Disney+ Hotstar | SDE | Remote | Oct-2022 | Offer
Summary
As a 2022 tier 3 ECE graduate, I applied to Disney+ Hotstar without much expectation and, after successfully clearing an Online Assessment, two Data Structures & Algorithms rounds, and a managerial discussion, I received an offer for an SDE role.
Full Experience
I found an opening for an SDE role at Disney+ Hotstar on LinkedIn and applied without a referral, even with an outdated resume, as I had low expectations. I'm a B.Tech ECE 2022 graduate from a tier 3 college and hadn't even received an OA from any FAANG company despite referrals. About two months later, I received a call informing me that I had been shortlisted. After completing an Online Assessment, I was invited for interviews within 2-3 days. The recruiter was unable to provide much time for preparation, so I scheduled the interviews for the very next day. The process consisted of three rounds: two DSA rounds (1 hour each, both on the same day) and a managerial round (45 minutes, held 2-3 days after the DSA rounds).
Round 1 (DSA)
This was a great round with a very friendly interviewer who encouraged me to talk throughout. We discussed three questions:
- Minimum Jumps in Matrix: Given a starting point in a matrix, I had to find the minimum number of jumps required to reach an end point, being able to take 'k' jumps at a time in all four directions. I explained my approach using BFS, and the interviewer went quite deep into how BFS ensures the shortest path. We spent a lot of time discussing this, so I didn't get to code.
- Binary Tree Maximum Path Sum: This was a standard LeetCode problem. Again, we focused on discussion and reasoning rather than coding.
- Divisibility in Stream of Integers: Given a stream of integers, I needed to determine if the number formed so far was divisible by 'x'. For example, if the current number was 123 and the next digit received was 4, the new number became 1234, and I had to check if 1234 was divisible by 'x'. The interviewer mentioned I had already done well on the previous questions and this one was just for formality. I struggled a bit as I'm not strong in math, but I solved it using modular arithmetic and coded this particular problem.
Round 2 (DSA)
Both questions in this round were disguised as story problems, but they ultimately boiled down to finding the largest component in a given graph. I coded both solutions using DFS. This was another great round.
Round 3 (Managerial)
This round was solely focused on project discussions. The interviewer was very friendly. He presented hypothetical situations related to my projects and asked how I would handle them. He also delved deep into my decisions, asking why I chose specific approaches or technologies for my projects.
Verdict
I received a call about the offer approximately two weeks after the final round.
Interview Questions (4)
Given a starting point in a matrix, find the minimum number of jumps required to reach an end point if you can take k jumps at a time (can move in all 4 directions). I explained my approach using BFS, and the interviewer went a bit deep into how BFS ensures a shortest path. We discussed this extensively, so I didn't get to code it.
Given a stream of Integers, find if the number formed till now is divisible by x. For example, if we had 123 till now, received 4, the number is now 1234. Is 1234 divisible by x? The interviewer mentioned I had already done well on previous questions and this one was just for the sake of it. I struggled a bit but solved it using modular arithmetic and coded this one.
Both questions in this round were made-up story kind of questions that boiled down to finding the largest component in the given graph. I coded both using DFS.