Oracle IC2 || Interview Experience

Years of Experience (YOE): 2.9 years

Round 1: Screening Round

Question 1: A prefix nums[0..i] is sequential if, for all 1 <= j <= i, nums[j] = nums[j - 1] + 1. In particular, the prefix consisting only of nums[0] is sequential. Return the smallest integer x missing from nums such that x is greater than or equal to the sum of the longest sequential prefix.

Input: nums = [1,2,3,2,5] Output: 6 Explanation: The longest sequential prefix of nums is [1,2,3] with a sum of 6. 6 is not in the array, therefore 6 is the smallest missing integer greater than or equal to the sum of the longest sequential prefix.

Input: nums = [3,4,5,1,12,14,13] Output: 15 Explanation: The longest sequential prefix of nums is [3,4,5] with a sum of 12. 12, 13, and 14 belong to the array while 15 does not. Therefore 15 is the smallest missing integer greater than or equal to the sum of the longest sequential prefix.

Question 2: https://leetcode.com/problems/asteroid-collision/description/

Round 2

Question 1: Median of Two Sorted Arrays – I was able to provide a solution using extra space. The interviewer was looking for a more optimal solution (without extra space), but he was okay with my approach and moved on to the next problem.

Question 2: https://leetcode.com/problems/palindrome-partitioning/description/ Was able to solve this completely

Round 3

This was supposed to be an LLD/Java round. The interviewer asked me to create a Spring Boot project with a proper folder and file structure. He asked me to create one for a BookMyShow app. Since I didn’t have much experience with Spring Boot, I couldn't create a very detailed app.

He was mainly interested in understanding the data flow and how it happens. Then, he moved on to API discussions and also discussed the same for my previous projects.

Round 4 (HM)

Started off with an introduction, followed by a resume-based discussion. Later, I was asked a few Java-related questions (Lambda, Streams, etc.).

At the end, he asked me one coding problem: Problem: Reverse each word in a sentence.

• I was asked to write the solution in Java.
• I coded it but took some time and required a few hints. Since I primarily do DSA in C++, I faced some syntax-related issues.

I reached out to the recruiter regarding feedback. She mentioned that my DSA/problem-solving skills were strong, but my design skills were weak. The team I was interviewing for was looking for more experienced candidates. However, the recruiter told me that she would refer me to another team, and I would have to go through the complete interview loop again for that team.