Uber SDE-II Interview Experience

Education : Tier-1 Current: Tier 1 YOE - 3.7

Company : Uber Location : Bengaluru Level : L4 (SDE-II) Date : April, 2026

Interview rounds: Round 1: BPS (Screening) - In-Person Question - Given a grid with a starting cell, destination cell, normal cells, and charging cells, find the optimal path for a robot to reach the destination. Each move consumes battery, and visiting a charging cell allows the robot to recharge. Optimise the path in this priority order: minimum charging cells used -> minimum battery required -> minimum moves. (Could not find exact question on Leetcode only similar ones) Difficulty - Hard Expectation - Logic overview with dry run, clean, most optimised running solution and some follow ups. Self Verdict - Strong Hire

Round 2: Coding1(DSA) - In-Person Question - Find Median from Data Stream Difficulty - Hard Expectation - Sub-optimal approach followed by optimal approach, clean and running solutions on various test cases. Follow-ups on real life scenarios. Self Verdict - Strong Hire

Round 3: Coding2(LLD) - In-Person Question - Design a Premium Cab Hailing Service For Uber Difficulty - Hard Expectation - Focus on cab allocation logic, clean code, running solution with multithreading scenarios. Self Verdict - Hire

Round 4: HM - Virtual Question - Behavioural and Project Based. Difficulty - Medium Expectation - Collaboration, complexity of projects, working under tight deadlines and pressure. Self Verdict - Strong Hire

Round 5: HLD - Virtual Question - Stock Price Change Alert System Difficulty - Very Hard Expectation - Push vs Pull mechanism, DB design, API design, deep dive and tradeoffs. Self Verdict - Hire

Overall Experience One of the most fun and grilling interview experiences at the same time. The first three rounds were conducted in person, which made it quite a different experience altogether. The entire process took around 2 months. I got a referral, after which the recruiter reached out to me.

Key Takeaways DSA - Expect variations of standard LeetCode patterns. Graphs (DFS, BFS, DSU) seem to be one of Uber's favourite topics. The difference between a Hire and Strong Hire is largely dependent on how well you handle follow-ups. LLD - Focus on implementing a fully running solution. The interviewer will allow you to check syntax, but it can result in a context switch. Hence, my suggestion would be to master one language for LLD rounds. HM - This is a round where you have a lot of control over the direction of the discussion. The complexity and structure of how you present your projects can make a big difference. My approach was to explain projects in a way that naturally covered most of the major behavioural questions. Always use the STAR framework, along with concrete examples, when answering behavioural questions. HLD - One of the toughest rounds, but Uber tends to ask from a relatively common set of questions, which can make preparation easier. Focus heavily on trade-offs and reasoning, as there is rarely a single correct solution. Uber also focuses a lot on handling high-volume data, so topics like Spark and Flink are worth preparing well.

It took around 3 weeks after the last round for the recruiter to reach out to me with the offer.