Track: SDE-2

SAP Concur - SDE-2 Interview Briefing

Overview

The SDE-2 role at SAP Concur involves a multi-round interview process designed to assess technical expertise, system design skills, and behavioral adaptability. Candidates are evaluated through coding challenges, system design questions, and scenario-based behavioral assessments. The process is known for its depth and rigor, with a focus on real-world problem-solving.

Interview Rounds

Round 1: Technical Round

• Focus: Coding and problem-solving.
• Narrative: Discussion of challenging projects followed by a coding question.
• Questions Asked:
  1. Design a double-ended queue (Deque).
  2. Design Twitter (high-level system design).
• Source: LeetCode Discussion

Round 2: Behavioral Round

• Focus: Behavioral assessment and stress testing.
• Narrative: Role-play and stress testing scenarios to evaluate adaptability and problem-solving under pressure.
• Questions Asked: Scenario-based questions, including:
  • Handling a situation where the interviewer insists on not using a remote control (e.g., manual override in a system).
• Source: LeetCode Discussion

Round 3: Technical Round (Deep Dive)

• Focus: Advanced coding, data structures, debugging, and API design.
• Narrative: Recap of projects with questions on improvements and next steps.
• Questions Asked:
  1. Implement an LFU (Least Frequently Used) cache with a size constraint of k.
  2. Explain the Trie data structure and its applications.
  3. Debug C# and Java code to determine the output.
  4. Design an API to determine if two addresses are the same (e.g., '4th St' vs. 'Fourth Street').
• Source: LeetCode Discussion

Round 4: System Design Round

• Focus: Scalable system design and trade-off analysis.
• Narrative: Two system design questions, including follow-up questions. The interview was conducted over lunch, integrating evaluation into the meal.
• Questions Asked:
  1. Design a Traffic Light System.
  2. Handle traffic flow during special occasions with directional bias.
  3. Design an Interview Processing System.
• Source: LeetCode Discussion

Key Takeaways

• Technical Depth: Expect questions on data structures (e.g., LFU Cache, Trie), debugging, and API design.
• System Design: Focus on scalability, trade-offs, and real-world constraints.
• Behavioral: Adaptability and problem-solving under pressure are critical.
• Feedback: Proactively follow up on feedback to avoid communication gaps.