Target Interview Experience
Summary
I had a really good interview experience at Target for an SSE role. The interviewers were very knowledgeable and helpful throughout the process.
Full Experience
About me: SDE2 working at Fintech
Position Applied for: SSE
Round 1: This was mixed of DSA + LLD kind of round DSA question was eay-medium related to Strings LLD question: Design Lift management only Classes, Interfaces interaction and Entity schema was discussed Some Java questions on Concurrency, Streams and Memory management Design patterns discussion on Singleton, Stategy and Decorator
Round2: HLD design round - In depth Project Discussion I was asked to explain the current project architure. Why the certains decisions are made. How could you improve the design. If any new requirement comes then how would you integrate it. DB concurrency aspect: Different Isolation levels SQL vs NoSQL when to choose what, why the specific DB was choosen CAP theorem Kafka In-depth Discussions - How topic, partitions, consumer groups work. What if consumer goes down. What if topic storage is full. Some REST APIs Aspect - How does HTTP work, How to design a REST API, Best REST APIs principles to follow Expection Handling discussion Cache Discussion
Round 3: HM Round In-Depth discussion on Project Senario based questions Eg: Any production bug that kept you engaged for very long, but solution was quick. What did you learn from it How to handle conflcits between proposed design solution and so on..
Overall I say, it was really good experience. Interviwers were very knowlegable and they were ready to help if you are stuck
Interview Questions (9)
Design Lift Management System (LLD)
Design a Lift management system. Focus on classes, interfaces interaction, and entity schema.
High-Level Design: Project Architecture Discussion
Explain your current project's architecture, justify design decisions, propose improvements, and explain how to integrate new requirements.
Database Concurrency: Isolation Levels
Discuss different database isolation levels.
SQL vs NoSQL Database Selection
Discuss when to choose SQL versus NoSQL databases and justify specific database choices.
CAP Theorem Explanation
Explain the CAP theorem.
Kafka In-depth Concepts
Discuss Kafka topics, partitions, consumer groups, and handle scenarios like consumer failure or topic storage full.
REST API Design and Principles
Discuss how HTTP works, how to design a REST API, and the best REST API principles to follow.
Behavioral: Production Bug Resolution
Describe a production bug that required significant engagement but had a quick solution. What did you learn from this experience?
Behavioral: Handling Design Conflicts
How do you handle conflicts between proposed design solutions?