My Interview Experience at Dream11 [SDE-2] | Mumbai
As an engineer, participating in technical interviews can be both exciting and challenging.
As you already know I recently switched to Microsoft and shared my interview experience here but before I got offer from Microsoft, I had a chance to give interviews at other high paying companies as well, one of them is Dream11 for an SDE-2 position.
Although I wasn’t selected [I was among top3 in their hiring drive and they selected only two] but I gained valuable insights that I’m excited to share, especially for those preparing for similar roles.
Initial Contact
It all began when I was contacted by a recruiter on LinkedIn. After discussing the role and the team, the first coding round was scheduled for a week later.
Round 1: Coding Round
Date: 29th March 2024
Format: Virtual
Duration: 1hr
Interview Panel: SDE3 at Dream11
The task was straightforward: I was asked to write code and dry run the test cases while explaining the logic behind my solution, including space and time complexity.
I solved the following problems:
- Minimum Path Sum: Minimum Path Sum — LeetCode
- First Missing Positive: First Missing Positive — LeetCode
Both these problems are standard Leetcode problems, so I was able to solve them, and I ensured that I explained my thought process clearly to the interviewer, breaking down the problem and walking through my approach step by step.
Result: Positive
After a week and a follow up from my side, the recruiter scheduled the next round
Round 2: Database and Project Round
Date: 8th April 2024
Format: Virtual
Duration: 1hr
Interview Panel: Senior Engineering Manager at Dream11
This round was project-focused and taken by one of the Senior EM, and I was asked to explain the internal architecture of one of my recent projects. To aid my explanation, I used excalidraw to visualize the DB schema and architecture.
The questions were based on the architecture and the reasoning behind certain choices:
- Why did I choose a Content Delivery Network (CDN)?
- Why did I use a Load Balancer (LB)?
- What trade-offs were involved?
Additionally, there was a deep dive into MySQL concepts, including:
- Isolation levels
- Pessimistic vs. Optimistic locking
- Indexing strategies
I enjoyed this round as the interviewer was quite friendly and it was more of a discussion on the project, and he was curious to understand little things as well that we implemented so overall it was a mix of technical know-how and architectural reasoning. He focused on why of using any technology that we did.
Result: Positive
After completing the first two virtual rounds, the recruiter informed me that the feedback was positive, and they would proceed with the next two rounds on-site. Since I live in Bengaluru, India, Dream11 arranged round-trip tickets for the suggested date.
It was part of a hiring drive where shortlisted candidates from various companies were invited to attend on the same day. To avoid any travel fatigue, I arrived a day early and stayed at my cousin’s place.
P.S: Don’t miss to check few Dream11 Mumbai office photo at the end of the article
Round 3: High-Level Design (HLD)
Date: 27th April 2024
Format: On-Site in Mumbai
Duration: 1hr
Interview Panel: Director of Engineering and one more Senior EM
The interview began with questions about technologies I had worked with, which led to a deeper discussion about:
- Redis: Internal implementation of lists
- Debezium: Change Data Capture (CDC) mechanisms
- MySQL: Isolation levels in databases
For the system design question, I was asked to design a system for sending lineup notifications to Dream11 users. These notifications are sent 30 minutes before the start of a match. The system had to handle elasticity, with the ability to scale from 1000 to millions of users.
The input came from two Kafka streams: one for users joining a contest, and another for contest lineup info.
Proposed Solution: Redis + Spark
I felt that the interviewers were more focused on showcasing their knowledge and boasting about what they had built, emphasizing how their services handle massive loads. This made me a bit nervous during the process. Additionally, they provided hints without me asking, which ultimately became a reason for my rejection after the final HM round. Overall, this interview experience wasn’t as positive as I had hoped.
Other interviewees were asked to design systems like the Dream11 leaderboard and the Dream11 digital wallet. This round tested my ability to design systems that scale and handle complex use cases.
Result: Positive