to go upstairs and see a terrace? The view is beautiful. And it is sunny today. I think you’ll like it there more than here,” he added with a friendly smile on his face. 

Mika felt like this was exactly what he needed after spending several hours in the building, going through one interview after another with only small breaks in between.

Can I trust him? Can Mika believe him when he said his decision wouldn’t affect the outcome of this interview?

He looked at the man sitting across the room behind the glass table. He was leaning back in the chair with his hands resting on the armrests and seemed rather calm compared to Mika, whose emotions were visible all over his face. The gentle grin didn’t disappear from the man’s face.

Aleksandr Nikolaevich Modolanov.  

Mika did a little bit of research before coming here and was able to gather some information about Aleksandr. The rest he found out from him during the introduction part.

Aleksandr joined the company 5 years ago and was currently working as a Principal Software Engineer. He got promoted a few times and now acted as a technical lead, leading some of the most important projects. He achieved a lot despite his young age.

Before, he worked at some of Russia's largest and most important tech companies, where his skills were highly praised. Mika was able to find some articles about him, and if what they wrote was true, it looks like Aleksandr was some sort of a genius. Coding since he was a kid. Being good with math helped him win several prestigious competitions. Seems almost like he was a national treasure.  

It’s not clear why he decided to leave Russia, relocate to another country, and join this company, but Mika decided that it was not the right time to dig into this topic.

What was more important was the fact that this genius was now interviewing him. Should he feel intimidated? Probably yes, and to some extent, he was.

He never had problems interacting with other people as he was open and communicative, but the situation he is in right now is completely different. Job interviews were stressful, and the pressure was even bigger because he was interviewing with a company he would love to work for. 

Mika had to put his dilemma aside – the unexpected scrape of the chair and the sight of Aleksandr rising from it made his heart skip a beat.

Why is he getting up? Did I make a mistake in my code? Mika spun back to the whiteboard, quickly scanning the solution he wrote for any potential mistakes. But he knew too well that those few seconds wouldn’t be enough. Even with a clear head, he would need more time to go through it. If there were errors, it was too late to catch them now.

Shit, shit, shit!

Aleksandr’s footsteps echoed in the air, and soon he was standing next to him. Mika’s hands were sweating. No, not only his hands. His entire body was sweating because of the unbearable heat. Chest tight, his heart was pounding furiously. He was at the mercy of his interviewer.

Please let it be fast, was the only thing that came to Mika’s mind. If he was gonna get rejected, it was better to get straight to the point. 

A few moments of silence felt like an eternity - enough time to come to terms with one's fate.

Aleksandr’s calm voice broke the stillness. “Relax, I’m just going to put this marker down.” And when he did so, he asked,” Ready to go to the terrace?”

Mika was caught off guard. Aleksandr had actually followed through on his words. He didn’t point out any mistakes or reject Mika outright. At this point, it seemed best to take up his offer and see that terrace. “That’s a good idea. Let’s do this,” Mika replied politely while trying to smile back.

“I’m happy to hear that. Please, come this way,” Aleksandr added, opening a door. Mika followed him as they were going through a corridor.