Uber Software Engineer II Backend Interview Experience (USA, 2024)

Role: SWE II (Backend) - Uber Grocery

Outcome: Offer Accepted

Online Assessment Standard CodeSignal General Coding Assessment format. The test consisted of four questions: two straightforw

Role: SWE II (Backend) - Uber Grocery

Outcome: Offer Accepted

Online Assessment Standard CodeSignal General Coding Assessment format. The test consisted of four questions: two straightforward problems, one logic-heavy question, and one algorithmic challenge.

Recruiter Screen A general behavioral screen. Success requires a clear understanding of the job posting and the company’s mission statement to demonstrate specific interest in the role.

**Onsite Coding

Round 1 Grid Connectivity**

Problem: Given a 2D MxN array where cells represent open restaurants, implement the following interface: * openRestaurant(r, c): Open a restaurant at the specified coordinates. * countOpenRestaurants(r, c):

Return the number of restaurants at the coordinates. * hasOpenRestaurant(r, c):

Return a boolean indicating if any restaurant exists at the coordinates. * countDeliveryZones(): Determine the number of delivery zones, defined as clusters of open restaurants connected directionally (up, down, left, right).

Solution: While DFS/BFS approaches function correctly, they are not considered optimal for this specific variation. The expected solution utilizes the

Union-Find (Disjoint Set Union) data structure to handle the connected components efficiently.

Note that interviewers may offer zero hints or collaboration during this process.

**Onsite Coding

Round 2 Meeting Scheduler**

Problem: Given a set of office rooms, implement a function scheduleMeeting(startTime, endTime) that returns an available room for the requested interval.

Follow-ups: 1.

Concurrency: Identify bottlenecks and propose solutions for handling 10,000 concurrent scheduling requests. 2.

Time Complexity: Optimize the initial solution, which ran in O(M*N) (Rooms * Bookings). The target solution involves keeping bookings sorted and utilizing

Binary Search to check for interval overlaps in logarithmic time.

System Design Design a Cart Management System within the context of grocery delivery.

Behavioral Round Standard conversation with the Hiring Manager regarding fit and history.

Key Takeaways *

Algorithmic Focus: There is a distinct preference for problems solvable via Union-Find. *

Interview Style: The technical rounds can be uncollaborative; candidates should be prepared to solve problems without hints or "bouncing ideas" off the interviewer. *

Negotiation: Base salary is rigid, even with competing offers. Negotiation leverage is typically limited to increasing the sign-on bonus.