Status: MS CS + 9 years of experience
Position: Staff S/W Engineer
Location: California
Date: October 2022

Technical phone screen (1 hour):

• I was asked a variation of the menu tree update problem (check Discuss). I was able to solve this with one hint from the interviewer towards the end for an edge case I missed. I was invited for an onsite a week later but the overall feedback was a 'soft yes' to proceed with the onsite.

Virtual Onsite:
4 rounds: 2 coding, 1 SD, 1 hiring manager

Coding round 1: Quite similar to https://leetcode.com/problems/most-profit-assigning-work/. I was able to solve this optimally.

Coding round 2: Nearest city problem, please search for this on Discuss and you'll find it.
This is a difficult problem if you haven't understood and solved it already. I fell in the latter category, unfortunately. I was close to finishing this but ran out of time. I explained what was remaining with psuedocode.

System Design: Design a platform where users can upload photos of their food, follow other users and view a chronological timeline.

Hiring Manager: Standard STAR pattern questions, probing into my background, work and interests.

Result: Reject.

Overall experience: Mixed. The recruiters were professional and helpful.

At times, it felt like asking for a hint is a punishable offence and deducts points from your score. One interviewer was very cold and did not respond to any clarifying questions convincingly. It almost felt like they had a solution written up by somebody else in front of them and that was used as a benchmark.

A request to the interviewers (if they ever see this): Please understand that nobody knows everything. We have access to the Internet and our peers on the job, in case we need inputs or are stuck while tackling typical day to day engineering problems. Asking for a hint or al little bit of help does not make you any lesser of a person or an engineer.

My advice to anyone interviewing with DD: Please solve all the tagged questions and the ones from 'Discuss'. At least twice so you don't run out of time like I did. And think twice before asking for a hint.

Over the last few months, I've worked very hard to ensure that I don't 'zone out' during the interviews while solving coding problems. Please make sure you don't zone out either and constantly communicate your thought process and approach. This is often overlooked and a difficult thing to do. Consistent practice makes everything better.

We're going through very uncertain and troubling times with companies laying off their employees left and right. I wish everyone here the best and a heartfelt thank you for this amazing platform and guidance.