Media.Net SDE 2 Interview Round1
Summary
I interviewed for an SDE 2 role at Media.Net and was ultimately rejected. I faced two LeetCode medium Data Structures and Algorithms (DSA) questions, struggling initially with a probability-based problem but arriving at a pseudo-code, and needing a hint for a two-pointer problem.
Full Experience
During the interview, I was presented with two DSA questions. For the first question, which was probability-based, I struggled initially because I hadn't encountered such problems before. I began with a brute-force recursive solution and later realized that Dynamic Programming (DP) could optimize it. I derived the recurrence relation, and the interviewer agreed with my approach. As time was running out, I wrote the pseudo-code. However, I believe I messed up when asked about a space-optimized solution; I mentioned using prev and curr pointers but couldn't integrate it into the pseudo-code, which was a mistake. This question took me about 45 minutes.
For the second question, due to limited time, I immediately started with a brute-force solution. The interviewer asked me to optimize it, and after a couple of minutes of intense thought, I came up with a two-pointer solution. My initial logic, however, was incorrect. The interviewer then provided a hint, which enabled me to complete the solution correctly within approximately 15 minutes.
Ultimately, I was rejected. I had a little bit of hope because I could complete the correct solutions and explain things iteratively, but I guess I took too many hints from the interviewer and couldn't complete the correct code perfectly. It's disheartening to hear, but I will keep on grinding!
Interview Questions (2)
Preparation Tips
I have 4+ years of experience and restarted practicing Data Structures and Algorithms (DSA) in April. I've been getting very few callbacks, even though I'm from a Tier-1 college, which I guess doesn't matter much now. This was the fifth company I've interviewed with, and the interviewer approached me.