D.E Shaw

Role: SWE (Software Engineer)

College: Not Specified (4th Year of College)

Interview Date: Not Specified (Recruiter pinged in 4th year, process followed)

Interview Type: Full-Time

Result: Did Not Join (Had a PPO from Microsoft, cited work-life balance and work-from-office policy as reasons for not joining)

Difficulty: Hard (Coding Round questions), Deep knowledge required for CS fundamentals

Rounds: 5 rounds (Coding Round, Technical Interview 1, Technical Interview 2, Technical Interview 3, HR Interview)

Topics Asked: Data Structures and Algorithms (Manacher's Algorithm modification, Double Knapsack Problem (3D DP), Chess implementation, N-Queens Problem, Fenwick Tree - XOR of elements in range, Weighted Prefix Search), Operating System (deep diving), Networking (deep diving), Object-Oriented Programming (Inheritance, Encapsulation, Function Overloading, Overriding, Polymorphism, Access Modifiers), Logical Reasoning, Puzzles (Water Jug Puzzle), Projects, Behavioral questions.

Experience:

A recruiter reached out via LinkedIn during the candidate's 4th year of college.

The **Coding Round** was on HackerRank, 120 minutes, with 2 coding questions (Hard) and 20 MCQs on Core CS fundamentals (OS, DBMS, Networks, OOPs, Logical Reasoning). One coding question was a modification of Manacher's Algorithm, and the other was a Double Knapsack Problem (3D DP). The candidate solved one coding problem and all CS Core questions correctly.

**Interview Round-1 (Technical)** lasted 40 minutes. It included general questions like introduction, "Why D.E Shaw when you have other offers?" (the candidate had a PPO from Microsoft), questions from projects, and deep-diving questions on Operating System and Networking.

**Interview Round-2 (Technical)** lasted 1 hour 30 minutes. The interviewer asked about the candidate's favorite board game, and upon answering Chess, asked to implement Chess following all Object-Oriented Design principles. The candidate designed most classes in 30 minutes and then answered questions on OOP techniques used (Inheritance, Encapsulation, Function Overloading, Overriding, Polymorphism, Access Modifiers). Following this, the famous N-Queens Problem was given, with cross-questions on Time and Space Complexity, Backtracking, and Recursion.

**Interview Round-3 (Technical)** lasted 1 hour 15 minutes and was primarily a DSA round. It included 2 problems and a puzzle. The interviewer focused on optimization and time complexity. The puzzle was the Water Jug Puzzle. Problems included "Fenwick Tree - XOR of elements in the range" and "Weighted Prefix Search".

**Interview Round-4 (HR)** covered questions on college life, other offers and compensation, and job location.

The candidate ultimately did not join D.E. Shaw due to concerns about work-life balance and the work-from-office policy, preferring their existing Microsoft PPO which offered work-from-home.