Arista Software engineer interview| Off campus
- Posted
- 19 Jan 2026
Summary
I recently gave an Arista SDE 1 off-campus interview. The interview included debugging, linked list manipulation, system internals, and a BST problem. I got stuck on one question and took hints, and also faced connectivity issues, so I don't think I will proceed to the next round.
How it went
I recently gave Arista SDE 1 interview, it was an off campus opportunity.
College : IIT (2nd Gen), 4th year
Prev experience : intern at 2 companies
Questions:
It was a debugging question in C. The question was related to pointers, struct data type , forcing string to int then again to char sth sth. It took me some hints to solve.
DSA1 : given a circular linked list, i have to output two lists sth like
1-2-3-4-5-6 is given (circular), output will be two normal linked lists(1-3-5, 2-4-6), i had to do it inplace not making new lists, also had to write whole code from start to end.
also, got segmentation fault once , asked to explain the error, why, segmentation fault, when it happens and why
asked difference between binary tree and binary search tree
DSA2: Given a BST, give the kth smallest value.
Did all the questions, in first one i got stucked a bit and took one hints.
also wasted time on internet connectivity issue, dont think will get R2
Questions asked (5)
- 01
C Debugging: Pointers, Structs, Type Casting
Other
A debugging question in C involving pointers,
structdata types, and type casting (forcing string to int then again to char). - 02
Split Circular Linked List into Two Alternating Halves (Inplace)
Data Structures & Algorithms
Given a circular linked list (e.g., 1-2-3-4-5-6), split it inplace into two normal linked lists containing alternating nodes (e.g., list 1: 1-3-5, list 2: 2-4-6). The solution must be inplace, without creating new lists, and require writing the full code.
- 03
Explain Segmentation Fault
Other
Explain what a segmentation fault is, why it happens, and when it typically occurs.
- 04
Difference Between Binary Tree and Binary Search Tree
Data Structures & Algorithms · Easy
Explain the differences between a binary tree and a binary search tree.
- 05
Kth Smallest Element in a BST
Data Structures & Algorithms · Medium
Given a Binary Search Tree (BST), find the kth smallest element.