Quince Interview Experience – SDE 2 ( Selected )

quince logo
quince
· SDE 2
June 12, 2025 · 89 reads

Summary

I cleared all rounds for the SDE 2 role at Quince, which involved DSA, LLD, Hiring Manager, and VP discussions, covering coding, system design, and behavioral questions.

Full Experience

Result: Cleared all rounds


📅 Round 1: DSA + Conceptual

Discussion:

  • Brief introduction
  • Questions related to previous projects

✅ Coding Question 1:

🍌 Koko Eating Bananas Link: https://leetcode.com/problems/koko-eating-bananas/description/

  • Solved using Binary Search

✅ Coding Question 2:

🏆 Kth Largest Element in an Array
Link: kth-largest-element-in-an-array - gfg question

  • Initially proposed O(n log n) solution using sorting
  • Then improved to O(n log k) using Priority Queue
  • Finally proposed Quick Select (approx. O(n)) approach

🧠 Conceptual Question 3:

Problem:
There is an n x m infinitely large grid containing water.

  • At any time, we can convert a water cell into land
  • At any time, we may be asked: how many islands are there?
  • Land conversions and island queries can happen repeatedly

Approach:

  • Initially proposed DFS
  • Interviewer pointed out the infinite grid → switched to Disjoint Set (Union-Find)
  • Got follow-up questions (couldn’t answer all)


📅 Round 2: LLD Round

Discussion:

  • Quick intro and resume-based questions

💻 LLD Question: Design Meeting Room Booking System

Requirements:

  • Multiple meeting rooms in a building
  • Add meeting rooms with capacity
  • Book a room for a time slot
  • Same room can be re-booked after the slot ends
  • Choose optimal room based on participant count
  • Send notification after scheduling
  • Add meeting to calendar of host and participants
  • Handle concurrent booking (locking to prevent double booking)


📅 Round 3: Hiring Manager Round

Topics:

  • Self intro + discussion on catalog system

Company-related Questions:

  • What platforms do you support?
  • Revenue & order breakdown:

Project Discussion in detail

HR Questions:

  • Why do you want to join Quince?
  • What are you looking for in this role?


📅 Round 4: VP Round

Topics:

  • Self introduction
  • What do you know about Quince?
  • What problem is Quince solving and how?
  • Company’s work culture discussion

HR Questions:

  • Why do you want to join Quince?
  • What motivates you to join us?
  • Have you ever acted differently from what you believed was right?
  • Any instance where you chose a short-term gain but missed a long-term issue?

Interview Questions (13)

1.

Koko Eating Bananas

Data Structures & Algorithms

Koko Eating Bananas

2.

Kth Largest Element in an Array

Data Structures & Algorithms

Kth Largest Element in an Array

3.

Number of Islands in an Infinitely Large Grid

Data Structures & Algorithms

There is an n x m infinitely large grid containing water.

  • At any time, we can convert a water cell into land
  • At any time, we may be asked: how many islands are there?
  • Land conversions and island queries can happen repeatedly
4.

Design Meeting Room Booking System

System Design

Requirements:

  • Multiple meeting rooms in a building
  • Add meeting rooms with capacity
  • Book a room for a time slot
  • Same room can be re-booked after the slot ends
  • Choose optimal room based on participant count
  • Send notification after scheduling
  • Add meeting to calendar of host and participants
  • Handle concurrent booking (locking to prevent double booking)
5.

Quince Platforms Supported

Behavioral

What platforms do you support?

6.

Quince Revenue & Order Breakdown

Behavioral

Revenue & order breakdown:

7.

Why Quince SDE 2 Role?

Behavioral

Why do you want to join Quince?

  • What are you looking for in this role?
8.

What do you know about Quince?

Behavioral

What do you know about Quince?

9.

Quince's Problem Solving Approach

Behavioral

What problem is Quince solving and how?

10.

Quince's Work Culture

Behavioral

Company’s work culture discussion

11.

Motivation to Join Quince

Behavioral

Why do you want to join Quince?

  • What motivates you to join us?
12.

Conflict of Beliefs

Behavioral

Have you ever acted differently from what you believed was right?

13.

Short-Term Gain vs. Long-Term Issue

Behavioral

Any instance where you chose a short-term gain but missed a long-term issue?

Discussion (0)

Share your thoughts and ask questions

Join the Discussion

Sign in with Google to share your thoughts and ask questions

No comments yet

Be the first to share your thoughts and start the discussion!