SDE at Adobe

How it went

What they would tell you

How to prepare

Their background

Round by round

1. 1

   Screening + DSA90 min

   Aptitude Test-> Covered logical reasoning, basic math, pattern recognition. Technical MCQs-> 20 questions on DSA, OS (processes, threads, memory), DBMS (normalization, joins, indexing),SQL optimization. Duration: 60–90 minutes

2. 2

   Technical Round 160 min

   Basic problem-solving questions, the first set of questions was designed to test my understanding of array manipulations and tree structures. The rotate array problem in my interview was a great challenge, but I knew I could handle it. I initially went for a brute force solution, but I quickly realized it wasn’t the most efficient. So, I switched gears and optimized it using reverse operations, this significantly improved the performance. For the all elements in two binary search trees question, I knew exactly what to do. I did an in-order traversal of both trees, merged the resulting sorted lists, and completed the task efficiently.

   • Rotate Array
   • All Elements in Two Binary Search Trees question
3. 3

   DSA + Cultural Fit60 min

   I started the interview with a brief introduction and then coding problem. I’m not sure of the exact problem, but it was easier to medium side. After the coding part, the conversation shifted to more personal topics, about my hobbies, so I told them I’m really into open-source work, blogging, and photography. Then, they asked how I keep up with the latest tech trends. I told them I follow tech blogs, attend meetups, experiment with new frameworks, and participate in coding challenges on platforms like LeetCode and Codewars. They also asked how I balance work and learning, so I shared that I carve out time for side projects, attend conferences, and learn from peers along the way.

4. 4

   Technical Round 260 min

   After the brief introductions, I was immediately presented with the Kth Smallest Element in a Sorted Matrix problem. My initial approach involved using a heap to extract the smallest elements, but I later optimized it using binary search. The interviewer asked me to perform a dry run with a sample matrix. Following this, I was asked to review and critique a few small code snippets. I pointed out bugs, identified bad practices, and suggested possible improvements.

   • Kth Smallest Element in a Sorted Matrix problem
5. 5

   Director Round60 min

   The interviewer asked some questions about my past experiences and motivations for applying to Adobe. And some behavioral aspects and about my technical background.

What came up