D.E.Shaw interview experience Real time questions & tips from candidates to crack your interview

SDE - 1

D.E.Shaw
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4 rounds | 7 Coding problems

Interview preparation journey

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Journey
First of all, I got selected for a Tier 1 college. From there, my coding journey began. After learning DSA basics, I jumped to Leet code and Code Studio and practised a lot of questions from there. Later, I started with competitive programming and regularly gave contests on Code forces and Code chef. That helped me to build my coding skills and think effective solutions quickly. I tried to solve 5-10 medium to difficult questions on a daily basis.
Application story
De Shaw visited to my campus for the placement. We just had to upload resume and fill all details in the form. First shortlisting was done on the basis of CGPA and Resume.
Why selected/rejected for the role?
I was selected because, I could solve almost all the problems that were asked and I seemed enthusiastic about the role of a Developer. I had done competitive coding, so I was able to answer questions quickly and effectively. My verbal skills were decent and I could deliver my thought process and decision making in both Technical and HR round.
Preparation
Duration: 4 months
Topics: Dynamic Programming, OOPS, Computer Networks, Computer System Architecture, Operating System, Data Structures, Pointers
Tip
Tip

Tip 1 : Make sure that you are thorough with CS concepts beforehand.
Tip 2 : Even when you are explaining the approach to a question, try to parallelly think about how you would code it.
Tip 3 : Read the previous interview experiences. It would give a fair idea of the kind of questions one should expect.
Tip 4 : For a company like DE Shaw, practicing medium and hard difficulty level coding questions would be the way to go.
Tip 5 : Practice atleast 200 questions from coding platforms like CodeZen, LeetCode, Interviewbit as they contain common interview questions.

Application process
Where: Campus
Eligibility: Above 8.5 CGPA ( Only CSE, IT, ECE - both UG and PG )
Resume Tip
Resume tip

Tip 1 : Mention atleast 1 project and past work experience as it sets good impression.
Tip 2 : Keep your resume up to date for the role you are applying.
Tip 3 : Try to keep your resume of 1 Page.

Interview rounds

01
Round
Easy
Online Coding Interview
Duration95 minutes
Interview date9 Nov 2020
Coding problem2

This round was conducted in Hackerrank portal for a total duration of 95 minutes and was divided into 4 sections.

1st Section : Aptitude Section : 14 questions , 28 minutes
2nd Section : Technical Section : 12 questions , 17 minutes
3rd Section : 2 coding Questions : 20 minutes+30 minutes

This Round was Conducted on Hackerrank (Webcam Enabled).

1. Coin Game

Easy
15m average time
85% success
0/40
Asked in companies
SalesforceOracleAccenture

Wong is hungry and wants to eat tuna melt. He checks his pocket and finds that he has only a buck left. He asked Dr. Strange to lend him some money, for which Strange agrees but to get the money, Wong has to beat Strange in a game of coins. The game will be played by two players. Being kind enough Strange allows Wong to play first. Now, Strange arranges N coins in a row. Each coin is associated with a value. In his turn, every player can remove only one coin from either end. Once a player removes a coin, it can not be placed back into the row. At the end when all coins are removed, the player with the maximum value of coins wins. Wong will only get money if he wins the game. Wong knows that he can not beat sorcerer supreme, so he asked for your help.

You are given an array of integers, say, ‘ARR’ of size ‘N’ containing the values associated with ‘N’ coins. Your task is to determine the maximum value of coins you can obtain by following two rules:

a) Both players play in alternate turns and they can remove only one coin in their turn.
b) Any player can remove coins only from either of the two ends of ‘ARR’.

Note:

There can be more than one set of coins with maximum value.

For example:

a) Consider 3 coins are placed with values [10, 20, 30]: Wong removes 30, then Strange removes 20, then Wong removes 10. Now all coins are taken, and Wong has coins with value 40 and he wins.

b) Consider 1 coin is placed with value [100]: Wong removes the coin and no other coin is left. So, Wong wins with value 100.

Note:

a) The game only ends when NO MORE COIN IS LEFT to play with.

b) If a game ends in a draw, Wong is declared the winner. 
Try solving now

2. Magic Index

Easy
20m average time
80% success
0/40
Asked in companies
MicrosoftFacebookAdobe

You are given a sorted array A consisting of N integers. Your task is to find the magic index in the given array.

Note :
1. A magic index in an array A[0 ... N - 1] is defined to be an index i such that A[i] = i.
2. The elements in the array can be negative.
3. The elements in the array can be repeated multiple times.
4. There can be more than one magic index in an array.
Try solving now
02
Round
Medium
Face to Face
Duration120 minutes
Interview date11 Nov 2020
Coding problem2

This was an Online F2F Technical Round conducted on CodePair : Hackerrank. So, Basically You have to Run and Submit ( Pass All Test cases) in the Interview Round also (Like normal Coding Test) in Codepair : Hackerrank & along with that You should have to explain your Code and Approach to the Interviewers.
The Interviewers were helpful and didn't hesitate in giving hints. 
Timing - 10:00 A.M to 12:00 P.M

1. Minimum Number Of Taps To Water Garden

Hard
15m average time
85% success
0/120
Asked in companies
AppleSalesforceBNY Mellon

The gardener wants to water the garden by opening the minimum number of taps. The garden is one-dimensional along the x-axis of length N i.e. the garden starts from point 0 and ends at point N. There are N + 1 tap located at points [0, 1, 2, …, N] in the garden.

