Recently interviewed for the Product Software Engineer II role at The Walt Disney Company. Sharing my experience below for anyone preparing for a similar role.
Verdict: Selected
I won't be sharing exact interview questions due to confidentiality, but I'll cover the major areas discussed.
Round 1: DSA (60 mins)
The round was scheduled for 60 minutes. It involved a graph/grid-based shortest path problem with obstacles and different movement costs depending on the direction of traversal.
The discussion followed:
Approach → Pseudocode → Complexity Analysis → Implementation → Follow-ups
We discussed edge cases, time/space complexity, and possible optimizations. I was able to complete the solution and implementation along with the follow-up discussion in around 40 minutes, and the interview concluded in approximately 45 minutes.
Preparation: Be comfortable with graph traversal, shortest path algorithms, and grid-based problems. Understanding when to use BFS, Dijkstra, or 0-1 BFS can be helpful.
Round 2: Technical (60 mins)
This round focused primarily on backend and .NET fundamentals.
The discussion covered areas such as:
- Authentication and authorization
- HTTP and REST concepts
- ASP.NET Core middleware and request lifecycle
- C# collections and OOP concepts
- LINQ and database-related concepts
- Query optimization and performance
- Low-level design of an authentication flow
There were several follow-up questions, and the discussion focused more on understanding concepts and practical usage than simply knowing definitions.
Round 3: Techno-Managerial (45 mins)
The round started with a discussion about my previous projects, contributions, and challenges, followed by behavioral and technical discussions.
The technical portion broadly covered:
- Application and request flow
- Validation and authorization
- Dependency Injection
- Database schema design
- Many-to-many relationships and constraints
- Concurrency and handling simultaneous updates
There were also behavioral discussions around problem-solving, challenges, and how I approach learning a new technology when introduced to an existing project.
Overall Experience
Overall, the process was a good mix of DSA, backend fundamentals, system/design discussions, and behavioral questions.
My biggest takeaway: Know your projects well and understand the fundamentals behind the technologies you work with. At this level, being able to explain your thought process, technical decisions, and trade-offs is just as important as arriving at the correct answer.
Hope this helps. Good luck! 🚀
