Just got out of a LinkedIn L5 loop. Got an offer, turned it down for complicated reasons, but the process itself was interesting enough to write up.
Recruiter screen was 30 min, mostly resume walk and 'why LinkedIn.' She was genuine, not reading a script. That was a good sign.
Technical phone screen: medium graph problem. I got it but stumbled on the optimization step. Still moved forward, so they're not failing on first stumble.
Onsite (virtual, 5 rounds over two days): Round 1: medium DP. Wasn't tricky but they wanted working code + big-O analysis. Round 2: system design. Design a notification delivery system at scale. Lots of back and forth on trade-offs between fan-out and pull models. This was the best round; interviewer was sharp. Round 3: behavioral. Two stories, serious STAR structure. They kept asking 'what would you have done differently.' Not vibes-based, they were calibrating judgment. Round 4: behavioral again, different interviewer. Asked about a time I influenced without authority. Classic L5 question. Round 5: 'bar raiser' equivalent, another coding round. BFS variant.
Total: 3 weeks from first contact to offer. Comp was $225k base + $120k RSU/yr for L5 in SF. Solid but below comparable FAANG for that level.
One thing nobody tells you: the LinkedIn-specific product questions are not optional. Have an actual opinion on the platform ready.