I applied through a Grab post on LinkedIn. Since I was not actively looking for a change, I asked the recruiter to schedule an interview in two weeks' time so that I could prepare.

I had a telephonic discussion followed by three face-to-face technical rounds, including a hiring manager round.

Overall, I am very satisfied with Grab's interview process. Scheduling was smooth, and the interviewers were on time. The interview was a bit difficult, but nothing unimaginable.

One positive aspect is that the hiring manager round lasted for one hour, during which 45 minutes were spent on technical discussions on a whiteboard, while only 15 minutes were dedicated to goals and cultural fit questions.

I cannot disclose the exact questions. However, here is what I can share:

• Problem solving: A graph question that started with simple source-destination reachability. The interviewer twisted the problem twice, testing knowledge of backtracking and dynamic programming. There was a detailed discussion on time and space complexity, and I was asked to optimize for space complexity as well.

  • Must-knows: Graph - BFS/DFS + Backtracking and optimization using DP.

• System design: Working on a scalable web app will help a lot in this round. I am thankful to my previous company where I learned and implemented concepts. Be clear about the goals the system should achieve; avoid over-engineering if the goals are not significant. Start with a simple solution and build on that.

• Hiring manager: The interview started with a technical problem that their team is trying to solve. It was an interesting and intellectually stimulating discussion, involving drawing out different components on a whiteboard. The last 15 minutes focused more on my personal goals and cultural fit questions.