Park+ | SDE -1 (Intern + FTE ) | On - Campus | IIT | Worst Experience Ever | 2023

Hello All,

Today, I am sharing my interview experience with Park+, a Gurgaon-based startup, for the SDE-1 (Intern + FTE) role. I was from the 2023 batch at IIT.

Round 1 (Online Assessment ~1hr)

The drive began with an online assessment on the Intervue.io platform. It consisted of 2 coding questions and 16 MCQs. The difficulty level was easy to medium.

Round 2 (Technical Interview ~1.5hrs)

This round was conducted by a Barraiser Team member. We started with my introduction and a brief discussion about my projects. The interviewer then shared a link to a codejudge online compiler and a question link.

He first explained a problem related to the 2048 game. Understanding the problem statement took some time, as implementing a fully functional game in an hour is challenging. So, he asked me to outline the smaller functions required to divide the whole game. I wrote down some function ideas, and he seemed convinced, stating he wasn't looking for a complete answer.

Next, he presented another problem: "return duplicate characters from a string". I implemented this solution using an unordered_map.

Following that, he gave me a problem from LeetCode, "Reverse Pairs" (LC Hard). I initially submitted a brute-force approach on LeetCode. He then asked me to optimize it. Seeing the "Hard" tag initially scared me, but I took some time and realized it mapped to an inversion count problem, solvable with a merge sort approach. I explained my optimized approach and wrote the code.

During this round, he also asked me about database concepts like RDBMS and Primary Keys. He asked me to write a runnable SQL query to create a table named students with columns Roll_no (INTEGER, Primary Key), Name (VARCHAR), and Email (VARCHAR). I wrote the table definition based on my understanding, and he was satisfied. He also asked some HR-related questions. At the end, I received very positive feedback.

Round 3 (Technical Interview ~1hr) with SDE-II

The next day, I received a call from the Park+ team for the second interview, which was with an SDE-II from Park+. This round started with my introduction, followed by questions about my internships and projects.

He then gave me a problem: "Maximum Subarray" (LC). I presented both the brute-force and the optimized approaches.

As a follow-up, he asked me about the "Maximum Sum Circular Subarray" (LC). I provided a working solution, and he was satisfied.

Round 4 (Technical Interview ~1hr) with Senior Engineering Manager

This round also began with my introduction. He thoroughly discussed one of my internship projects.

Then, he presented an SQL query problem: to find the name of the person with the maximum salary from every department in an employee table, which he provided on a Google Doc. I wrote the query, and he was satisfied.

He then asked if I was familiar with Sudoku before presenting a problem based on it. I explained my approach, wrote the code, and elaborated on its complexity.

Following that, he gave me another problem: "Populating Next Right Pointers in Each Node" (LC). As he explained the problem, I quickly understood the solution. The moment I mentioned BFS, he agreed and asked me to write the code. I wrote and explained the code along with its complexities.

Finally, he asked if I had any questions. I asked about Park+ projects, having already reviewed their website. He provided a clear and nice explanation. It was a very great and calm discussion, and I enjoyed it a lot.

About half an hour later, I received a call from my TPO officer, confirming my selection!

The Tragedy Unfolds

My real ordeal began in January 2023. Our TPO consistently followed up with the Park+ team regarding offer letters for the selected students. Each time, HR asked us to wait.

In June, HR informed our TPO that higher management wanted to connect with the selected candidates. She emphasized it wasn't an interview but just a way for the team to get to know us better before onboarding. We all assumed they wanted to understand our current tech stack or project interests.

HR scheduled this discussion for June. A manager joined the call and asked a few basic questions about my profile and work experience. Unexpectedly, he then started asking technical questions and requested I share my screen. I complied, and he presented a coding problem related to some game (which I don't recall now). I was quite surprised by this turn of events, but I took the discussion seriously and solved the coding problem. He also asked a few more technical questions, which I fortunately managed to answer.

After this unexpected round, HR again became unresponsive. Despite multiple communications from our TPO, there was no response from their side.

Then, in July, HR abruptly announced that all candidates were rejected due to "unsatisfactory performance" in the recent discussion. We were all shocked. We had been selected in September and were now rejected in July. This situation was particularly difficult because the entire placement season had concluded. We were not allowed to sit for other companies since Park+ had visited early in the season with a seemingly attractive CTC.

We had enjoyed our college life to the fullest after September, believing we had secured a good offer with good compensation. But now, in July, we were left with no offer. This experience was truly disheartening, highlighting a severe lack of professionalism.