airbnb | Software Engineer | Interview Experience
Interview Date: Not specified
Result: Not specified
Difficulty: Not specified
Interview Process
The interview process included several rounds, starting with a code review focused on topological sorting, specifically related to course scheduling. The candidate noted that they initially confused in-degree and out-degree but found the previous face-to-face experience helpful. The first two pull requests (PRs) took half the time to finish comments, while the third PR was extensive, resulting in almost 10 comments due to discussions on trade-offs, conflicts, and standard behavioral questions.
A system design question was posed, asking the candidate to design a ticketing system where users can send tickets that are routed to different agents. The tickets can have various statuses such as created, pending assignment, assigned, and resolved. The candidate felt overwhelmed by the scope of the system and managed to design about 70% of it before running out of time.
Technical Questions
- Course Schedule - Topological Sorting
- System Design - Ticketing System
Tips & Insights
The candidate emphasized the importance of preparing according to the company’s core values, which were provided by HR. They found the interviewers to be friendly and approachable. However, they were caught off guard by a question regarding their last volunteering experience and their feelings about it. Additionally, the candidate mentioned that after the initial rounds, HR suggested an extra round focused on system design to clarify some signals, particularly addressing how to prevent double booking in an Airbnb-like booking system.