Hi Folks,\n\nI recently had the opportunity to interview for the **Software Engineer 2** role at **DoorDash** for their **Pune** location in **India**. I\'m sharing this experience to give back to the community and hopefully help others who are preparing for similar interviews. If you found this post helpful, please consider upvoting it!\n\n**Total Experience:** 5YOE\n\n**Round 1: Technical Screening**\nThe interviewer was a foreigner and very humble. He asked me a graph/DSU-based question. I explained my approach using DFS and DSU, and implemented the solution using DFS. Afterward, I asked if I should optimize the solution using DSU. The interviewer asked about the time and space complexity of both approaches, and he seemed satisfied with the DFS approach. We finished this round early.\n\nProblem: [Number of Provinces](https://leetcode.com/problems/number-of-provinces/description/)\n\nSelf Evaluation: Strong Hire\n\n**Round 2: Coding (DSA)**\nThe interviewer, who was also a foreigner, asked a problem where he expected me to first solve it with a brute-force solution and then optimize it. The interviewer was very helpful throughout the process. I first wrote the brute-force solution using recursion and then discussed the optimal solution. I was able to implement both approaches within the time limit.\n\nProblem: [Next Greater Element III](https://leetcode.com/problems/next-greater-element-iii/description/)\n\nSelf Evaluation: Strong Hire\n\n**Round 3: System Design & Domain Knowledge**\nThe interviewer was from India but working in the USA. We started with introductions and then discussed my current project. He asked several questions related to my project before moving on to the system design question: Design a Review System.\n\nI clarified functional and non-functional requirements and proceeded with the design. The interviewer wasn\u2019t very helpful\n\nSelf Evaluation: I believe I did well, but since the interviewer didn\u2019t seem very satisfied, I\u2019m guessing he rated me as Hire/No-Hire.\n\n**Round 4: Coding (DSA)**\nThe interviewer was a foreigner and asked me a Trie-based question. I proposed two approaches: Sorting + Binary Search and Trie. He asked me about the time complexity of both approaches, and then we proceeded to implement the Trie solution. I managed to implement the solution within the time limit and we discussed edge cases. The code worked as expected.\n\nProblem: [Search Suggestions System]( https://leetcode.com/problems/search-suggestions-system/description/)\n\nSelf Evaluation: Strong Hire\n\n**Round 5: Values**\nThe interviewer was from India. We began with introductions, then discussed the projects I had worked on. He asked a few questions about my current project and then moved on to behavioral questions. Unfortunately, I don\'t remember the exact behavioral questions.\n\nSelf Evaluation: Hire\n\n**Final Thoughts:**\nThe last four rounds were held over two consecutive days. Overall, I had a positive experience and felt confident that I would receive a Strong Hire for the role. However, the result came back as No-Hire, and there was no feedback provided as to what went wrong.\n\nI did notice that the foreign interviewers (mostly from China) were extremely helpful throughout the process, which made the interviews much smoother.\n\n**Preparation Strategy:**\nI focused on solving DoorDash-tagged questions on LeetCode and also went through some interview experiences to get an idea of the types of questions asked.\n\n**Disclaimer:** This post has been restructured and polished with the assistance of ChatGPT to improve readability, clarity, and flow. The content and experience shared are entirely my own.\n\nHappy Leetcoding.\n\n

Hi Folks,\n\nI recently had the opportunity to interview for the Software Engineer 2 role at DoorDash for their Pune location in India. I\'m sharing this experi