Electronic Arts

Role: SDE - 2

College: Not Specified

Interview Date: Not Specified (experience published July 12, 2025)

Interview Type: Full-Time

Result: Selected

Difficulty: Medium to Hard

Rounds: 6 rounds

Topics Asked: Data Structures, Algorithms, Low-Level System Design, High-Level System Design, Kafka, Rabbit MQ, AWS Kinesis, Class Diagram, Activity Diagram, Use Case Diagram, Class Schema, Behavioral Questions

Experience:

The candidate, a Senior Software Engineer, applied for an SDE-2 role through LinkedIn. The interview process consisted of 6 rounds, beginning with two Data Structure and Algorithms rounds, followed by three System Design rounds, and concluding with an HR round.

Round 1: Data Structure and Algorithms
This round was conducted via Code Share and was taken by a Software Engineer. Questions asked included:

• Left View of a Binary Tree
• Add two numbers represented by Linked List
• Number of ways to reach Nth stair

Round 2: Data Structure and Algorithms
This round was also on Code Share and conducted by a Senior Software Engineer. Questions included:

• Add two numbers represented by Linked List (with a requirement to return the list in reverse order)
• Another data structure related question (not remembered by the candidate)

After these two initial rounds, the candidate was invited for onsite interviews at the Hyderabad office, with travel and food expenses covered by EA.

Round 3: Low Level System Design
This round was taken by a manager. Questions involved:

• What is Kafka, and the difference between Kafka, Rabbit MQ, and AWS Kinesis.
• Low-level design of an Elevator System. Various use cases were discussed, such as how to decide which lift moves to which floor and cases where a new lift is added to the building. The interviewer asked for a Class Diagram, Activity Diagram, Use Case Diagram, and class schema.

Round 4: High Level System Design
This round was conducted by a Senior Manager. The main question was the high-level design of the JIO Saavan mobile application. The candidate started with requirements gathering, followed by a simple system design, and then enhanced it for scalability and reliability.

Round 5: High Level - System Design
This round was taken by a Director of Engineering. Questions included:

• High-level design of a Loan recommendation system for bank customers (e.g., how a bank decides customer 'X' is eligible for an 'XYZ' loan).
• High-level design of Urban Clap.

Round 6: HR (People Partner)
This round involved simple behavioral questions.

Tips and Suggestions: The candidate suggested explaining your thought process when solving a problem or designing a system. It's recommended to start with a naive approach and then optimize it, discussing various methods. Candidates should not give up after a few attempts and keep trying different data structures and algorithms to demonstrate a never-give-up attitude and broad knowledge.