KLA Interview Experience for Software Engineer Intern (2020)
Question Details
First Round(Coding Round): This round was on hackerrank in our LAB. There were two coding questions, both from the Graph data structure and 90 minutes were given.The first...
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First Round(Coding Round): This round was on hackerrank in our LAB. There were two coding questions, both from the Graph data structure and 90 minutes were given. The first one was relatively easy, and the second one was a little hard to optimize. I solved both the questions completely. Find the number of islands. https://leetcode.com/problems/critical-connections-in-a-network/
Note: Apart from your coding score, they also see your resume. So keep updated your resume and LinkedIn profile. Some students solved one and a half questions and didn't get shortlisted, and some solved only one problem got shortlisted. Five students got shortlisted, including me. Second Round (Technical + HR): They scheduled a Zoom meeting of around one hour for this round. There was one technical person who took my interview. Firstly he took my introduction then started asking three coding questions back to back (only solution approach was asked). The first question was based on the tree data structure. (print the top view of Binary tree) I gave him the optimized approach, and then we moved to the second question. The second one was based on DP (string). I told him an approach that was not optimized, but he was satisfied with the approach. Then we moved to the third problem, which was based on a stack. (The largest rectangular area of the histogram) Firstly I gave him a brute force solution. Then he asked me for an optimized one, and then I started explaining an optimized approach after taking a hint from him. He was satisfied with my approach. In the end, he asked me if I have any questions then I asked him some questions about the KLA working culture and Services they provide. After some minutes of discussion, we ended the meeting. The interviewer was very polite and helpful.
Note: Keep sharing your approach with the interviewer. Don't be silent for a long time. If you are stuck somewhere, don't hesitate to ask for a hint. Because solving a problem after taking a hint is better than not solving the problem. PS: Apart from this interview process, they also see your LinkedIn profile, resume, and academics. So do focus on these things too. After some days of the interview, I got the news that I got an internship opportunity in KLA :).
About This Question
This is a reported interview question from a kla tencor interview for a swe role (intern level) during the oa round reported in 2025.
It covers the following topics: Trees, Strings, Dynamic Programming, Binary Tree, Graph, Stack Queue, Graphs, Stack .
Difficulty rating: Easy
More Kla Tencor Interview Questions
About Kla Tencor Interview Reports
This question was reported by a candidate who interviewed at Kla Tencor. 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 Kla Tencor are the higher-signal extractions to take from this report.
For broader preparation context, the Kla Tencor 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 Kla Tencor reports consistently are the ones worth investing in; one-off niche problems are not.
During Your Kla Tencor 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 Kla Tencor 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.