Backend Engineer | Zenskar

Round 1 | Technical Interview (30 minutes)

What was asked: • Questions about my past experience. • One DSA problem based on sets and sorting which was from CSES

My performance: • Solved the problem quickly with two different approaches, and half of the time went into resume discussions. • The interviewer ended the round early, right in the middle of my explanation, because the round was only 30 minutes.

Result: Received a call later saying I had cleared Round 1.

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Round 2 | Technical Interview (40 minutes, scheduled for 1 hour)

Interviewer: A senior engineer with 10+ years of experience and part of the founding team.

What was asked:

1. Discussion about experience • Why I left my previous job. • My past projects and responsibilities.

2. Code Review Task • Given a Python class with multiple functions. • Asked to review it. • I pointed out the following. • Missing pieces • Issues in each function • Improvements needed

3. Database Design • Asked to design a DB schema for an invoice system. • Created 4–5 tables from scratch. • Normalized tables when it was required. • Reasoned through each design choice.

4. SQL Query • Asked a complex SQL query based on the schema I designed. • I wrote a subquery approach, explained the logic, and described the next steps to reach the final answer (even though I haven’t written raw SQL much after AI tools became common so wasn't able to complete it).

5. Questions from my side • Asked about: • What they do • Their scale • Work culture

Round duration: Scheduled for 1 hour but finished in 40 minutes.

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Final Result • Received a rejection email after 2 days. • No feedback was provided.