Rakuten India interview experience Real time questions & tips from candidates to crack your interview

SDE - 1

Rakuten India
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3 rounds | 5 Coding problems

Interview preparation journey

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Journey
From the first semester of my B.Tech, I started doing competitive programming (CP) because my college has a great coding environment. I continued coding until the end of the first semester on one coding platform. Then I started using another platform because one of my friends suggested it, and from there I began enjoying CP. My third semester was focused on web development and coding, and from the fourth semester onward, I started coding on other platforms and go through interview experiences as the internship season was nearby.
Application story
This company visits our campus, and everyone with a CGPA above 7 is eligible to take the online assessment.
Why selected/rejected for the role?
I was selected for the role because my initial approach was very basic, and when the interviewer asked me to optimize it, I was always able to provide an optimized solution. In this way, he was impressed with my explanation.
Preparation
Duration: 6 months
Topics: Dynamic programming, Graph, Tree, OOPS, DBMS, Operating system, Computer network, DSA
Tip
Tip

Tip 1: Focus on the concept, not on the number of questions.
Tip 2: Do some development; even a simple HTML, CSS, and JavaScript project can work.
Tip 3: First solve the question by yourself, then refer to others' solutions.

Application process
Where: Campus
Eligibility: Above 7 CGPA
Resume Tip
Resume tip

Tip 1: Know everything on your resume (don’t include false information). 

Tip 2: Keep it to no more than 1 page. 

Tip 3: Highlight your job-related achievements and experience.

Interview rounds

01
Round
Medium
Online Coding Test
Duration60 minutes
Interview date11 Jan 2023
Coding problem2

1. Delete Node In A Linked List

Easy
15m average time
80% success
0/40
Asked in companies
HSBCAdobeCIS - Cyber Infrastructure

You are given a Singly Linked List of integers and a reference to the node to be deleted. Every node of the Linked List has a unique value written on it. Your task is to delete that node from the linked list.

A singly linked list is a linear data structure in which we can traverse only in one direction i.e. from Head to Tail. It consists of several nodes where each node contains some data and a reference to the next node.

Note:

• The reference to the head of the linked list is not given.
• The node to be deleted is not a tail node.
• The value of each node in the Linked List is unique.
• It is guaranteed that the node to be deleted is present in the linked list.

A sample Linked List-

singly_linkedlist

Problem approach

Copy the data from the next node to the current node. It's clear that the task question is wrong; you cannot delete the node. Instead of merely deleting the provided node, we are corrupting the next node. The question is poorly worded (without clarification about options) and presents a bad solution. In my opinion, the correct answer for the interview is: 'You cannot do this with only the node reference. However, we can perform a similar operation by corrupting the next node. Although it is possible, I do not recommend this solution for production applications.'

Try solving now

2. Merge Sort Linked List

Moderate
10m average time
90% success
0/80
Asked in companies
MeeshoIBMThought Works

You are given a Singly Linked List of integers. Sort the Linked List using merge sort.

Merge Sort is a Divide and Conquer algorithm. It divides the input into two halves, calls itself for the two halves, and then merges the two sorted halves. The merge() function is used for merging two halves. The merge(arr, L, M, R) is a key process that assumes that arr[L..M] and arr[M + 1...R] are sorted and merges the two sorted subarrays into one.

Try solving now
02
Round
Easy
Online Coding Test
Duration60 minutes
Interview date20 Jan 2023
Coding problem2

Timing was around 2 PM and I was alone in the room. Interviewer was very supportive and humble.

1. Count Triplets

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

You have been given an integer ‘X’ and a non-decreasing sorted doubly linked list with distinct nodes.

Your task is to return the number of triplets in the list that sum up to the value ‘X’.

Problem approach

First of all, we will try using the naive approach:

  1. Create a set of vector triplets to ensure all three triplets are unique.
  2. Run three loops for i, j, and k to iterate over the array.
  3. The triplet is valid if the values add up to 0.
  4. Insert the valid triplet into the set.
Try solving now

2. LCA Of Binary Tree

Moderate
10m average time
90% success
0/80
Asked in companies
GrabDisney + HotstarShareChat

You have been given a Binary Tree of distinct integers and two nodes ‘X’ and ‘Y’. You are supposed to return the LCA (Lowest Common Ancestor) of ‘X’ and ‘Y’.


The LCA of ‘X’ and ‘Y’ in the binary tree is the shared ancestor of ‘X’ and ‘Y’ that is located farthest from the root.


Note :
You may assume that given ‘X’ and ‘Y’ definitely exist in the given binary tree.
For example :
For the given binary tree

Example

LCA of ‘X’ and ‘Y’ is highlighted in yellow colour.
Problem approach

A node is the LCA if we find pq in left and right subtrees of a node. One has to be from the left and one has to be from the right
If we land on p or q before finding a node that fits #1 criteria above, then the node we landed on (p or q) is the LCA.
If we search the left and right subtrees of a node and don't find pq on a subtree (it returns NULL), that means the can ignore the subtree where we didn't find pq

Try solving now
03
Round
Easy
HR Round
Duration25 minutes
Interview date2 Feb 2023
Coding problem1

Firstly, he asked me to introduce myself then he started asking about my hobbies, background, curricular activities and also, he focused on my situation-based skill.

1. Basic HR Questions

Introduce yourself

What are your hobbies?

Why you want to join Rakuten rather than big Tech MNC’s?

What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?

Problem approach

Tip 1: Always show them you are only focused on learning.
Tip 2: Also make them feel that you will stay longer in their company

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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