Software Engineer · Phone Screen · Coding

Uber — Software Engineer ❌ Failed

Level: Unknown Level

Round: Phone Screen · Type: Coding · Difficulty: 6/10 · Duration: 60 min · Interviewer: Unfriendly

Topics: Algorithms, Arrays, Sorting, Two Pointers

Location: San Francisco, CA

Interview date: 2026-02-15

Got offer: False

Summary

I had a technical phone screen. The question involved sorting a sorted array of positive and negative numbers by the square of their values.

Details

The question I got was:

Given a sorted array containing positive and negative numbers, sort the array by the square of each number.

I initially suggested a heap-based solution. The interviewer asked me to optimize it. I proposed a two-pointer approach, but then jokingly suggested using a heap because it was simpler and had fewer edge cases. The interviewer didn't agree. So, I implemented the two-pointer approach.

Key insights:

• The interviewer wanted me to demonstrate an optimized solution.
• Avoid suggesting the simpler approach if a more efficient one exists.
• Pay attention to corner cases even when using a two-pointer approach.