Shreyes Srivastava

5 underrated hacks that helped me get replies from PayU, Outcomes, Blinkit, Goldman Sachs, and even Google Job searching with less than 2 years of experience? I’ve been there. 900+ applications. Barely any replies. Lowball offers. Radio silence. Here’s what finally worked for me — not magic, just underrated strategies: 1. Hyper-personalised cold emails using Hunter + Mailtrack Stop blasting your resume. Instead, find the right person (tech lead, recruiter), send a personal note, and track if they read it. Tools I used: → hunter.io to find emails → mailtrack.io to check opens 2. Applied to companies no one was talking about on LinkedIn Everyone wants Google. I looked at high growth startups on: → wellfound.com (AngelList) → cutshort.io → ycombinator.com/jobs 3. Portfolio > Resume for React & Python folks I uploaded two solid frontend + backend projects with a clear README, live demo, and GitHub actions. Tip: Deploy on vercel.com, use readme.so for clean docs. 4. Crafted a clear “Featured” section on LinkedIn Included my projects, resume PDF, and best tweets. My profile became a pitch deck, not just a résumé. 5. Replied to hiring posts like a human, not a bot No “Interested Sir”. I wrote something like: "Hey X, I loved the product you’re building at Blinkit. I’ve been working on similar tech recently and would love to contribute. Here’s a demo and GitHub link." These 5 things didn’t give me instant success — but they got me callbacks, visibility, and confidence. If you’re struggling, don’t just spam apply. Strategise. Stand out. Let me know if you want templates or tools I used, happy to help. Follow Abhay Singh for more such reads.

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A frontend engineer applied to Blinkit for an SDE-1 role. They knew DSA, understood core CS fundamentals, and had good industry experience, but still got rejected in the machine coding round. Another frontend engineer went for SDE-1 at Swiggy. Despite a solid grasp on algorithms, they got tripped up by a high-level design (HLD) question and got rejected. Stories like these are everywhere now. Companies are moving past pure DSA and want engineers who can build real features, design systems, and write scale code. Swiggy, Zomato, Nykaa, Upstox, RazorPay, Navi, and Cars24 all run machine coding rounds in their interviews for frontend roles. ► So, what exactly is the machine coding round? This round tests how you take a real-world product requirement and turn it into a working application or feature, under time pressure, with messy constraints, and with the expectation that your code could go live. You might be asked to build a mini-dashboard, interactive table, chat UI, or even an end-to-end feature, using your tech stack of choice. ► What do you have to do? Write production-ready, modular, and readable code Show you can handle edge cases, loading, and errors. Think about performance, scalability, and user experience. Make smart design choices for components, state, and data flow. Explain your approach as you build, and adapt on the fly to feedback. ► Best practices for cracking this round: Clarify requirements at the start; don’t assume anything. Sketch a component and data structure plan before jumping into code. Structure files and logic for easy reading and extension. Build in increments, test and show your progress at milestones. Practice with real problems from actual interview experiences, not just sample projects. Most importantly, remember that companies want to see how you think, not just what you know. Your process, clarity, and ability to adapt under pressure matter as much as the final output. I’ve compiled a resource of 25+ detailed interview experiences from engineers at Blinkit, Swiggy, Zomato, Upstox, RazorPay, Nykaa, Navi, Cars24, and also top companies like Uber, Tekion, Flipkart, Zepto, and more. If you’re prepping for frontend interviews in 2025, don’t leave this round to chance, learn from other’s interview experiences: https://lnkd.in/g7kjjR4i

