Shopee | Backend Intern | VietNam | Mar 2022 []
Question Details
I\'ve just taken the OA of shopee There are 2 coding test in 60mins I think they belongs to Easy difficulty according to leetcode problem difficulty They are using Glider First one is...
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I\'ve just taken the OA of shopee
There are 2 coding test in 60mins
I think they belongs to Easy difficulty according to leetcode problem difficulty
They are using Glider
- First one is the easy version of https://leetcode.com/problems/valid-parentheses/ ( just \'(\' and\')\' )
\tAn input string is valid if:
\t1. Open brackets must be closed.
\t2. Open brackets must be closed in the correct order.
\t>But it is a little weird, that ")()" is valid, so all the close bracket is ok to be leftover.
\t>So check stack is null after loop make it false, I failed 1/9 testcase which I\'ve still cannot figure out what wrong. I did pass valid-parentheses with 0ms but cannot pass this one
\t>I did check stack find if there\'s any open bracket being leftover.
\t
* Second one is funny sort, which can explain like:
\tThe biggest floor in ascending order in 0th, 2th, 4th,..
\tThe smallest ceil in descending order in 1th, 3th, 5th..
\t
\tInput: a list of number
\tOutput: a list applying funny sort
\tExample: 3 8 4 5 6 1 7
\tOutput: 1 8 3 7 4 6 5
\t
\t> as you can see: 1 3 4 5 is in ascend order, 8 7 6 is in descend order
\t> I solved this problem with O(n)
Time Complexity and O(n) Space Complexity, in about 5 mins, I mean it\'s quite easy though. Then go back to messing with the first problem. I think they\'re finding someone solve this with O(1)
Space Complexity
Note: This was the first time I took a OA. I need to write a program to solve the problem (not just a class or a function like Leetcode)
About This Question
This is a reported interview question from a shopee interview for a backend role (intern level) during the oa round reported in 2022.
It covers the following topics: Stack, Strings .
Difficulty rating: Easy
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About Shopee Interview Reports
This question was reported by a candidate who interviewed at Shopee. LeakCode aggregates interview reports from 10+ sources, including 1Point3Acres, Glassdoor, LeetCode Discuss, Blind, Reddit, Indeed, and Nowcoder. Each report is translated where necessary, deduplicated against existing entries, and tagged by company, role, round type, and reporting date.
Use this question as one calibration data point, not a memorization target. Companies typically rotate their question pools every 2-4 months; the exact wording of a 2024 question may differ from what you encounter today. The underlying pattern, difficulty level, and follow-up depth at Shopee are the higher-signal extractions to take from this report.
For broader preparation context, the Shopee interview process typically includes a recruiter screen, one or two technical phone screens, and a 4-5 round on-site loop covering coding, system design (at L4+ levels), and behavioral. Reports tagged on LeakCode show the round-by-round distribution and typical difficulty calibration. To browse questions filtered by round type and seniority, use the company hub linked above.
How To Practice This Type of Question
Solve similar problems on LeetCode under timed conditions (25-35 minutes per medium difficulty). The goal is pattern recognition: recognize the underlying technique (sliding window, two-pointer, BFS, memoized recursion, etc.) within 60-90 seconds of reading. Strong candidates verbalize their hypothesis out loud before coding, then iterate based on feedback. Weak candidates dive into implementation immediately, lose time on the wrong approach, and run out of time for follow-ups.
Companies update their question pools every 2-4 months. The exact wording of any given question may have been retired by the time you interview. Focus your prep on the pattern, not the specific problem. The patterns that appear in Shopee reports consistently are the ones worth investing in; one-off niche problems are not.
During Your Shopee Round
Apply the standard interview round template: clarify requirements (2-3 minutes), state your approach out loud and confirm direction with the interviewer (3-5 minutes), code with narration (15-25 minutes), test with concrete examples including edge cases (5 minutes), discuss optimization or trade-offs if time permits (5 minutes). This template is universally accepted across FAANG and adjacent companies; deviating from it produces weaker interviewer feedback signal.
The single most predictive failure mode in Shopee reports tagged "no hire": not asking clarifying questions. Interviewers are explicitly trained to weight this. Strong candidates ask 3-5 clarifying questions even on problems that look obvious; weak candidates dive into code immediately. The clarifying-question check is often the first signal recorded in the interviewer's written notes.