American Express

Role: Engineer II

College: Not Specified

Interview Date: Not Specified

Interview Type: Full-Time

Result: Not Specified

Difficulty: Medium-Hard

Rounds: 3 rounds

Topics Asked: Java, Spring Boot, Kafka, GCP, Data Structures (Stack, Sliding Window), Algorithms, System Design, Project Discussion, Behavioral Questions, Logical Reasoning

Experience:

This candidate with 2 years of experience applied via referral for an Engineer II role. The interview process consisted of three rounds.

Round 1: Technical Round (Java + DSA + System Basics)
This round involved two interviewers and focused on in-depth questions on Java, Spring Boot, Kafka, and GCP, with an emphasis on real-world usage of frameworks and deployment practices. DSA questions included a Modified Celebrity Problem (using Stack) and the classic LeetCode problem "Fruit Into Baskets" (Sliding Window).

Round 2: System Design + Project Discussion
This round was a deep dive into the candidate's current and past projects, discussing design decisions, trade-offs, and scaling strategies. A detailed discussion on Payment Gateway Design was also conducted, covering aspects like retries, failure handling, idempotency, and third-party integrations. The interviewer was particularly interested in the rationale behind specific design choices.

Round 3: Hiring Manager Round (Behavioral + Tech)
This face-to-face round covered the candidate's overall experience, contributions, and tech stack. Some sequence-based logical reasoning questions (non-coding) were also asked. The final 20 minutes were dedicated to behavioral questions, such as handling disagreements in a team, meeting tight deadlines, seeking help, and learning from failures.