Zomato

Role: SDE-1

College: BTech CSE, 2022, Tier - 3 college, India

Interview Date: Feb, 2024

Interview Type: Full-Time (Applied via Referral)

Result: Offer (Accepted)

Difficulty: Medium

Rounds: 3 rounds

Topics Asked: Projects, Current Work, Technologies, SQL (optimized query, subqueries vs joins), Coding (Binary Search on Answer, Graph algorithms, thread safety), REST APIs, DBMS, OS, Work culture

Experience:

The candidate, with 1.5 Years of Experience, applied via referral and received an offer from Zomato in February 2024.

Phone Call: A recruiter contacted the candidate to schedule the interviews.

Round 1 (Technical Interview - 1 to 1.5 hours): The round began with a 5-minute self-introduction, where the candidate confidently highlighted recent projects. This was followed by a 15-minute discussion on current work and technologies used. A significant portion (20-25 minutes) was dedicated to project discussion, specifically a basic database engine like SQLite, covering how databases, indexing, and B-Trees work. The interviewer was reportedly impressed when the candidate demonstrated the project. Next, 10-15 minutes were spent on writing an optimized SQL query involving 4-5 tables, and discussing the difference between subqueries and joins. Finally, a coding question (20-25 minutes) was given, which was solved using Binary Search on Answer, requiring a complete working code and explanation. The candidate rated this round 8.5-9/10.

Round 2 (Technical Interview - 1 hour 15 minutes): This round also started with a 5-minute introduction, again with the candidate emphasizing projects. 15 minutes were spent discussing prior experience, including questions on REST APIs. A 20-minute project discussion followed, covering a project that utilized graph algorithms and implemented a research paper, with a question on making the program thread-safe. A coding question took 30-35 minutes.

Culture-fit round (30-35 minutes): This round was conducted by the VP of tech and primarily involved the VP explaining Zomato's work culture, work-life balance, and expectations. It was made clear that Zomato does not operate like a typical 9-to-5 corporate environment, offering challenging problems and growth opportunities for those willing to put in the effort. Compensation was also discussed.

Tips: The candidate suggests that Zomato primarily hires through referrals. It's crucial to convey strengths in DSA, projects, and prior experience. DSA problems are generally of medium difficulty. Revising SQL, DBMS, and OS concepts is highly recommended.