Safe Security | SDE3
July 4, 2025 • 4 reads
Summary
I interviewed for an SDE-3 role at Safe Security and was selected, but declined the offer due to the company's in-office policy and intense working hour expectations.
Full Experience
Company: Safe Security
Role: SDE-3
Years of Experience: 9
Interview Mode: Virtual
Result: Selected
Decision: Declined the offer
Reason: 5 days/week in-office policy and expectation of intense working hours didn't align with my work-life balance goals.
---
Round 1: Coding (1 hour)
- Platform: Google Docs
- Format: 1:1 interview
- Questions:
- Medium-level Sliding Window problem
- Medium-level Graph traversal using DFS and Cycle Detection
---
Round 2: System Design (1 hour)
- Question: Design YouTube
- Discussion included:
- High-level architecture
- Video ingestion & storage, CDN
- API design, scalability, bottlenecks
---
Round 3: Hiring Manager Round (1 hour)
- Topics discussed:
- Current project: HLD and LLD
- Ownership and design decision-making
- Mentorship and team collaboration
---
Round 4: Founder Connect (20 minutes)
- Type: Behavioral
- Sample Questions:
- Why do you consider yourself a 10x engineer?
- How would you rate yourself out of 10 and why?
- Focus: Personality, self-awareness, alignment with company vision
---
Interview Questions (3)
Q1
Design YouTube
System Design
Design YouTube, including high-level architecture, video ingestion & storage, CDN, API design, scalability, and bottlenecks.
Q2
Why do you consider yourself a 10x engineer?
Behavioral
Why do you consider yourself a 10x engineer?
Q3
How would you rate yourself out of 10 and why?
Behavioral
How would you rate yourself out of 10 and why?