Interview Experience JP Morgan | SDE2

Summary

I recently interviewed for an SDE2 role at JPMC. The process included an online assessment, coding and code review, system design, and managerial rounds. I was ultimately selected for the role.

How it went

Background

Education: B.Tech in Computer Science from a Tier-3 college

Experience: ~3.5 years

Current Role: SDE-2 at Bank

Online Assessment

Platform: HackerRank

The assessment had 2 DSA questions. Both were standard problem-solving questions and I managed to solve them within the given time.

Interestingly, the interview call came almost 1 month after completing the assessment, which was quite unexpected.

Interview Process

Round 1: Coding + Code Review (1 hour)

Part 1 – Code Review

I was given a pull request and asked to review the code as if I were reviewing a teammate’s PR.

The discussion mainly revolved around:

Spring Boot fundamentals
Coding best practices
Identifying potential improvements in the implementation

Part 2 – DSA

The coding question was based on arrays involving a circular traversal concept.

Round 2: System Design (HLD) – 1 hour

The task was to design a high-level architecture for a Rate Limiter.

Topics discussed included:

Different design approaches
Algorithms which best suits
Trade-offs between solutions
Scalability considerations
Handling failures and edge cases

There were a few moments where the interviewer and I had different opinions on certain design decisions. I tried to justify my approach with clear reasoning and examples.

Some of my points were accepted while others were challenged, which made it a very engaging and deep technical discussion.

Looking back, I feel there were a few design aspects where I could have improved my approach.

Round 3: Managerial / Behavioral – 45 mins

This round focused more on behavioral and communication aspects.

Some areas covered:

Communication and collaboration
Leadership mindset
Real project experiences

A few example topics discussed:

Handling difficult challenges at work
Resolving conflicts within a team
Making decisions under tight deadlines

I answered most questions using real examples from my past projects and work experience.

Outcome

Status: Selected ✅

Overall, it was a great learning experience and a well-structured interview process.

Questions asked (1)

01
Design a High-Level Rate Limiter
System Design · Hard
The task was to design a high-level architecture for a Rate Limiter. Topics discussed included different design approaches, algorithms which best suit, trade-offs between solutions, scalability considerations, and handling failures and edge cases.

How they prepared

For preparation, I focused on DSA practice, system design fundamentals, and reviewing common interview questions through interview preparation sheets.