Education: B.Tech from Tier-1
Years of Experience: ~1
Prior Experience: SDE at a startup
Previous Compensation: 15 LPA

Company: Phonepe
Title/Level: SDE (0-3 years)
Location: Bangalore
Status: Accepted

I took referral and applied for SDE backend (0-3 years) at Phonepe, recruiter mailed to ask some details and few days later called to schedule interview.

Round-1
Q1: https://leetcode.com/problems/evaluate-division/description/
Q2: You are given a list of unsorted integers, and at each step, you remove two elements. The cost incurred for removing the two elements is the sum of the two elements. You need to minimize the total cost of removing all the elements from the list.

I misunderstood the Q1 initially so lost some time there but managed to code both the problems in the end.

Round-2
Don't remember the exact problem statement as it wasn't straightforward, but it boiled down to something like this:
https://leetcode.com/problems/amount-of-time-for-binary-tree-to-be-infected/description/

Follow-up of multiple infected nodes.

The interviewer was supportive and provided timely hints when I got stuck.

Round-3
Hiring Manager round.
Began with introduction, he gave me a HLD problem on codesignal of library books management. Started well, we had some discussion about the function, non-functional requirements, database design but I may have taken more time than he expected.
He gave me a math problem that, on deeper analysis, required a BFS solution. I was able to code it up.
He asked if I would be ok to extend the interview by some time, we agreed and he asked 4-5 behavioural questions, asked about my current company's project. In the end, I asked a few questions and the round concluded.

After 1 week, HR called and said they will be doing a debrief of my round and next day an update will be shared. Got the call next day that the feedback is positive and scheduled my offer discussion round with head of engineering and engineering manager 2 days later.

Offered Compensation:
Base: 21 LPA
Joining Bonus: 3 LPA
ESOPS: 14 Lakhs(for 4 years)