Kumar K (Karan)

🚀 My Meesho SDE 1 off-campus Interview Experience 💼 I feel fortunate to have been interviewed by Meesho for the SDE-1 role recently. Although I couldn’t make it to the final managerial round, it was a great learning journey that pushed my limits in problem-solving and system design. Here’s a detailed breakdown for fellow aspirants! 🛤 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Off-campus (Applied directly through Meesho’s career portal) 📍 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞: Virtual ( google meet ) 📩 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭: Not selected 📌 𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬: 🔹𝐑𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 0: 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 📩 From over 1.5 lakh applicants, I was shortlisted based on my resume for the next rounds. 🔹𝐑𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 1: 𝗢𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 (2.45 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀) 📌 𝗧𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗱: Dynamic Programming, Dijkstra’s variation, and Greedy Algorithms ( all of Hard level ) 🔹𝐑𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 3: 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 - 𝗗𝗦𝗔 (30 𝐦𝐢𝐧) 📌 This was a live discussion-based interview focused on 2 Linked List problems (medium difficulty) on google doc. 🔹I first had to explain the brute-force approach verbally 🔹Then, write the optimized code with time complexity for both problems with follow-ups 🔹𝐑𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 4: 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 - 𝗠𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 (1 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿) 🎯 📌I was given a real-world problem, based on a shopping cart + inventory system. The task was to implement 5 methods: 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁(productId, price, quantity) 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗧𝗼𝗖𝗮𝗿𝘁(cartId, productId, quantity) 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗽𝗼𝗻(code, type, value, maxDiscount, minPurchase, expiry) 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗽𝗼𝗻(code, cartId) 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸𝗼𝘂𝘁(cartId) 🧠 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗪𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗪𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴? Although the time constraint was tight, I managed to implement 4 out of 5 methods. The final checkout method was left incomplete due to time. This task required designing three in-memory databases (productDB, cartDB, couponDB) and making them interact. I also implemented validation for edge cases like missing IDs or invalid inputs, which consumed additional time. In hindsight, I could have skipped those checks initially and focused purely on core logic to complete all methods. 💡 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬: ✔️ System design questions, even in SDE-1 roles, are becoming common. ✔️ Time management in machine coding rounds is crucial — prioritize core logic first, then validations. ✔️ Practice DSA question on notepad or google doc without compiler for real interview practice. #meeshoInterviewExperience #meeshoLLD #meeshoSDE1InterviewExperience #machineCoding #lowLevelDesign #GeeksforGeeks #interviewExperience #Fresher #2024Batch

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5 underrated hacks that helped me get replies from PayU, Outcomes, Blinkit, Goldman Sachs, and even Google Job searching with less than 2 years of experience? I’ve been there. 900+ applications. Barely any replies. Lowball offers. Radio silence. Here’s what finally worked for me — not magic, just underrated strategies: 1. Hyper-personalised cold emails using Hunter + Mailtrack Stop blasting your resume. Instead, find the right person (tech lead, recruiter), send a personal note, and track if they read it. Tools I used: → hunter.io to find emails → mailtrack.io to check opens 2. Applied to companies no one was talking about on LinkedIn Everyone wants Google. I looked at high growth startups on: → wellfound.com (AngelList) → cutshort.io → ycombinator.com/jobs 3. Portfolio > Resume for React & Python folks I uploaded two solid frontend + backend projects with a clear README, live demo, and GitHub actions. Tip: Deploy on vercel.com, use readme.so for clean docs. 4. Crafted a clear “Featured” section on LinkedIn Included my projects, resume PDF, and best tweets. My profile became a pitch deck, not just a résumé. 5. Replied to hiring posts like a human, not a bot No “Interested Sir”. I wrote something like: "Hey X, I loved the product you’re building at Blinkit. I’ve been working on similar tech recently and would love to contribute. Here’s a demo and GitHub link." These 5 things didn’t give me instant success — but they got me callbacks, visibility, and confidence. If you’re struggling, don’t just spam apply. Strategise. Stand out. Let me know if you want templates or tools I used, happy to help. Follow Abhay Singh for more such reads.

