Senior Software Engineer | Rippling
Summary
I recently interviewed at Rippling for a Senior Software Engineer position. The process included a screening round with a LeetCode Hard problem and a behavioral discussion, followed by three challenging on-site system design rounds. Despite performing well in most rounds, I was down-leveled to SDE-2 due to one system design interview and ultimately declined the offer, as I was seeking an SDE-3 or higher role.
Full Experience
I wanted to share my interview experience at Rippling, as I found LeetCode very helpful in my preparation.
Screening Rounds:
- Round 1 (Hire): Design Excel Sheet
This round involved a coding challenge to design an Excel sheet with sum formula functionality. - Round 2 (Hire): Past Projects and Experiences
This was a behavioral round where I discussed my past projects, how I approached them, and my leadership experiences.
On-Site Rounds:
- Round 1 (Strong Hire): Design In-memory Key-Value Store
I was tasked with designing an in-memory key-value store, including transaction capabilities. - Round 2 (Lean - Hire): Design News Aggregator and Feed System
This round focused on designing a news aggregator and feed system. The interviewer seemed a bit challenging, starting questions before I fully grasped the scope, which made it a tough luck experience. - Round 3 (Hire): Design Stack Overflow API End-to-End
This was a 1 hour 30 minute round, split into two 45-minute segments. The goal was to code a working and production-ready end-to-end API, similar to Stack Overflow's functionality, within each 45-minute slot.
After the interviews, HR reached out and informed me that I was down-leveled to an SDE-2 designation, which I attributed to the system design interview where I struggled. Since I was specifically looking for SDE-3 or higher positions, I declined the offer.
Interview Questions (5)
Discuss past project experiences, detailing the approach taken, specific contributions, and any leadership roles or initiatives. Be prepared to elaborate on challenges faced and solutions implemented.
Design a scalable news aggregator and feed system. Consider aspects like data ingestion from various sources, content storage, user personalization for news feeds, and efficient delivery to millions of users.
Design the API for a platform similar to Stack Overflow, covering all aspects from database schema to API endpoints. The round was 1 hour 30 minutes, divided into two 45-minute sections, requiring the coding of a working and production-ready API end-to-end within each 45-minute segment.