Hello everyone,
I recently went through the interview process for the SDE role at Juspay, and I’d like to share on of my worst interview experience. I have 1 yr working experience in service based company.
Round 1: I had 90 minutes to solve three graph problems. I managed to solve 2.5 of them and advanced to the next round. Interestingly, it seems they don't often change their questions, which was a bit surprising, LOL.
Round 2 (Part A): This round involved solving one graph-based problem within 90 minutes. For more details, you can refer to this Tree of Space problem
Round 3 (Part B): This was an all-day process where they had me work on the same "Tree of Space" problem.
- They asked me to derive the time and space complexity of the entire algorithm.
- Next, they wanted me to make only the locking mechanism in the code thread-safe, ignoring the unlock and upgrade lock mechanisms for the time being.
- I mentioned using mutex/semaphore locks, but that wasn’t acceptable.
- I then analyzed scenarios where inconsistencies could arise in the locking mechanism if multiple threads accessed the codebase simultaneously.
- Finally, I implemented a solution. The main focus was on ensuring that the locking mechanism included some sort of rollback algorithm in case of inconsistencies.
- The interviewer was very helpful and friendly and helped a lot during this round. I cleared this round as well.
Round 4: I was asked to come to their Bangalore office for the next two rounds.
This is where things got intense. There were several candidates present, and we were all given the same problem to work on. We were instructed to solve it and develop a solution while being called one by one for a one-on-one interview.
Problem 1: You are given a coil, magnets, shaft, wheel, and battery. How would you create a motor? That's it. Surprised? I sure was, and so was everyone else.
The problem statement was given around 11 am, and to my surprise, it had nothing to do with engineering or computer science.
We all did our best to recall our high school physics lessons, but we weren't allowed to use our phones during this phase. I came up with a solution and presented it to my interviewers, who then asked further questions about the motor's working principles. After they were satisfied, I was given a second problem statement.
Problem 2: You are given a piston, gears, heat/cold input, and wheels. How would you create a steam engine? That's it. I was stunned.
By this time, it was 3 pm, and we were given a one-hour lunch break. None of the candidates had been called for a one-on-one interview yet—just these seemingly irrelevant questions were asked.
I proposed a solution for this problem as well. Around 5:30 pm, three interviewers simultaneously started the one-on-one interview round, with each session lasting about 1 to 1.5 hours. I waited until around 8 pm but was never called. All of my fellow candidates were interviewed one by one, except for one other person.
Finally, the two of us were told that the interview process was over and that we could go home. I was furious. Why waste my time if you had already decided not to interview me? WHY WAIT TILL THE END to say so !!!!
The entire day felt like a complete waste of time. The management seemed disorganized, and the process dragged on unnecessarily. It could have ended hours earlier, but it felt like they assumed we had nothing better to do all day.
I was especially frustrated about being asked to travel to Bangalore only to have my time wasted and not be allowed for interviews when I could have been at work.
Verdict: After a few days, the rejection mail came.
PS: If someone can refer me to some SDE interview calls, it would be greatful. Job market is a bit better at the moment. But way too much competiton right now.