You are given an integer N, and an array named “ranges” of size N + 1(0-indexed). The ith tap, if opened, can water the gardener from point (i - ranges[i]) to (i + ranges[i]) including both. The task is to find the minimum number of taps that should be open to water the whole garden, return -1 if the garden can not be watered.

Example :

Watering The Garden

Follow Up:
Can you solve the problem in O(N) time?
Problem approach

I used greedy.

Try solving now

2. Money in Bank

Easy
15m average time
85% success
0/40
Asked in companies
PhonePeXebiaDaffodil Software

Harshit wants to save money for his first car. So, he puts money in the Ninja bank every day.

He starts by putting in ‘1’ rupee on Monday, the first day. Every day from Tuesday to Sunday, he will put in ‘1’ rupee more than the day before. On every subsequent Monday, he will put in ‘1’ rupee more than the previous Monday.

You are given an integer ‘N’, your task is to return the total amount of money he will have in the Ninja bank at the end of the ‘N’th day.

For example :

Given ‘N’ = 2 
On Day 1 = 1
On Day 2 = 2 
Total Amount = 1 + 2 = 3.
Therefore the answer is 3.
Try solving now
03
Round
Hard
Face to Face
Duration120 minutes
Interview date14 Nov 2020
Coding problem2

A lot of Variants based on Constraints were asked in this Round. They will ask you to write the final code for every question before Submitting it(run all test cases) so you won’t get any hints after running test cases in the IDE. ( So don’t Submit your code before dry running it on a lot of Test Cases on pen & paper , they allow to use pen & blank paper at the time of Interviews) .The Interviewers tried to trick in case of time complexities even if you gave the best one. So try to be confident.

1. Best Time to Buy and Sell Stock III

Hard
0/120
Asked in companies
MyntraGrowwAtlassian

You are Harshad Mehta’s friend. He told you the price of a particular stock for the next ‘n’ days.


You are given an array ‘prices’ which such that ‘prices[i]’ denotes the price of the stock on the ith day.


You don't want to do more than 2 transactions. Find the maximum profit that you can earn from these transactions.


Note

1. Buying a stock and then selling it is called one transaction.

2. You are not allowed to do multiple transactions at the same time. This means you have to sell the stock before buying it again. 
Example:
Input: ‘n’ = 7, ‘prices’ = [3, 3, 5, 0, 3, 1, 4].

Output: 6

Explanation: 
The maximum profit can be earned by:
Transaction 1: Buying the stock on day 4 (price 0) and then selling it on day 5 (price 3). 
Transaction 2: Buying the stock on day 6 (price 1) and then selling it on day 6 (price 4).
Total profit earned will be (3 - 0) + ( 4 - 1) = 6. 
Try solving now

2. Best Time to Buy and Sell Stock III

Hard
0/120
Asked in companies
MyntraGrowwAtlassian

You are Harshad Mehta’s friend. He told you the price of a particular stock for the next ‘n’ days.


You are given an array ‘prices’ which such that ‘prices[i]’ denotes the price of the stock on the ith day.


You don't want to do more than 2 transactions. Find the maximum profit that you can earn from these transactions.


Note

1. Buying a stock and then selling it is called one transaction.

2. You are not allowed to do multiple transactions at the same time. This means you have to sell the stock before buying it again. 
Example:
Input: ‘n’ = 7, ‘prices’ = [3, 3, 5, 0, 3, 1, 4].

Output: 6

Explanation: 
The maximum profit can be earned by:
Transaction 1: Buying the stock on day 4 (price 0) and then selling it on day 5 (price 3). 
Transaction 2: Buying the stock on day 6 (price 1) and then selling it on day 6 (price 4).
Total profit earned will be (3 - 0) + ( 4 - 1) = 6. 
Try solving now
04
Round
Easy
HR Round
Duration30 minutes
Interview date15 Nov 2020
Coding problem1

This was a Telephonic Round (Audio Call). The HR was friendly and asked basic questions.
The timing was 2:00 PM to 2:30 PM.

1. Rabbit Jumping

Easy
20m average time
80% success
0/40
Asked in companies
MyntraExpedia GroupD.E.Shaw

You are given ‘n’ carrots numbered from 1 to ‘n’. There are k rabbits. Rabbits can jump to carrots only with the multiples of Aj(Aj,2Aj,3Aj…) for all rabbits from 1 to k.

Whenever Rabbit reaches a carrot it eats a little carrot. All rabbits start from the same beginning point. You have to determine the remaining carrots(i.e., carrots which are not eaten by any rabbit) after all rabbits reach the end.

Problem approach

Tip 1 : Prepare Subjects in Depth for Technical Coding & Interview Round. Cracking the DE Shaw interview is not possible just by reading the short articles one night before.They ask the questions in-depth.
Tip 2 : All the Questions were basic in the HR Round !! … Be Honest in HR Round as well as Technical Rounds.
Tip 3 : Be Confident in HR Round and don't hesitate while answering and explaining situation based questions.

Try solving now

Here's your problem of the day

Solving this problem will increase your chance to get selected in this company

Skill covered: Programming

Which SQL keyword removes duplicate records from a result set?

Choose another skill to practice
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