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SDE - 1

India Today
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3 rounds | 4 Coding problems

Interview preparation journey

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Journey
I focused my SDE1 preparation for India Today on three key areas. First, I strengthened my DSA skills through daily coding practice, particularly focusing on string manipulation and array problems relevant to media applications. Second, I studied their digital platforms, gaining an understanding of their content management systems and technical architecture. Finally, I brushed up on web development skills like React and Node.js, which I found in their job requirements. I also made sure to understand tech trends in the media industry and practiced implementing features like content filtering and news feed algorithms, which are crucial for their platforms.
Application story
I applied through India Today's careers portal and LinkedIn. The interview process consisted of three rounds: first, an online assessment testing DSA and coding skills; second, a technical interview focusing on problem-solving; third, a hands-on coding round with a system design discussion; and finally, a leadership round discussing projects and team fit.
Why selected/rejected for the role?
I was selected as an SDE1 at India Today because I demonstrated strong problem-solving abilities during the coding rounds and showed practical experience with the web development technologies they use. My clear understanding of content management systems and media-related technical challenges stood out. The interviewers appreciated my proactive approach when I discussed potential optimizations for their digital platforms. Additionally, my enthusiasm for the media tech domain and ability to write clean, maintainable code aligned perfectly with their team's needs. My strong communication skills and eagerness to learn new technologies also demonstrated that I would be a valuable addition to their engineering team.
Preparation
Duration: 2.5 months
Topics: Data Structures & Algorithms, Web Development, Media-Specific Technical Concepts, System Design Basics (Entry Level), Development Tools & Practices.
Tip
Tip

Tip 1: Practice on coding platforms.
Tip 2: Write clean and optimized code.

Application process
Where: Referral
Eligibility: Degree, (Salary Package: 10 LPA)
Resume Tip
Resume tip

Tip 1: Go through your resume.
Tip 2: Include a few points about the role requirements in your resume.

Interview rounds

01
Round
Medium
Online Coding Interview
Duration90 minutes
Interview date30 Sep 2021
Coding problem2

1. System Design

Design a system to schedule and return news articles based on their publish time.
Each article has an ID, title, and a scheduled publish timestamp.

Requirements:

Add articles with their scheduled time.

Retrieve all articles that should be published up to the current time.

Remove published articles.

Problem approach

Data Structures Used:

Min Heap: To maintain articles sorted by publish time
HashMap: To store article details for quick access

Then use functions to add articles, remove articles, and get articles.

2. Compress the String

Moderate
25m average time
60% success
0/80
Asked in companies
AdobeMathworksCIS - Cyber Infrastructure

Ninja has been given a program to do basic string compression. For a character that is consecutively repeated more than once, he needs to replace the consecutive duplicate occurrences with the count of repetitions.

Example:

If a string has 'x' repeated 5 times, replace this "xxxxx" with "x5".

The string is compressed only when the repeated character count is more than 1.

Note :

The consecutive count of every character in the input string is less than or equal to 9.
Problem approach

Start by checking if the string is empty. Initialize an empty result list and set the counter to 1 for the first character. Iterate through the string from the second character. If the current character matches the previous one, increment the counter. If it's different, add the previous character and its count (if count > 1) to the result list, then reset the counter to 1 for the new character. After the loop, add the final character and its count. Join the result list into a string. Compare lengths - return the compressed version if it's shorter, otherwise return the original string.

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02
Round
Medium
Video Call
Duration60 minutes
Interview date1 Oct 2021
Coding problem1

1. House Robber

Moderate
35m average time
80% success
0/80
Asked in companies
Park+India TodayGoogle inc

Mr. X. is a professional robber planning to rob houses along a street. Each house has a certain amount of money hidden.

Meanwhile, adjacent houses have a security system connected, and it will automatically contact the police if two neighboring houses were broken into the same night.

You are given an array/list of non-negative integers 'A' representing the amount of money hidden at each house. Your task is to return the maximum amount of money Mr. X can rob tonight without alerting the police.

Example:
Input: [1,2,3,1]

Output: 4

Mr. X. can rob the first house and the third house, total money = 1 + 3.
Hence, the total money robbed by Mr. X. is 4.
Problem approach

Start by handling edge cases: return 0 if the array is empty, the first element if the length is 1, or the maximum of the first two elements if the length is 2. For the main logic, we use two variables (or a DP array) to track the maximum money possible at each position. At each house, we have two choices: either rob this house and add money from two houses back (prev2 + current_house), or skip this house and keep the previous house's money (prev1). Take the maximum of these choices. Move the window forward by updating prev2 and prev1. The final answer will be in prev1.

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03
Round
Easy
HR Round
Duration30 minutes
Interview date1 Oct 2021
Coding problem1

1. HR Questions

  • "How do you handle disagreements with team members during code reviews?"
  • "Tell me about a time you helped a teammate who was struggling with a technical problem." Best Approach: Focus on communication and positive outcomes.
  • "How do you prioritize tasks when handling multiple features/bugs?"
  • "Describe a situation where you had to meet a tight deadline." Best Approach: Emphasize organizational skills and methodology.
Problem approach

Tip 1: Use the STAR approach.

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 the purpose of the return keyword?

Choose another skill to practice
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