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If you’re dreaming of a better role → SDE-2 at a top product company, → Or just a jump from 8 LPA to 30 LPA Then these next few months matter more than you think. You don’t need another "New Year, new me" resolution. What you need… is a real plan. Most folks don’t fail tech interviews because they’re not smart. >> They fail because they prepare in bursts. They chase motivation, not momentum. >> They switch between 10 platforms but don’t complete even one. >> They keep adding resources, not removing distractions. And I get it. It’s hard to stay consistent when you're juggling work, the competition out there is cut-throat. Everyone's racing. Everyone’s leveling up. But clarity beats chaos every single time. For me, what changed things was one simple shift: I picked a prep roadmap and stuck to it. It took me years and more rejections than I can count, but it eventually helped me crack the role. I once thought it was way out of reach. So no, you don’t need to be perfect, you just need to start. And if you want structure and support, you can consider platforms like Tutort Academy, which helped 2150+ professionals land roles at top companies like Microsoft, Google, Walmart, and more. Get the 1:1 Guidance with Experts- https://bit.ly/4fv4utS --They provide an In-Depth curriculum of DSA, Software development with Specialization in Gen AI --Offers mock interviews, expert mentorship & industry-ready training -- Helps you build confidence before the real interview Make the rest of this year count. You’re way more capable than your last rejection. #careerswitch #maang #microsoft #google #amazon #walmart #upskilling #dreamjob #tutortacademy #interviewtips

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A frontend engineer applied to Blinkit for an SDE-1 role. They knew DSA, understood core CS fundamentals, and had good industry experience, but still got rejected in the machine coding round. Another frontend engineer went for SDE-1 at Swiggy. Despite a solid grasp on algorithms, they got tripped up by a high-level design (HLD) question and got rejected. Stories like these are everywhere now. Companies are moving past pure DSA and want engineers who can build real features, design systems, and write scale code. Swiggy, Zomato, Nykaa, Upstox, RazorPay, Navi, and Cars24 all run machine coding rounds in their interviews for frontend roles. ► So, what exactly is the machine coding round? This round tests how you take a real-world product requirement and turn it into a working application or feature, under time pressure, with messy constraints, and with the expectation that your code could go live. You might be asked to build a mini-dashboard, interactive table, chat UI, or even an end-to-end feature, using your tech stack of choice. ► What do you have to do? Write production-ready, modular, and readable code Show you can handle edge cases, loading, and errors. Think about performance, scalability, and user experience. Make smart design choices for components, state, and data flow. Explain your approach as you build, and adapt on the fly to feedback. ► Best practices for cracking this round: Clarify requirements at the start; don’t assume anything. Sketch a component and data structure plan before jumping into code. Structure files and logic for easy reading and extension. Build in increments, test and show your progress at milestones. Practice with real problems from actual interview experiences, not just sample projects. Most importantly, remember that companies want to see how you think, not just what you know. Your process, clarity, and ability to adapt under pressure matter as much as the final output. I’ve compiled a resource of 25+ detailed interview experiences from engineers at Blinkit, Swiggy, Zomato, Upstox, RazorPay, Nykaa, Navi, Cars24, and also top companies like Uber, Tekion, Flipkart, Zepto, and more. If you’re prepping for frontend interviews in 2025, don’t leave this round to chance, learn from other’s interview experiences: https://lnkd.in/g7kjjR4i

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Think DSA is enough to crack Sr. SDE roles in top PBCs? That too in 2025? Well… Think again because it’s only 45% of the game. Most SDEs spend 90% of their time solving LeetCode, but interviewers at companies like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft? They expect a lot more. Here’s how interviews for SDE-1/2 roles are actually distributed today (for top PBCs): 📌 45% DSA + hands-on experience 📌 30% LLD & HLD 📌 15% soft skills 📌 10% behavioral, culture fit & leadership That’s why your prep needs to be multi-dimensional. 👉 It’s not just about solving the question, it’s about writing clean, modular code 👉 It’s not just about design theory, it’s about translating it into scalable decisions 👉 And it’s not just about talking, it’s about communicating like an engineer I know it is tough, preparing for a serious switch to a senior SDE position and want structured guidance across all areas. That’s why I recommend checking out Rajat Garg’s (ex-microsoft) upskilling platform curated just for working professionals. Check them out: https://bit.ly/4k970Xr They’ve helped 2200+ engineers switch to top PBCs with a well-structured curriculum for DSA, System Design, and Full Stack Development, 1:1 mentorship, and 100% job switch support. #brandpartnership #sdeprep #tech #career #pbc #growth

