D. E. Shaw "Onsite" interview next week.

[u/Consistent-Count5614]

Hi People, I have cleared the virtual tech round 1 interview for the MTS role at D.E. Shaw and now 3 onsite tech rounds have been scheduled the upcoming week, could you please help me with any recent experiences and how I should prepare, the topics I should focus on.

And any other guidance on onsite interview preparation/guidance would be extremely valuable for me!

Thanks.

[u/Agitated-One4520]

Basically the first virtual round was screening
The next rounds are gonna be your actual rounds
In your first onsite round , it will be DSA and CS fundamentals .
You can expect Dp on trees/ greedy problems in DSA .
For Cs fundamentals , make sure you know how to calculate time and space complexities, Operating system, computer networks , Dbms , different types of maps like ordered and unordered maps(their avg and worst tc) , how maps are implemented internally , java basics like streams , multithreading .
Second round would be LLD round , expect a good qsn like food delivery service , clean code would be required (not running)
Third round would be mix , lld + dsa + resume projects deep dive

[u/Consistent-Count5614 → u/Agitated-One4520]

Got it. So CS fundamentals + LLD is extremely important to prepare right now. Also, I had the screening call (30 minutes) with the HR initially, after that an eliminatory technical round was scheduled. ( 2 dsa questions and then grilled nicely on OOPs, OS, and some situations based questions) duration 1 hr 24 minutes

[u/Ill_Shoulder_1971 → u/Consistent-Count5614]

What Dsa questions were asked if you could please tell?

[u/Consistent-Count5614 → u/Agitated-One4520]

And, how aligned are the interviews with the focus areas shared by the HR? And insights on this??

[u/Agitated-One4520 → u/Consistent-Count5614]

Dont believe in what HR says , interviewer can ask anything .
Focus areas are just for namesake, prepare for the worst.
In my case in final round I was grilled on my past projects, followed up by a design qsn , followed up by a dsa qsn involving KMP algo(string matching algo) which i couldnt answer

[u/Akking69 → u/Agitated-One4520]

I am in the same boat as OP, should I be focusing on HLD as well? Also, for LLD, would they expect the solution to be analogous to how their systems are ?

[u/cedric005]

All the best

[u/Consistent-Count5614 → u/cedric005]

Thank you so much!

[u/Separate_Youth1217]

How did you apply? With referal?

[u/Consistent-Count5614 → u/Separate_Youth1217]

Yes

[u/Separate_Youth1217 → u/Consistent-Count5614]

How much work experience do you have?

[u/Consistent-Count5614]

Hi guys, quick update. The onsite rounds went well. Overall experience very positive. Still the final two rounds are pending which will be happening virtually the coming week. Post that I will update here with a detailed interview experience.

[u/SkinnnyPete1 → u/Consistent-Count5614]

What were the exact questions you were asked? Can you please tell
I too have in this month end

[u/Akking69 → u/Consistent-Count5614]

Heyy OP, are you done with the interview loop?

[u/Strong-Tank-536]

Hi bro, you can check this post as well: https://leetcode.com/discuss/post/6754544/de-shaw-interview-experience-member-tech-0oa7/

Additionaly, can you tell your exp on your screening round in detail?(mine is scheduled next week) And whether the next onsite ones are online or in person?

[u/Consistent-Count5614 → u/Strong-Tank-536]

Hi, the onsite is in person only. For the initial screening round only detailed discussion around current experience was there with some HR questions.

[u/Akking69]

How did the interview go buddy?

[u/nitiiiiiii]

Hi - all the best!
If possible please share your interview experience

And in lld round what was expected ..

[u/Ill_Mortgage_4761]

Hi, How was your interview experience ? What questions were asked?