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🚀 My Meesho SDE 1 off-campus Interview Experience 💼 I feel fortunate to have been interviewed by Meesho for the SDE-1 role recently. Although I couldn’t make it to the final managerial round, it was a great learning journey that pushed my limits in problem-solving and system design. Here’s a detailed breakdown for fellow aspirants! 🛤 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Off-campus (Applied directly through Meesho’s career portal) 📍 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞: Virtual ( google meet ) 📩 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭: Not selected 📌 𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬: 🔹𝐑𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 0: 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 📩 From over 1.5 lakh applicants, I was shortlisted based on my resume for the next rounds. 🔹𝐑𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 1: 𝗢𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 (2.45 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀) 📌 𝗧𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗱: Dynamic Programming, Dijkstra’s variation, and Greedy Algorithms ( all of Hard level ) 🔹𝐑𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 3: 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 - 𝗗𝗦𝗔 (30 𝐦𝐢𝐧) 📌 This was a live discussion-based interview focused on 2 Linked List problems (medium difficulty) on google doc. 🔹I first had to explain the brute-force approach verbally 🔹Then, write the optimized code with time complexity for both problems with follow-ups 🔹𝐑𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 4: 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 - 𝗠𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 (1 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿) 🎯 📌I was given a real-world problem, based on a shopping cart + inventory system. The task was to implement 5 methods: 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁(productId, price, quantity) 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗧𝗼𝗖𝗮𝗿𝘁(cartId, productId, quantity) 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗽𝗼𝗻(code, type, value, maxDiscount, minPurchase, expiry) 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗽𝗼𝗻(code, cartId) 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸𝗼𝘂𝘁(cartId) 🧠 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗪𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗪𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴? Although the time constraint was tight, I managed to implement 4 out of 5 methods. The final checkout method was left incomplete due to time. This task required designing three in-memory databases (productDB, cartDB, couponDB) and making them interact. I also implemented validation for edge cases like missing IDs or invalid inputs, which consumed additional time. In hindsight, I could have skipped those checks initially and focused purely on core logic to complete all methods. 💡 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬: ✔️ System design questions, even in SDE-1 roles, are becoming common. ✔️ Time management in machine coding rounds is crucial — prioritize core logic first, then validations. ✔️ Practice DSA question on notepad or google doc without compiler for real interview practice. #meeshoInterviewExperience #meeshoLLD #meeshoSDE1InterviewExperience #machineCoding #lowLevelDesign #GeeksforGeeks #interviewExperience #Fresher #2024Batch

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I recently switched to an MTS-2 role at Adobe after almost 3 years as an SDE at MakeMyTrip 🎉 So, here’s a detailed breakdown of the Adobe interview process for the SDE-2 (Backend) role, in case you’re preparing for something similar 👇 🔷 Round 1: DSA Round (1 hour) → One medium-level LeetCode-style problem → Focused on Trees with a twist of Dynamic Programming → Language flexibility, but Java was preferred 🔷 Round 2: DSA Round (1 hour) → Another medium to hard-level question → Heavy focus on tree traversal logic and optimization → Expected to walk through edge cases and dry-run during the call 🔷 Round 3: Low-Level Design + Machine Coding (LLD) [1hour] → Task: A variation inspired by CricHeroes (a local cricket scorekeeping app) → Covered functional requirements, class design, methods, and handling dynamic data → Concurrency and multithreading were tested through follow-ups → Expected to write clean, working code within time 🔷 Round 4: Low-Level Design (LLD) [1 hour] → Task: Design a complete Flight Booking System → This round was based on my MakeMyTrip experience → Explored multiple approaches, optimizations, and variations post-implementation 🔷 Round 5: High-Level Design + Managerial Round [1 hour] → Task: Design for a basic Web Crawler system → Included design discussion + team collaboration and execution-related questions Result: Selected! 🎉 If you're aiming to switch to more Sr. SDE roles, having structured guidance can be a game-changer. That’s why I’d recommend Bosscoder Academy. 🔗 Check out their programs here: https://bit.ly/4okRrPP They’ve already helped 2200+ engineers switch to roles at top product-based companies with: 💡 Structured curriculum for DSA, System Design & Full Stack 💡 1:1 mentorship from industry experts 💡 Resume reviews, 100% job switch guidance & mock interviews 💡 Real-world project exposure & 24/7 doubt support P.S. Their Independence Day Sale is live so you can get 25% OFF on all of their courses! 🎊 #Interviewexperience #adobe #sde2 #Backend #systemdesign #machinecoding

