Screening Interview
Questions: I was asked a tree-based problem related to determining the minimum cost required to remove all terminal nodes from the root.
Candidate's Approach
I successfully solved the problem but not optimally.
Interviewer's Feedback
No feedback provided.
Round 1 (15th November)
Questions: The question involved determining the rank of players based on the results of a series of games. There were đť‘› players and multiple matches between pairs of players.
Candidate's Approach
I struggled in this round and couldn’t arrive at the correct solution.
Interviewer's Feedback
The feedback was marked as “No Hire” or “Lean Hire.”
Round 2 (15th November)
Questions: This round was based on the line sweep algorithm with a follow-up involving binary search, similar to the Zero Array Transformation problem.
Candidate's Approach
I successfully coded the solution and answered the follow-up question.
Interviewer's Feedback
The feedback was marked as “Strong Hire.”
Round 3 (Googliness, 26th November)
Questions: Behavioral round questions were similar to what I had prepared for using Jeff H. Sipe's YouTube videos.
Candidate's Approach
I believed the round went well.
Interviewer's Feedback
The feedback was marked as “Hire.”
Round 4 (26th November)
Questions: The question revolved around dice games, where dice had equal sides but different values on each side. I needed to determine how many times Player 1 won. I proposed solutions with complexities of
- O(n^2)
- O(n log n)
- O(n)
Candidate's Approach
I coded the solutions and addressed the follow-up question within 30 minutes. This allowed the interviewer to ask a modified version of the question, for which I needed a hint. Afterward, I successfully devised the approach and dry-ran the solution.
Interviewer's Feedback
The feedback was marked as “Strong Hire.”
Post-Onsite Process
The next day, my recruiter informed me that while some rounds were strong, overall feedback placed me just above the borderline. I was moved to the team-matching phase before HC phase. A team-fit call was scheduled for 28th November but was postponed twice: first to 2nd December and then to 4th December. On 3rd December, my recruiter canceled the team-fit call altogether. On 4th December, I was officially informed that my application had been rejected. I was told I could reapply after one year.