ServiceNow

Role: IC3 (Software Engineer)

College: Not Specified

Interview Date: April 24, 2025

Interview Type: Full-Time

Result: Received the offer

Difficulty: Not Specified (Coding and System Design)

Rounds: 7 rounds (due to position change, originally 4 expected)

Topics Asked: Coding, System Design (UI), Working Culture, Career, Past Experience, Projects, Managerial Questions

Experience:

This candidate's interview experience for an IC3 Software Engineer role at ServiceNow involved multiple rounds, exceeding the usual number due to a change in the position. Initially, ServiceNow typically has 2 coding, 1 system design, and 1 hiring manager round.

Round 1 - Coding: Not many specifics were provided, but it was a coding round.

Round 2 - Coding: This round involved two coding questions. The first was: "Let X denotes the minimum candies among all people after distribution of candies. Find the maximum X." This was solved using binary search over the range of possible valid answers, and the interviewer was satisfied. The second question was: "Given an array A, find the nearest smaller element G[i] for every element A[i] in the array such that the element has an index smaller than i. Elements for which no smaller element exist, consider the next smaller element as -1." The candidate initially proposed a brute-force approach and then improvised it using a stack.

Round 3 - System Design (UI): The task was to "Design a configurable/Reusable table component." The discussion focused on considerations for making it flexible, the contract's appearance, and handling complex cells within the table. The overall discussion was healthy and went well.

After these initial rounds, the candidate was informed that the position was canceled and they were mapped to a different open position, requiring additional rounds.

Round 4 - System Design: This round involved designing a configurable/reusable table component, with discussion around flexibility, contract, and handling complex cells.

Round 5 - Coding: The question was "Something similar to this but input won't have extra spaces." The candidate did not have to solve it entirely, focusing on discussing the approach, which was a friendly discussion.

Round 6 - Hiring Manager (US): This round involved general discussion about working culture, career, past experience, and projects.

Round 7 - Hiring Manager (India): This round also involved general discussion about working culture, career, past experience, and projects.

The candidate received an offer after months of job searching.