Groww | SDE 2

I secured an interview opportunity at Groww for an SDE 2 position after receiving a referral through LinkedIn, which was followed by an HR call. The entire interview process was structured with elimination rounds.

Round 1: Problem Solving
This round involved two coding questions. The first was a medium-difficulty LeetCode problem based on Linked Lists, for which I was able to provide a fully functional and correct solution. The second question was a hard problem involving Trees, specifically requiring the use of Lowest Common Ancestor (LCA). I thoroughly discussed my approach and outlined how to reach an optimal solution, but unfortunately, I couldn't complete the coding implementation due to time constraints.

Round 2: Machine Coding
For this round, I was tasked with building an expense-sharing application, similar in functionality to Splitwise. I successfully created all the necessary class DTOs (Data Transfer Objects) and implemented several important APIs. A crucial aspect of this round was continuous discussion and communication while coding, ensuring the interviewer was aware of my architectural choices—whether it was MVC or another pattern—and my progress.

Round 3: System Design
The system design round was tailored to my resume, focusing on the High-Level Design (HLD) of one of my past projects. I used an online editor, like draw.io, to illustrate and explain everything in detail, and the interviewer appeared satisfied with my explanations. However, I was rejected after this round because I failed to adequately explain the functionality of a specific, random queue system the interviewer inquired about. Other than that particular question, I felt the round went quite well.