AirtelXLabs | SDE2 | Gurgaon | MAy 2022 [Reject]

Round 1: Data Structures & Algorithms

This round was focused on DS/Algo. I found the interviewer to be quite nice, and the round went well, leading to positive feedback and an immediate scheduling of Round 2 on the same day. I was asked to solve problems such as:

• Mirror of a Binary Tree
• Finding the minimum cost to traverse all edges in a graph.

Additionally, there were conceptual questions on topics like ACID properties, Multithreading, and Java OOPS.

Round 2: System Design & Core Concepts (A Horrible Experience)

Unfortunately, the second round was a very challenging experience. The interviewer started about 10 minutes late. I was presented with a string matching question, but the interviewer seemed unwilling to engage with or understand my solution, instead asking peculiar questions, such as challenging my assumption that int arrays in Java are default-initialized to zero. A significant part of this round involved extensive questioning on Multithreading and Microservices. Even after I stated my limited practical experience with multithreading, the interviewer emphasized its importance to their work and continued to assess me heavily on it. I was also given a High-Level Design (HLD) question centered around Kafka.

Throughout the interview, the interviewer frequently took personal calls and stepped away, which was quite disruptive. This was particularly frustrating during the System Design discussion, as I wanted to clarify certain doubts, but the interviewer would disappear after posing a question. To add to the difficulty, the interviewer predominantly spoke in Hindi during the entire round.