Synthesized from 12 candidate submissions for ALL.
The SDE-2 role at Ola involves a comprehensive interview process with a strong focus on problem-solving, system design, and behavioral fitment. Candidates are expected to demonstrate expertise in data structures, algorithms, and scalable system design, along with the ability to articulate their thought process clearly. The rounds are designed to evaluate both technical depth and practical application.
The OA for SDE-2 candidates varies in format and difficulty, but typically includes:
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Format: 1-2 rounds focused on data structures and algorithms. Duration: 60-90 minutes per round. Topics Covered:
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Format: Hands-on coding and design. Duration: 60-90 minutes. Topics Covered:
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Format: 1-2 rounds focused on high-level and low-level design. Duration: 60-90 minutes per round. Topics Covered:
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Key Considerations:
Format: Behavioral and technical discussion. Duration: 60-90 minutes. Topics Covered:
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The SDE-3 / Senior role at Ola targets experienced engineers with a strong track record in system design, scalability, and leadership. The interview process is rigorous, focusing on architectural decision-making, problem-solving, and behavioral fitment. Candidates are expected to demonstrate expertise in designing scalable systems, optimizing performance, and mentoring teams.
Format: Technical round focused on algorithms and system design. Duration: 60-90 minutes. Topics Covered:
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Format: High-level and low-level design. Duration: 60-90 minutes. Topics Covered:
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Format: Behavioral and technical discussion. Duration: 60-90 minutes. Topics Covered:
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The SDE-1 / New Grad role at Ola is designed to evaluate foundational knowledge in data structures, algorithms, and problem-solving, along with behavioral fitment. The process includes an online assessment, technical interviews, and an HR round. Candidates are expected to demonstrate clarity in thought, coding proficiency, and enthusiasm for learning.
The OA for SDE-1 candidates is structured to test basic to intermediate coding skills, SQL, and problem-solving abilities.
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InterviewDigestORDER BY.k, perform an operation arr[i] = arr[i] + arr[i] k times and find the minimum array sum possible.Format: 1-2 rounds focused on data structures, algorithms, and problem-solving. Duration: 60-90 minutes per round. Topics Covered:
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Format: Hands-on coding and design. Duration: 60-90 minutes. Topics Covered:
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Format: High-level design (HLD). Duration: 60-90 minutes. Topics Covered:
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Format: Behavioral and technical discussion. Duration: 30-60 minutes. Topics Covered:
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ORDER BY, GROUP BY, joins).The candidate went through a rigorous interview process at Ola for the SDE-2 role, including problem-solving rounds, a system design round, and a detailed hiring manager round. The candidate was selected for the role, and the compensation details are available in the provided link.
The first round involved two easy data structure questions related to arrays and strings, similar to Leetcode easy problems. The candidate does not recall the exact questions but remembers the topic.
Two DS questions (easy) related to arrays and strings (Leetcode easy level)
The second round consisted of two questions to be solved in 40 minutes instead of the allocated hour. The questions involved checking if an array can be sorted by reversing a subarray and a TwoSum problem with specific constraints.
Given an array, find if the array can be sorted by reversing any single subarray of the given array.
TwoSum: Pair of numbers which sum up to 6 (X) in an array of positive and distinct numbers.
The system design round focused on designing a seat booking system similar to BookMyShow. The candidate was asked to create a block diagram of their current project and then design the system, including database storage, API design, and handling concurrency and consistency issues.
Design the seat booking system of BookMyShow.
GetSeatsInfo: Fetching seats information with grid details, screen, seat categories, seats layout, and color coding for UI.
BookSeats(User u1, array of SeatsNumbers, ScreenId, TheatreId): Managing concurrency and consistency issues.
How to store seat information in the database?
The hiring manager round lasted 1.5 hours and was highly rigorous. The interviewer asked in-depth questions about the candidate's resume, projects, tech stack, and problem-solving approaches. The discussion also covered system design concepts, message queues, caching, databases, and behavioral questions.
Most challenging project and its challenges.
Tech stack used in projects and reasons for choosing it.
Microservices architecture and its components.
Flaws in the current project and potential improvements.
Problems with NoSQL databases and switching to relational databases.
Approach for analytics-related work without using a relational database.
Designing a data pipeline and its components.
RabbitMQ vs. Kafka and message queue components.
Use cases of message queues in projects.
Redis and its use as a message queue.
Caching and its benefits.
Application monitoring tools like Kibana and Grafana, their internal workings, and database choices.
Cassandra and its suitability for write-heavy workloads.
Integration of logging tools in a containerized environment.
Load balancing, proxy, reverse proxy, Zookeeper, and sharding.
The candidate went through 5 rounds of interviews at OLA, including an online coding assessment, machine coding, two system design rounds, and a final managerial round. The process was comprehensive, covering technical skills, system design, and behavioral aspects, culminating in an offer.
Online Coding Assessment: 3 coding questions (2 Medium, 1 Easy)
Started with introduction part. 3 coding questions (2 Medium, 1 Easy).
Started with introduction part. 2 Medium Coding Questions (Binary Tree and Linked List). Tips included to practice on platforms like LeetCode, GeeksforGeeks, and HackerRank.
Started with basic questions and delved deeper into technical aspects.
Another system design question with a focus on prior experience sharing.
Technical discussion based on previous experience. Discussion on projects mentioned in the resume. Questions about why OLA, why leaving the current organization, and basic behavioral questions.