Quince Interview Experience – SDE 2 ( Selected )
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)
Koko Eating Bananas
Kth Largest Element in an Array
Kth Largest Element in an Array
Number of Islands in an Infinitely Large Grid
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
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)
Quince Platforms Supported
What platforms do you support?
Quince Revenue & Order Breakdown
Revenue & order breakdown:
Why Quince SDE 2 Role?
Why do you want to join Quince?
- What are you looking for in this role?
What do you know about Quince?
What do you know about Quince?
Quince's Problem Solving Approach
What problem is Quince solving and how?
Quince's Work Culture
Company’s work culture discussion
Motivation to Join Quince
Why do you want to join Quince?
- What motivates you to join us?
Conflict of Beliefs
Have you ever acted differently from what you believed was right?
Short-Term Gain vs. Long-Term Issue
Any instance where you chose a short-term gain but missed a long-term issue?