Preparing for the Expedia Group Software Development Engineer Interview

Interviewing at Expedia Group for a software development engineer role can seem daunting However, being prepared with an understanding of the types of questions you will be asked can help take some of the stress out of the process In this article, we will take a look at some of the most common Expedia Group software development engineer interview questions and provide tips on how to best demonstrate your skills during the interviews.

Overview of the Expedia Group Software Development Engineer Interview Process

The interview process at Expedia Group for a software development engineer role typically consists of three rounds:

• Initial phone screen with a recruiter
• Coding challenge
• Multiple technical interviews focused on algorithms, data structures, system design, and behavioral questions

The coding challenge usually involves solving a problem in the language of your choice or fixing bugs in provided code. This allows the interviewers to assess your programming skills.

The onsite interviews will feature predominantly technical questions to evaluate your technical abilities Be prepared to write code on a whiteboard to solve algorithm questions, You may also be asked to design components or features of a hypothetical system,

Sprinkled throughout the different rounds will also be some behavioral questions to learn about how you approach problems work in teams take feedback, etc.

Overall, Expedia Group is looking for software development engineers who exhibit strong technical competencies but also possess soft skills like communication, collaboration, and learning agility. Demonstrating your capabilities in both areas is key to performing well in the interviews.

Common Expedia Group Software Development Engineer Interview Questions

Here are some of the most frequently asked questions that come up for software development engineers interviewing at Expedia Group:

Algorithms and Data Structures

• Explain how a hash table works and what the time complexity is for lookups.

• Implement an algorithm to check if a binary tree is a binary search tree.

• Reverse a linked list iteratively and recursively. Explain the time and space complexity of each approach.

• Design a stack data structure. What operations should it support?

• Given two sorted arrays, write a function to merge them into a single sorted array.

• Explain how a breadth-first search on a graph works and when you would use it.

Expect coding questions on topics like arrays, strings, trees, graphs, sorting, searching, dynamic programming, etc. Study up on algorithms and data structure fundamentals to do well in this portion.

Object-Oriented Design and Programming

• Explain inheritance, abstraction, encapsulation and polymorphism.

• Design an object-oriented parking lot system. What classes would you need?

• How is memory managed in Java or your language of choice? Explain garbage collection.

• Compare abstract classes and interfaces in Java. When would you use each?

• Explain public, private, and protected access modifiers in Java.

You should have a solid grasp of OOP concepts and be able to apply them effectively to design solutions to problems.

System Design

• Design a URL shortening service like Bitly.

• Design a ride sharing service like Uber. What components and services would you need?

• Design a chat application. How would you support online and offline messaging?

• Design a scalable system to search tweets and find top trends.

• Design an API rate limiter.

Expect open-ended system design questions to assess your technical breadth and depth. Brush up on designing scalable systems and using common design patterns.

Behavioral

• Tell me about a time you faced a challenge with a team member and how you overcame it.

• Describe a mistake you made on a project and what you learned from it.

• Talk about a technical decision you had to defend to your team or manager.

• Tell me about a project or feature you worked on that you had to scope and breakdown into tasks.

• What do you do when you get stuck debugging a problem?

Use the behavioral questions as a chance to demonstrate excellent communication skills, teamwork, and the ability to learn from failures. Use specific examples and be thoughtful in your responses.

Tips for Acing the Expedia Group Software Development Engineer Interview

Here are some tips to help you succeed in your Expedia Group software development engineer interview:

• Thoroughly review algorithms and data structures. Be able to implement common ones efficiently on a whiteboard.

• Practice thinking through system designs and object-oriented modeling out loud to get comfortable with the approach.

• Internalize OOP concepts like inheritance, polymorphism, encapsulation so you can speak to them fluently.

• Prepare stories from your work experiences that align to behavioral questions. Emphasize teamwork, resiliency, and learning capabilities.

• Communicate your thought process clearly as you work through problems. Ask clarifying questions if needed.

• Build confidence by practicing questions frequently so you minimize nerves during the actual interview.

• If you don’t know the optimal solution, think through an approach anyway. Suboptimal solutions that show thinking demonstrate potential.

• Ask smart, thoughtful questions about the teams, technologies, and challenges you would work on in the role.

With diligent preparation, you can feel empowered to perform well in your Expedia Group software development engineer interviews. Study hard and be ready to show off your development chops. With some practice, you can boost your confidence so the actual interview is simply an opportunity to demonstrate your skills. Best of luck with your pursuit of a software development role at Expedia Group!