Adobe Product Intern Interview Experience 2024 | SheCodes

Round 1: Online Assessment

• Duration: 90 mins
• Platform: HackerRank
• Questions: 3 Medium DSA questions + conceptual MCQs on C++ pointers and memory leaks.

Round 2: Technical Interview 1

• Duration: 45 mins
• Questions:
  1. Maximum Subarray Sum (Kadane's Algorithm).
  2. Find the missing number in an array using Bit Manipulation (XOR method).
• Interviewer behavior: Very fast-paced. As soon as I solved one problem, he immediately threw a follow-up constraint at me (e.g., 'What if the array is unsorted and read-only?').

Round 3: Technical Interview 2

• Duration: 60 mins
• Questions:
  1. Find the Median of two sorted arrays of different sizes (LeetCode Hard).
  2. Deep dive into OS Concepts: Paging, Virtual Memory, and Thrashing.
• Where I went wrong: I struggled hard with the Binary Search logic for the Median problem. Instead of talking, I kept quiet for 5 solid minutes trying to figure it out in my head.
• How to Answer: NEVER stay silent. I should have communicated my thought process. Because I was silent, the interviewer assumed I was completely lost and had to give me 3 major hints, which ultimately led to my rejection.

Key Takeaways for Freshers

Treat the interview as a collaborative problem-solving session. 'Thinking out loud' is mandatory, not optional. If you need a minute to think, say: 'Please give me a minute to structure my thoughts'.