Round 1: Phone Screen
Questions:
- Post order iterator
- Peak element [Leetcode 162] but we need min instead of max.
- Merge k sorted lists [heap approach used]
Candidate's Approach
No approach provided.
Interviewer's Feedback
No feedback provided.
Round 2: Virtual Onsite
Questions:
a. Coding Round 1 (two questions asked out of below three):
- Vertical traversal binary tree [medium]
- Leetcode 71
- Leetcode 863
b. Coding Round 2:
- One of the two questions in this experience was asked
- Valid number [medium version without 'e' char in input]
c. Behavioral Round:
- Pivot the project, unexpected blockers how did you resolve, conflict resolution, feedback from manager how did you improve, ambiguity driving.
d. System Design Round:
- Direct question from Hello Interview that is tagged as medium difficulty.
Candidate's Approach
No approach provided.
Interviewer's Feedback
No feedback provided.
Advice for Preparation
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Questions are directly from tagged but you need to be perfect in simple and neat coding, dry running, proactively come up with test cases. Always talk about the worst solution but code optimal; sometimes the worst solution could be sorting the list and returning list[k-1] for the kth largest element, but talk this to the interviewer so that they know that you are aware of different solutions but don't waste more than a couple of minutes on non-optimal solutions. Two questions need to be solved in 35-40 minutes. The last 5 minutes go for Q&A section.
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Don't neglect behavioral and prepare in STAR format and cut the unnecessary part. Prepare for follow-ups in some questions. This is an important round, and take mocks if possible.
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System design: This is mostly about time management and proactively leading the discussion. I would say 10 minutes for functional, non-functional, schema, and API, and 25 minutes for HLD and deep dives. You have only a maximum of 35 minutes to cover and debate any follow-ups. Do more mocks to better control the time. HelloInterview is a great site, but you have to write additional notes as HelloInterview is to the point/crisp, and for any follow-ups, you need to prepare additional content notes.
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A bit of luck matters, so don't take the result personally. Huge thanks to folks on this platform for helping/contributing always.
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Use ChatGPT as your partner during prep. For every system design, I used prompts like "for this question give func, non-func, back of envelope, HLD, and deep dives." And for any part, I used to re-ask ChatGPT for further clarifications. Even for behavioral, use ChatGPT for additional content in STAR format. This greatly helped.
Good luck folks. We got this!!