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I’ve interviewed with Uber, Microsoft, Salesforce, Atlassian & more. And almost every time, 1 question has shown up in some form 👇 💬 “Design WhatsApp.” 💬 “Design Uber.” 💬 “Design Netflix.” High-level system design questions can feel intimidating when you’re applying for SDE-2/3, but they don’t have to. Here’s what I’ve learned about approaching them with clarity 👇 ✔️ Start by clarifying the problem Ask about users, scale, and the must-have features. Understanding the real need matters more than rushing to draw boxes. ✔️ Define scale early Numbers like daily active users, peak QPS, or storage estimates guide whether you choose a single DB or a distributed setup. ✔️ Sketch the building blocks From clients → APIs → app servers → databases → caches → queues. Keep it simple, you can add complexity as you go. ✔️ Walk through the data flow Explain how a request travels, how it’s processed, and where the response comes from. ✔️ Plan for scale & reliability Think about replication, sharding, caching, load balancing — and how to handle failures gracefully. ✔️ Acknowledge trade-offs Every design has limits. Good engineers talk about them and suggest how they’d iterate if given more time. You don’t need to build the “perfect” architecture in 45 minutes. → Interviewers want to see structured thinking, not a flawless whiteboard. If you’re preparing for SDE interviews while juggling a 9-5, I highly recommend giving Bosscoder Academy a try. 🔗 Explore their programs here: https://bit.ly/47JF9dX They’ve already helped 2200+ engineers land roles in top PBCs with structured prep in DSA, System Design, and Full Stack, 1:1 mentorship, mock interviews, resume support, and 100% job switch guidance. #systemdesign #career #growth #sdeprep #jobswitch #techInterviews #collab

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If you apply to Zomato for an SDE role, you’ll face a System Design round. If you apply to Razorpay or Atlassian, you’ll face a System Design round. If you apply to Zepto, PhonePe, or Groww, you’ll definitely face a System Design round. If you apply to Hotstar, Flipkart, or Dream11, you must be ready for System Design. Every fast-growing Indian product company will test your system thinking skills. This is not a DSA round. This is not about writing code. This is about building scalable, real-world systems. What kind of problems are asked? Some examples: - Design a Rate Limiter - Design WhatsApp or Slack - Design Uber or Ola - Design a Notification Service - Design Zomato Feed - Design a File Storage System Almost every company tests this, and that’s exactly why I focused on System Design and compiled a detailed yet beginner-friendly guide to crack it. Here’s the link: https://lnkd.in/dte69Z5N What do they test? - Your thought process - Trade-off handling - Communication clarity - High-level design + Low-level components - Scaling and bottlenecks - Real-world awareness How should you approach it? - Ask the right clarifying questions - Don’t jump into the tech stack, start with use cases - Think in components - Always talk about data flow and scaling - Handle traffic, failure, and reliability - Prioritize clarity over complexity - Use diagrams to communicate This is what they look for: - Not whether you’ve memorized patterns. - But whether you can build systems like an engineer. 𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱, 𝗜’𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗵 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲. 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲: - https://lnkd.in/dte69Z5N Stay Hungry, Stay FoolisH!

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If you apply to Blinkit for an SDE role, you’ll have to sit in the machine coding round. If you apply to Swiggy for a SWE role, you’ll have to sit in the machine coding round. If you apply to CRED for a backend role, you’ll have to sit in the machine coding round. If you apply to Hotstar, Zomato, or Dream11, you’ll have to sit in the machine coding round. If you apply to any fast-scaling product company, you better be ready for the machine coding round. This is not a DSA round. DSA is just a small part of it, you have to code a fully working system, UI is not mandatory. What kind of problems are asked? Few examples: → Parking lot system → Rate limiter → In-memory cache → Feed with pagination → Snake game (CLI) → Splitwise clone Almost every product company asks this, and that’s why I focused heavily on machine coding and I found an amazing full-stack preparation kit. - 25+ questions of Machine coding for both frontend & backend - Along with code snippets & proper comments - Apart from machine coding, everything else is covered in this 120+ page guide. Here is the link: https://bit.ly/4e9Vxp9 What do they test? - OOPs - Code structure - Naming conventions - Edge case handling - Extensibility - Console/output flow How should you approach it? → Ask questions. → Clarify constraints. → Break it into parts. → Design for now, not forever. → Keep it running. Always. → Use classes. Not chaos. → Write like someone else will read it. This is what they look for: Not just if you can code. But if you can think like an engineer.

