Ford Motor Company interview experience Real time questions & tips from candidates to crack your interview

SDE - Intern

Ford Motor Company
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2 rounds | 6 Coding problems

Interview preparation journey

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Journey
As I progressed in my learning, I embarked on personal projects to put my knowledge into practice. I created uncomplicated programs and algorithms and gradually advanced to more intricate undertakings. I also participated in online forums and communities to share my work and cooperate with others in the field. With every new project, I encountered fresh challenges and difficulties. However, I persisted, gaining knowledge from my mistakes and pushing myself to improve. As my competencies and understanding increased, I felt more self-assured in my abilities. Eventually, my perseverance paid off, and I received an interview call from a renowned tech firm. I devotedly prepared for the interview, studying the company's products and technologies and honing my coding skills.
Application story
I got this opportunity off-campus. I applied for this role via LinkedIn, and after one month, I got a call from HR. The whole process took just one week.
Why selected/rejected for the role?
I was not a pro neither in development or coding. But, I have maintained an outstanding balance in both skills in my resume and my desire to learn. This makes me a fit candidate for SDE-1.
Preparation
Duration: 2 months
Topics: Data Structures and Algorithms, Database Management Systems, OOPs, Computer Networks, Web Development
Tip
Tip

Tip 1: Being consistent is the key. Practice DSA questions daily and revise core concepts weekly. 
Tip 2: I recommend Coding Ninjas for interview preparation.
Tip 3: Be an active user of job platforms and start appearing in mock or real interviews for confidence without thinking about the level of your preparation.

Application process
Where: Linkedin
Eligibility: 7.5 CGPA
Resume Tip
Resume tip

Tip 1: Make a one-page resume and add skills in which you are confident
Tip 2: Mention at least two good projects and links to coding platforms
Tip 3: Must read interview experiences before any interview

Interview rounds

01
Round
Medium
Video Call
Duration80 mins
Interview date15 Dec 2022
Coding problem3

This was the DSA round. The interviewer asked three questions which are of medium level and asked up to optimal solution

1. Top View

Moderate
42m average time
61% success
0/80
Asked in companies
MakeMyTripGeeksforGeeksAmazon

Given a binary tree. Print the Top View of Binary Tree. Print the nodes from left to right order.

Example:
Input:

Alt text

Output: 2 35 2 10 2
Problem approach

Step 1: Figure out how the tree will look after traversal and get to the point that I have to do something like vertical order traversal
Step 2: I do a level order traversal so that the topmost node at a horizontal node is visited before any other node of the same horizontal distance below it.
Step 3: Hashing checks whether a node at a given horizontal distance is seen. 
Step 4: I explained the whole approach and code

Try solving now

2. Ways to Arrange Balls

Hard
40m average time
50% success
0/120
Asked in companies
GeeksforGeeksDavis SoftwareFord Motor Company

Given ‘a’ balls of type ‘A’, ‘b’ balls of type ‘B’ and ‘c’ balls of type ‘C’. You need to find the total number of ways to arrange the balls in a straight line such that adjacent balls are of different types.

In other words, find the total ways to arrange the given balls in such a way that no two balls of the same type are adjacent.

For Example :
Suppose we have 2 balls of type ‘A’, 1 ball of type ‘B’ and 1 ball of type ‘C’, following are the ways to arrange them in the required fashion. 
ABCA
ABAC 
ACBA 
ACAB 
BACA 
CABA 
Hence, there is a total of six ways.
Problem approach

Step 1: Initially, I read the problem and started thinking about the pointer approach
Step 2: After a few minutes, I got to the point where I could treat balls as numbers (i.e., 0, 1, 2), and then I remembered the DNF algorithm
Step 3: So I took three-pointers, i.e. low, high, and mid, and wrote code keeping in mind I saved to store red -> white -> blue and applied DNF algo

Try solving now

3. Increasing Path In Matrix

Moderate
25m average time
75% success
0/80
Asked in companies
IntuitAppleOracle

You are given a 2-D matrix ‘mat’, consisting of ’N’ rows and ‘M’ columns. The element at the i-th row and j-th column is ‘mat[i][j]’.

From mat[i][j], you can move to mat[i+1][j] if mat[i+1][j] > mat[i][j], or to mat[i][j+1] if mat[i][j+1] > mat[i][j].

Your task is to find and output the longest path length if you start from (0,0) i.e from mat[0][0] and end at any possible cell (i, j) i.e at mat[i][j].

Note :
Consider 0 based indexing.
Problem approach

Step 1: He just asked for an approach to this question, so I told him that
Consider each cell as a node, and each boundary between adjacent cells be an edge. So, the total number of Nodes is N * N. So, the idea is to do a breadth-first search from the starting cell till the ending cell is found.
Step 2: Then he asked for time complexity

Try solving now
02
Round
Hard
Video Call
Duration60 mins
Interview date15 Dec 2022
Coding problem3

Asked for almost everything that I mentioned in my resume.

1. Rotate Linked List

Moderate
25m average time
65% success
0/80
Asked in companies
Morgan StanleyPharmEasyGeeksforGeeks

You are given a linked list having ‘n’ nodes and an integer ‘k’.


You have to rotate the linked list to the right by ‘k’ positions .


Example :
Input: linked list = [1 2 3 4] , k = 2

Output: 3 4 1 2

Explanation:
We have to rotate the given linked list to the right 2 times. After rotating it to the right once it becomes 4->1->2->3. After rotating it to the right again, it becomes 3->4->1->2. 


Problem approach

1)Create a function for a single rotation
2)Take care of some edge cases
3)Simply make the value of k smaller to avoid the repeated effect of rotation (k=k%n)
4)Since the function singleRotate() will rotate the list one time only so, to rotate it k times, call the function under a while loop, which will be operated k-times
5)Return the head of the list

Try solving now

2. DBMS Question

Schema Design for Instagram post. (Learn)

3. Web Dev Questions

Asked about web development theoretical concepts, some remembered questions like ---- 
Q1: You have given n no. of articles, and you have to change the color of the title in an alternate fashion in CSS
Q2: What happens when we hit google.com in the browser? (Learn)

Problem approach

Tip 1: Well revised your skills and make some projects hands-on 
Tip 2: Read the standard interview question

Here's your problem of the day

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

Skill covered: Programming

What is recursion?

Choose another skill to practice
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