Application Process and Screening
Questions: I might have applied through PayPal portal (Not remember exactly). I received a recruiter call and had a discussion. She sent an OA, which I completed successfully. I think there were 3 questions and all were in the range of Easy to Medium.
Round 1
Type: DSA Round
Questions:
- Brief introduction from both sides.
- 2-3 SQL questions.
- Questions around basic problem-solving skills and SOLID principles.
Verdict: Lean hire
Candidate's Approach
No approach provided.
Interviewer's Feedback
No feedback provided.
Round 2
Type: Design (HLD) Round
Questions:
- Introduction from both sides.
- Questions around design patterns and their usage, specifically regarding Async processing and notifying the client.
Verdict: Strong hire
Candidate's Approach
No approach provided.
Interviewer's Feedback
No feedback provided.
Round 3
Type: BR Round (Design-HLD + DSA)
Questions:
- DSA question related to graph: Find the diameter of the given graph.
- Design question involving front-end UI where the cart does not show up immediately after adding an item.
Verdict: Lean hire
Candidate's Approach
- For the graph question, the candidate wrote a brute force code to find the distance from one node to every other node. It passed the given 3 tests but failed hidden ones. After spending some time, the candidate asked to move ahead.
- For the design question, the candidate suggested using Async processing to ensure that the cart updates immediately when an item is added. They also mentioned using caching and a master-slave architecture to improve read speeds from the database.
Interviewer's Feedback
No feedback provided.
Round 4
Type: Managerial Round
Questions:
- Detailed introduction.
- Questions around handling different situations in a developer's day-to-day life, using the STAR pattern to answer.
- Discussion about morals and personal backgrounds.
Verdict: Strong hire
Candidate's Approach
No approach provided.
Interviewer's Feedback
No feedback provided.
Final Note: The candidate was not expecting to move forward after round 3 due to not passing all tests in the graph question but ultimately received an offer.
Compensation details: PayPal Compensation Discussion