Salesforce | Gurgaon Drive | 26th Nov

I recently received a call from a recruiter who reached out to me on LinkedIn. I expressed interest in the opportunity. My experience level is 5+ years. The recruiter asked me to complete an online assessment first. The test was on HackerRank and consisted of two questions. The duration of the test was 60 minutes. The questions were:

1. Find the kth factor of n - Leetcode - The kth Factor of n
2. Suggest Search - Leetcode - Search Suggestions System

I completed both questions within 20-25 minutes with all test cases passing. I was then invited to an onsite round for face-to-face interviews in Gurgaon on November 26. They provided an Uber voucher of ₹2000, valid for one day only.

Round 1: DS/Algo The interviewer asked two challenging problems:

1. MAXPARTY - Codeforces - Problem 1610C
2. Count pairs - Given an array arr[] of length N and an integer K, the task is to count the number of pairs (i, j) such that i < j and arr[i] > K * arr[j]. Similar to count inversion - Leetcode - Count of Smaller Numbers After Self

I solved the first question by identifying that it could be solved with Binary Search and using a greedy approach. The interviewer asked me to write the condition to check. I did that. For the second question, I explained that it could be solved using merge sort. The interviewer asked me to write the logic for counting such pairs. I explained that. Overall, I felt I could have done better by writing the code more confidently. Otherwise, I would rate myself as average.

Round 2: LLD + DSA The round started with OOPs concepts, asking about abstraction vs. encapsulation and SOLID principles. We then discussed design patterns being used. The DSA question was:

1. Count the number of distinct contiguous substrings that are palindromes.
2. Max path sum in a binary tree - Leetcode - Binary Tree Maximum Path Sum

To be honest, I was not prepared at all for the LLD questions. I didn't realize it was an LLD round and answered as if I was discussing rather than being interviewed. I don't think the interviewer rated me higher than average in this round. For the first DSA question, I asked many clarifying questions, and then the interviewer changed the question for some reason and asked the second question. I solved it quickly, and then they asked a follow-up question about what if we wanted to return the path of the longest sum as well. We discussed the solution, and the interview ended there.

Again, this round wasn't satisfactory. The HR sent many people home by this time, and I thought I would be next. However, the HR called me for the next round.

Round 3: HLD + Behavioural This round included general behavioral questions, which I can't recall. The HLD question was: How would you ensure a multi-master system with high consistency?

We discussed a few solutions. I felt this round was more of a discussion. I thought this round went well for me.

Round 4: HM This round started with an introduction. The interviewer then asked why Salesforce. I couldn't justify my answer well because I come from a MAANG company. The interviewer then asked me about my projects and other behavioral questions. The main discussion centered around what is one of the most impactful projects you've done and how did you contribute to it?

After this round, I was done for the day. They told me they would reach out with the result within a week. I felt I might not get the offer, but I had a good experience with face-to-face interviews. This helped me gain confidence that if I brushed up on my concepts, I could crack senior-level role interviews.

I will update once I receive the result.

[Edit 1] : I received a call two days later. They said I had positive feedback and asked for my current and expected salary.

[Edit 2] : 14/Dec/ - I am still waiting for the recruiter to reach out. I tried contacting them once, but there was no positive response.

[Edit 3] : 24/Jan/ - The recruiter has ghosted and has not come back.