DSA

https://leetcode.com/problems/house-robber
https://leetcode.com/problems/palindrome-partitioning-ii/

The interviewer was very helpful in this round. Best round in the whole process.

Machine Coding

Design Amazon Locker System

This was my very first machine coding round and I was not able to complete the question. However, I had communicated my thought process and shared all the options in terms of design choices, data modelling etc. The recruiter mentioned that since my knowledge was good and velocity needed improvement, they would have a redo of this round.

I was very surprised and happy to hear this since I had already accepted that I would be rejected after this round.

Design a Ride sharing application

Similar to quick ride. This time I was able to complete the question, ran tests and everything. However, at the end, the interviewer asked some follow up quesstions related to concurrency and I fumbled it since I do not have experience with multi threading and concurrency.

HM

1. Pick a project and explain the project, architecture, dive deep - lots of follow up questions were asked
2. What is the most challenging part of the project - Working across multiple teams, delays in PRs
3. What is the scale of the systems you have worked on
4. Is there any issue with scale you have faced
5. What do you check in a PR
6. If the junior developer is not up to pace, what will you do
7. What do you think of the culture difference between your previous company (FAANGMULA) and startups? Do you think you can handle an environment where there aren't processes like big companies and things move very fast?

I was selected but the feedback was that I was not meeting the bar of SDE 3, so they would have to decrease the band from what was orignally discussed. The recruiter mentioned that they will hire me as an early SDE 3 and the HM has plans to give me a project that can help me level up.

Based on discussion with the HM, it seemed like there was a lot of work in the team, he indirectly said that you should not expect work life balance here and there is lot of chaos in the team. The lower pay did not seem worth the high work load so I declined the offer.

Overall it was a good experience, the recruiter was very responsive and helpful.

Offer Details: https://leetcode.com/discuss/post/7384484/zeta-sde-3-bangalore-oct-2025-declined-b-r746/