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How My Junior Cracked the Google SWE Summer Interview Process – Full Process Breakdown Recently, I had a long conversation with one of my juniors who got selected as a Google India SWE Intern for Summer 2024. Listening to his story felt like going through a real-life placement thriller – full of pressure, preparation, and precision. He gave me permission to share this in hopes it might help others. So here’s the full experience — broken down step by step: 🔹 1. Application & Online Assessment (OA)  He applied via the official Google Careers portal. After some wait, he got an invite for the Online Assessment.   The test included 2 DSA coding questions — both were solved successfully within the given time. 📌 Tip: Brushing up on Leetcode, Codeforces, and DSA sheets helps a lot at this stage. 🔹 2. Technical Interviews (2 Rounds) Both interviews were scheduled on the same day, each lasting 45 minutes. 🧠 What they asked:   - Started with a main DSA problem   - Followed by edge cases, optimizations, and constraint-handling   - Interviewers were keen on trade-offs between different solutions, not just the final code 📌 Tips from his experience:   - Think out loud – your reasoning matters more than you think   - Ask clarifying questions before jumping to a solution   - Be ready to talk about time and space complexity  - Prepare to compare different approaches (brute-force vs. optimal) 🔹 3. Host Matching (Unique to Google)  Once he cleared both tech rounds, he didn’t get the offer immediately — Google has a Host Matching process. ⚠️ Note: Passing the technical interviews doesn’t guarantee an offer. The availability of hosts and project alignment are also key factors in the final selection. ✅ Here’s how it worked:   - His profile was shared with internal Google teams   - One host (from Google Ads ML SRE team in Dublin) showed interest and set up a call   - It was a relaxed conversation: project discussion, his academic background, ML knowledge, and past experience   - They both agreed to move forward after the call 📌 Important: Just clearing interviews doesn't guarantee an offer. Host availability and project fit also matter. 🔹 4. The Final Offer 🎉   Within a few days, he got the much-awaited offer letter from Google for the Software Engineering Intern (SRE) role. The happiness in his voice when he shared this — I’ll never forget it. 🙌 I know many of you dream about cracking companies like Google — and I truly believe you can.   This story proves 3 big things: 1. Your background doesn’t matter as much as your preparation.   2. Consistency > Overnight miracles.   3. You only need one “Yes.” And Google’s Yes starts with you saying “I’ll try.” If you’re preparing for Summer Internships or Off-Campus roles, don’t give up. Bookmark this process and keep learning. You never know when your turn will come. Tag someone who’s aiming for Google. Follow Vikram Gaur #GoogleIntern #SWEInternship #InternshipExperience #google

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Google and Microsoft 2 months SWE Internships are going to start from 12th May for the first batch of interns. Similarly, thousands of interns across the country will be starting their first corporate exposure in the coming weeks across multiple companies. Here's 5 things you should be focused on during your internships to make the most out of it, and get towards your coveted PPO : 1. Ask Questions : As an intern, its expected you dont know anything. Take the opportunity, ask as many questions as you can about the system and your career leveraging the skilled community of engineers around you, to upskill yourself faster, so that you can contribute more. No question is a stupid question. 2. Do your research : While no question is a stupid question, maybe the answer is hiding in plain sight in front of you. Take some time and effort to seek the answer before asking someone else. Showcase your efforts and eagerness to learn and contribute to the team. 3. Take ownership : This is the most important point to focus on even as a full time engineer. Take complete ownership of the component you assigned to. While you might not understand the entire system, try to become the SME for your team for that small assigned area. Make yourself irreplaceable. 4. Ask for help : As an intern, its expected you will get stuck at times and will need help. The folks who make it are the ones who are self aware that they need help. Raise help at the right time, call out blockers early, keep the team and manager updated on your progress regularly, and try to avoid last minute surprises that come from a lack of communication. 5. Document your work : Have a good documentation of all the work you're doing in your intern. Keep 15mins aside in your calender daily to track your daily progress and work you've done. Compile them weekly into a weekly progress sheet, and map your expectations and roadmap against them. This will help you pitch yourself to your manager for the PPO with facts, and help the manager to pitch your case to the senior leadership. Bonus : This is actually a must do. Your mentor and manager should be in perfect loop across all your works, and know at all times, things you are working on and the progress/blockers you're facing. Hope these pointers help and you folks make the most out of your internships 💯 Stay tuned for more such content!! ✌🏻🚀

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Swiggy launches Assure to compete with Hyperpure by Zomato. Swiggy launched Assure last September, a B2B platform to help restaurants source fresh, high-quality kitchen ingredients. This move puts them in direct competition with Zomato’s Hyperpure, as both companies battle for dominance in the restaurant supply business. 🔹 Why is Swiggy entering this space? So, Hyperpure by Zomato is growing fast, with its revenue nearly doubling from 859 crore (Q3 FY24) to 1,671 crore (Q3 FY25) while moving towards operational profitability. Unlike Zomato’s quick commerce arm, Blinkit is its most unprofitable business. Hyperpure is a strong revenue driver. Swiggy sees the potential and wants a share of this market to boost its profitability. 🔹 Not just an experiment Assure is being developed by Swiggy’s subsidiary Scootsy Logistics Pvt Ltd , which also operates Link Partner, a logistics platform. They are actively hiring to scale up operations, indicating they are serious about this venture. 🔹 Swiggy Instamart’s Expansion Strategy Swiggy is also making moves in quick commerce, becoming the first platform to expand to 100 cities. In comparison, Blinkit and Zepto operate in about 50 cities each. But instead of fighting directly in metro cities, Swiggy is focusing on Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, where competition is lower and operational costs are cheaper. This strategy is already paying off: ✅ Patna: 1,000 daily orders in just 4 days of launch. ✅ Raipur: 300 daily orders on launch day. Swiggy is betting big on these smaller cities, hoping that lower costs and less competition will give them an edge. What do you think? Will Swiggy’s dual focus on B2B supply and Tier 2/3 expansion help it gain an upper hand? Follow me Naresh Purohit 🇮🇳 LinkedIn LinkedIn for Marketing LinkedIn News India LinkedIn Guide to Creating LinkedIn Guide to Networking #Swiggy #Zomato #QuickCommerce #B2B #Startups #BusinessStrategy #Ecommerce

