Round 1: Technical Screening
Questions: Problem: Number of Provinces
Candidate's Approach
- Explained approach using DFS and DSU.
- Implemented the solution using DFS.
- Discussed time and space complexity of both DFS and DSU approaches.
Interviewer's Feedback
No feedback provided.
Round 2: Coding (DSA)
Questions: Problem: Next Greater Element III
Candidate's Approach
- Started with a brute-force solution using recursion.
- Discussed and implemented the optimal solution afterward.
Interviewer's Feedback
No feedback provided.
Round 3: System Design & Domain Knowledge
Questions: Design a Review System.
Candidate's Approach
- Clarified functional and non-functional requirements.
- Proceeded with the design based on the discussion of the current project.
Interviewer's Feedback
The interviewer didn’t seem very satisfied, possibly rating the candidate as Hire/No-Hire.
Round 4: Coding (DSA)
Questions: Problem: Search Suggestions System
Candidate's Approach
- Proposed two approaches: Sorting + Binary Search and Trie.
- Implemented the Trie solution and discussed edge cases.
Interviewer's Feedback
No feedback provided.
Round 5: Values
Questions: Behavioral questions (exact questions not remembered).
Candidate's Approach
Discussed projects worked on and answered questions about the current project.
Interviewer's Feedback
No feedback provided.
Final Thoughts: The last four rounds were held over two consecutive days. Overall, I had a positive experience and felt confident that I would receive a Strong Hire for the role. However, the result came back as No-Hire, and there was no feedback provided as to what went wrong.
I did notice that the foreign interviewers (mostly from China) were extremely helpful throughout the process, which made the interviews much smoother.
Preparation Strategy: I focused on solving DoorDash-tagged questions on LeetCode and also went through some interview experiences to get an idea of the types of questions asked.