Media.net

Role: SDE 1 (6-months internship + FTE)

College: Not Specified (On-Campus Recruitment)

Interview Date: Mid-August (2023, published Jan 2024)

Interview Type: On-Campus, Internship + Full-Time

Result: Selected

Difficulty: Hard

Rounds: 5 rounds (1 Online Assessment + 4 Personal Interviews)

Topics Asked: Data Structures, Algorithms (2-pointers, variation of LRU Cache), Operating System, DBMS, Computer Networks, System Design, Projects, HR.

Experience:

Media.net visited campus in mid-August for SDE roles (6-month internship + FTE). The process had 5 eliminatory rounds.

Round 1: Online Assessment (90 mins)

The assessment had 3 LeetCode hard-level questions. The candidate solved 2 fully and one partially, and was shortlisted along with 9 others.

Round 2: First Interview (CS Fundamentals & DSA)

The interviewer started with introductions, then 10-15 minutes of CS fundamental questions on OS, DBMS, and Computer Networks (relatively easy).

• Coding Question: A DSA question rated 1700-1800 on Codeforces. Required an O(n*log(n)) solution, which took 45 minutes and a couple of hints. The question was based on 2-pointers. The candidate coded it within 5 minutes.

2 out of 10 candidates were shortlisted for the next round.

Round 3: Second Interview (CS Fundamentals & DSA)

Similar format to Round 1: 10-15 minutes of CS fundamentals, then a DSA question.

• Coding Question: Looked complicated at first glance. The candidate took time to understand and dry-run test cases. The interviewer was vague about constraints.

Round 4: Third Interview (System Design)

This round was primarily system design.

• CS Fundamentals: Started with CS fundamental questions again.
• Projects: Discussion about the candidate's projects, including a 5-10 minute discussion on search functionality in one project.
• System Design: A variation of the LRU Cache problem. It was a discussion-based round where the candidate suggested approaches based on requirements.

Round 5: Fourth Interview (HR Round)

This was an HR round with two university recruiters, lasting about 45 minutes.

• Questions: General and situation-based questions, similar to common HR interview questions.

The candidate was selected for the role after this round.