Role: Software Engineer
College: Not Specified
Interview Date: 2025-07-22
Interview Type: Full-Time
Result: Rejected
Difficulty: Medium to Hard
Rounds: 5 rounds
Topics Asked: HR Discussion, Role Expectations, Career Goals, Company Culture, Data Structures, Algorithms (Valid Parentheses String, Maximum Product of Triplet, Max Stock Profit), Professional Background, Current Projects, Challenges
Experience:
The candidate applied directly through LinkedIn without a referral and received a response within a week.
- Round 1: HR Discussion (15 minutes) - A short introductory call to understand interest in the role, alignment with company expectations, and a quick overview of the candidate's background. It was straightforward and conversational.
- Round 2: DSA Coding Round 1 (1 hour) - Focused on Data Structures and Algorithms. The problem was: Given a string consisting of '(', ')', and '*', determine if it's a valid string, where '*' can represent '(', ')', or an empty string. The candidate successfully implemented the solution.
- Round 3: DSA Coding Round 2 (1 hour, 2 questions) - This round had two back-to-back DSA questions.
- Question 1: Given an array of positive, negative integers, and zero, find the maximum product of any triplet. The candidate discussed edge cases and wrote the solution.
- Question 2: Given an array representing stock prices by day, calculate the maximum profit that can be achieved with only one stock held at a time. The candidate initially implemented a brute-force solution but optimized it to a linear-time solution with hints.
- Round 4: Hiring Manager Discussion (30 minutes) - A non-technical round focused on understanding the candidate's professional background, current project, and challenges faced in recent work. Discussions also included career goals, role expectations, and company culture.
- Round 5: DSA Coding Round 3 (1 hour) - Another DSA-focused round. The specific question is not detailed, but the candidate mentioned needing hints and not finishing, which helped highlight areas for improvement.
The candidate received a rejection but considered the process a valuable learning experience, emphasizing the importance of practicing DSA with time constraints and learning from every interaction.