Summary
Had a structured interview process with WeWork for the SDE 2 role. Focused on clarity of thought, edge cases, and complexity analysis. Received feedback that I wasn't selected for further rounds.
Full Experience
## Background :
- Experience: 3+ years
- Current Role: Software Engineer 2 @ Unicorn Startup
- Current CTC: ₹18 LPA (Fixed) + 10% Annual Bonus
- Recruitment Source: Contacted by HR through Naukri
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## Round 1 – DSA Round (1 hour)
- Two questions, medium to high difficulty:
- One coding problem — had to implement the full solution.
- One approach-based problem — required detailed explanation of logic and optimization without coding.
Focused on clarity of thought, edge cases, and complexity analysis.
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## Round 2 – LLD + DSA (1 hour)
- LLD Question: Design a Food Ordering System
- Restaurants can register, add menus, and users can search and order food.
- Discussed class design, relationships, and flows (search → order → payment).
- DSA Question: Find the Longest Valid Parentheses Substring
- Asked to explain the approach, no coding required.
- Focused on stack-based and DP techniques for solution efficiency.
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## Round 3 – HLD Round
- Task: Design a Stock Broker Platform
- Functionalities: Search stocks, show real-time stock updates, and place orders.
- Discussed system components, APIs, and scalability aspects.
I later realized I focused too heavily on the order flow, while search and real-time updates deserved equal attention.
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## Outcome
Got the feedback that I wasn’t selected for further rounds.
Overall, it was a well-structured and balanced process emphasizing clarity in design and reasoning depth over mere implementation.
Interview Questions (3)
Restaurants can register, add menus, and users can search and order food. Discussed class design, relationships, and flows (search → order → payment).
Asked to explain the approach, no coding required. Focused on stack-based and DP techniques for solution efficiency.
Functionalities: Search stocks, show real-time stock updates, and place orders. Discussed system components, APIs, and scalability aspects.
Summary
I interviewed for an SDE2 role at WeWork Bangalore, completing three rounds that included data structures, system design, and a variation of LRU Cache with TTL. Unfortunately, I was rejected.
Full Experience
I recently interviewed for the SDE2 position at WeWork Bangalore, which consisted of three challenging rounds.
Round 1: This round focused on a scenario-based problem involving HashMap and Priority Queue. I was asked to design a system where, given routes for a particular location, I needed to identify and print the top 5 rated routes, ensuring they were properly sorted.
Round 2: The second round delved into a classic design pattern: LRU Cache, but with an added twist – Time To Live (TTL) functionality. I had to implement an LRU cache that not only handles recency but also evicts entries based on an expiration time.
Round 3: The final round was a High-Level Design (HLD) discussion where I was tasked with designing a Stock Application. This involved outlining the architecture, key components, and data flow for a system managing stock market interactions.
Ultimately, after completing all three rounds, I received a rejection.
Interview Questions (3)
Design a system where, given routes for a particular location, I needed to identify and print the top 5 rated routes, ensuring they were properly sorted. This problem requires efficient storage and retrieval, likely involving a HashMap to group routes by location and a Priority Queue (min-heap) to keep track of the top 5 routes based on their ratings.
Implement an LRU (Least Recently Used) cache data structure that also incorporates a Time To Live (TTL) mechanism. This means that in addition to evicting the least recently used item when the cache is full, items should also expire and be removed after a certain time duration, even if they are recently used. The solution needs to manage both recency and expiration efficiently.
Design the high-level architecture for a comprehensive stock application. This system would typically involve functionalities such as real-time stock quotes, user portfolio management, order placement (buy/sell), user authentication, and data persistence. The design discussion would cover scalability, reliability, data consistency, and component interactions.