Round 1 (DSA Round)
Questions:
Candidate's Approach
Came up with an optimal solution within 10 minutes and completed it in the next 15 minutes. Initially ran the test case but couldn't find the mistake in the solution. After some confusion, discovered that I mistakenly wrote "i" instead of "j," which resolved the issue. The next 15 minutes involved a discussion about Sumologic.
Interviewer's Feedback
The interviewer was very friendly and supportive, showing a high level of engagement during the coding interview.
Round 2 (Problem Solving Round)
Questions:
Candidate's Approach
Completed the question within 15 minutes. Discussed various approaches to using multithreading, presenting around three options. The interviewer was interested in a better approach than those discussed.
Interviewer's Feedback
The interviewer was very friendly and helpful, and I really enjoyed this interview.
Round 3 (Hiring Manager Round)
Questions:
- Discussed past projects, scaling issues, and monitoring failures in projects.
- Tasked with writing code for insertion in a binary tree.
Candidate's Approach
Completed the binary tree insertion in 5 minutes. Then, I wrote code for two different approaches to handle a concurrent environment. The interviewer was quite happy with the solution.
Interviewer's Feedback
The interviewer was satisfied with my answers and the solutions provided.
Round 4 (Behavioral Round)
Questions:
- Discussed a project and then designed a system for a folder directory that could contain millions of files/folders.
Candidate's Approach
Initially struggled but eventually designed a system that I was very impressed with, and the interviewer appeared satisfied with my solution.
Interviewer's Feedback
The interviewer seemed satisfied with the final solution I provided.
Final Outcome:
- Received a rejection in 4 days despite feeling confident about the interview.
- Feedback from the recruiter indicated that the interviewer felt I "wasn't able to answer even simple questions," which was frustrating.
Reflection:
- Despite the rejection, I was happy with my solutions and plan to learn more approaches.