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I’ve interviewed with Amazon, Qualcomm, Juspay…5 MNCs. Here are the top 3 things I wish I knew earlier🔻 ✅ Preparation is a System, Not a Sprint. → Stop cramming for the next interview. The goal isn't to pass one test; it's to build a base (System Design, Advanced DSA) that makes you ready for any company. ✅ Your Project Needs Users, Not Just Code. → Build one project that solves a genuine problem, gets a few real users, and then quantify the results (e.g., "Reduced manual time by 30%"). ✅ 50% of the Interview is Behavioral. → Obsessing over the optimal code solution will only get you halfway. I wish I had dedicated time to mastering the STAR method and giving actual mocks. But please don’t make my mistake. Give mocks from the start to ensure you can communicate and walk with an offer. Here, you can find 300+ SDEs & connect for FREE → https://lnkd.in/eSeTBdDP You get mocks everywhere but with these SDEs, it isn’t just one-off sessions and few feedback points. They provide complete support from upskilling to interview prep… And that’s why they have been able to help 3000+ SDEs land Microsoft, Google, Amazon and such top MNCs. I bet, they can help you, too!🚀 #careerjourney #interviewprep #paidpartnership #techinterview

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My Full Interview Experience for SDE 2 Frontend at PW (PhysicsWallah)🔥 “𝗜𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴”🫠 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄: It’s an EdTech startup. But had crazy amount work on Frontend. Truly crazy learnings for the kind of challenges they work on frontend. Something you can’t expect to learn in every company & that’s what fascinated me the most. 𝗕𝗲𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀:👇🏻 (Applied Directly & Recruiter call next day) ▶️ 𝗥𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝟭: 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 (𝟲𝟬𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘀) Asked to implement 2 Javacript problems. 1. Implement Throttling promises by batching 2. Implement Promise.all polyfill Some basic System Design questions specifically based on realtime streaming as both Interviewer & I had experience working on such products. 1. How do you maintain good streaming quality in low network conditions? 2. What strategies to use for performance if main thread is busy decoding streaming data? ▶️ 𝗥𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝟮: 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 (𝟭𝟮𝟬𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘀) 1. First Challenge, given a Holy Grail (not exact) like UI layout and asked to te-arrange elements to expected design using only CSS. 2. Design Frontend System Design for a live-stream based Chat like Youtube or Zoom Classroom. - Had to design & give implementation details considering React Architecture. - Hard parts of this problem is understanding the states used & its structure & also rendering UI in an optimized way despite stream of messages received. ▶️ 𝗥𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝟯: 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 (𝟲𝟬𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘀) Interviewer was an EM and gave the challenge to design frontend system for Google Meet. Interviewer was keen on, - UI Components Architecture & Data flow - What kind of states (data structures used) - Discussion on networks (Websockets vs WebRTC) ▶️ 𝗥𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝟰: 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 (𝟯𝟬𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘀) Joined the Director of Engineering to interview. More of like an culture-fit round. Asked some scenario based questions and what are my expectations when I work in a team. 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗩𝗲𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁 - No one knows 🙃 Every round is an eliminating round. First 2 rounds were on same day and went well. After Round 3 the recruiter ghosted for a week and said the position is on hold. After 3 weeks I re-contacted & said I was still open. The recruiter was okay & scheduled Round 4 and it went well. And again the recruiter ghosted for a week and then said the role is on hold. Then as usual the recruiter never turned back. -- 📌 I’ve created a dedicated guide designed specifically for cracking Frontend Interviews. It includes quality 50+ most interview asked problems with most in-depth explanations. Download Link, https://lnkd.in/gdMFzk-n 700+ frontend devs downloaded it. Do checkout FREE previews! ✅ The Guide helped me crack javascript interviews at Intuit, Nike, Tekion, Paypal, ServiceNow and many others. #frontend #interviewquestions #javascript

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Janta ne manga, and here it is 🙌 A lot of freshers messaged me asking if they need to complete my full System Design course to sit for companies like Uber, Zomato, etc. So here’s the answer — No, you don’t need to watch the entire LLD playlist if you're aiming for an SDE-1 role. And to give you a more structured answer, so that there’s ZERO confusion, I’ve made a 15-minute video explaining exactly what and how much you should cover from the playlist, based on whether you’re aiming for SDE-1, SDE-2, SSE-1, or SSE-2. Check it out : https://lnkd.in/ga4qBDHK

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