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Hi there 👋 As we grow in our careers, our work starts revolving more around design decisions, not just writing code.   And interviews reflect that shift too. From my recent SDE-2 and SSE interviews, here’s the usual pattern  🔹 1–2 rounds on DSA / problem-solving 🔹 1 round on Low-Level Design (LLD)  🔹 1 round on High-Level Design (HLD) Many hiring managers even ask HLD questions based on your real-world projects, not just textbook systems. When it comes to HLD prep, the amount of content can be overwhelming.   If you’re starting out, I’d recommend:   HelloInterview , Alex Xu’s System Design series , YouTube mock interviews — super helpful for learning how to explain clearly under time pressure One of my juniors recently asked - “Why do companies still ask DSA?” Simple - DSA tests your problem-solving mindset.   It’s not about memorizing patterns but showing how you think.   Even 30 - 45 minutes of daily consistency goes a long way. 🔹 In short:  DSA → builds problem solving skills  LLD → reflects code level thinking  HLD → shows system level design     All three matter, just at different depths as you grow. #CareerGrowth #SoftwareEngineering #InterviewPreparation #SystemDesign #DSA

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🚨 Cracked the contest, cracked the rating... but should they crack into your company too? 🤔 As off-campus hiring season heats up, so does the number of suspicious spikes in LeetCode ratings. It's no secret—some folks will do whatever it takes to look refer-worthy on paper. But what if you had a way to look beyond the paper? 🎯 Introducing a new feature on similarity.in: Just type in a username, and instantly view all contests where that user was flagged. 👀 Watch it in action—see how Amit Kumar climbed the leaderboard, not with consistency, but with... well, creativity. (And no, this isn’t a personal attack—unless your name is Amit and you were flagged, in which case… oops.) 🚫 High ratings can seem impressive when you're shortlisting candidates. But don’t let shiny graphs blind you—sometimes they’re built on sand. With this, maybe you can crack down on the cracked-up referrals. 📢 Currently working on covering CodeChef contests too! Unfortunately, LeetCode doesn't show public submissions anymore, so there's not much we can do on that front for now. 🤞 Fingers crossed they fix it soon! P.S. Tagging a bunch of friends I know will be swamped with referral requests soon — hope this helps you spot the real ones from the rating rockets 🚀 #offcampus2025 #referralcheck #hiringseason #cheatingdetector #leetcodecheaters #codechefcommunity #dsa #placementseason #hiringalert #techhiring #recruitertips #devcommunity #softwareengineering #referrals #codingcontest #placementready #similarityin #referright #saynotocheating #honestcoders #dataright

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If you apply to Zomato for an SDE role, you’ll face a System Design round. If you apply to Razorpay or Atlassian, you’ll face a System Design round. If you apply to Zepto, PhonePe, or Groww, you’ll definitely face a System Design round. If you apply to Hotstar, Flipkart, or Dream11, you must be ready for System Design. Every fast-growing Indian product company will test your system thinking skills. This is not a DSA round. This is not about writing code. This is about building scalable, real-world systems. What kind of problems are asked? Some examples: - Design a Rate Limiter - Design WhatsApp or Slack - Design Uber or Ola - Design a Notification Service - Design Zomato Feed - Design a File Storage System Almost every company tests this, and that’s exactly why I focused on System Design and compiled a detailed yet beginner-friendly guide to crack it. Here’s the link: https://lnkd.in/dte69Z5N What do they test? - Your thought process - Trade-off handling - Communication clarity - High-level design + Low-level components - Scaling and bottlenecks - Real-world awareness How should you approach it? - Ask the right clarifying questions - Don’t jump into the tech stack, start with use cases - Think in components - Always talk about data flow and scaling - Handle traffic, failure, and reliability - Prioritize clarity over complexity - Use diagrams to communicate This is what they look for: - Not whether you’ve memorized patterns. - But whether you can build systems like an engineer. 𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱, 𝗜’𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗵 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲. 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲: - https://lnkd.in/dte69Z5N Stay Hungry, Stay FoolisH!

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