Interview at LYBL for SDE2 role [2023]
Summary
I underwent an interview process for an SDE2 role at LYBL, which included an initial assessment, two data structures and algorithms rounds, and a hiring manager discussion. Unfortunately, I was rejected, with feedback citing my resume and the clarity of my design explanation.
Full Experience
I received a call from a consultancy regarding an SDE2 role opening at LYBL. The overall experience was quite insightful. The process started with an initial online assessment.
Online Assessment
This assessment comprised two problems: one medium and one hard, which I successfully cleared to move to the next stage.
Round 1: Data Structures & Algorithms (First Attempt)
The first live interview round was focused on Data Structures and Algorithms. The interviewer asked me a question related to trees, which I managed to solve. We still had about 20-25 minutes left, but he didn't ask a second question and seemed to be in a hurry, so he concluded the interview early.
Subsequently, I was informed that there was an issue with my first round because I didn't complete a second question. I clarified the situation, explaining that I was only asked one question and the interviewer ended the session prematurely. The recruiter understood and scheduled another DS+Algo round for me.
Round 2: Data Structures & Algorithms (Second Attempt)
This round had a truly excellent interviewer. He posed two questions: the first involved a graph problem, and the second was related to string computation.
Round 3: Hiring Manager
The final round was with a Hiring Manager. This was primarily a discussion about my current roles and responsibilities within my organization. I was also asked to explain the design of a project I had worked on.
Ultimately, I received a rejection. The reason given was quite disheartening; I was told my resume wasn't strong enough, and the hiring manager couldn't fully grasp my explanation in the last round. I later found out that there were two candidates, including myself, and they decided to proceed with the other candidate as they only had one spot.
Interview Questions (3)
I was asked to count the total number of 1s in a given 1 and 0 matrix. The interviewer specifically probed about the choice of approach, asking whether DFS or BFS would be more suitable for this problem.
The second question was a string computation problem, requiring me to implement a method to multiply two very large numbers.
During the hiring manager interview, I was asked to describe and explain the design architecture of a project from my current organization. This involved detailing the components, their interactions, and the overall system structure, alongside discussing my roles and responsibilities.