As someone who has experienced the junior software developer interview process, I can break it down into the key stages and share insights based on my experience:

1. Application and Resume Screening The process started with submitting my resume and application. I made sure to tailor my resume to the job description, highlighting my skills in programming languages, frameworks, and projects I had worked on—particularly those involving team collaborations and real-world applications. The response came within a few days, indicating that my profile matched their requirements.

2. Online Assessment I was then invited to complete an online coding assessment, which tested my problem-solving and algorithmic skills. The platform they used was HackerRank. The questions ranged from arrays and strings to more advanced topics like recursion and hash maps.

• One of the questions required me to optimize a function to reduce its time complexity.
• Another focused on implementing a basic algorithm to handle string manipulation.

I made sure to practice regularly on LeetCode and GeeksforGeeks beforehand, which really helped me manage my time effectively during the test.

1. Technical Phone Screening After passing the assessment, I was scheduled for a technical phone screening with a developer from their team.

• The interview began with a brief introduction and a few behavioral questions about my projects and technical contributions.
• Then we moved on to live coding. I was asked to solve a problem involving hash maps and arrays on a shared coding platform.
• The interviewer also tested my debugging skills and asked me to explain my thought process as I wrote the code.

The key takeaway for me here was the importance of communicating clearly while solving problems, as it helped the interviewer understand my approach.

1. Technical Interview/Panel Round I advanced to the next stage, where I was interviewed by a panel of engineers. This was more in-depth and covered:

• Data Structures & Algorithms: Questions about linked lists, binary search, and sorting algorithms.
• System Design (Basic): I was asked to design a simple application, focusing on how I would structure the components and manage data flow.
• Behavioral Questions: They wanted to understand how I handle challenges, work in a team, and learn new technologies.

1. HR Round Finally, there was an HR interview, which felt more like a casual conversation. They asked about my career goals, my motivation for applying, and how I would fit into their company culture. This round was also an opportunity for me to ask questions about the role and the company.

Write a function to find the first non-repeating character in a string.

How would you implement a queue using two stacks?

Design a URL shortener like Bitly. Explain how you would store URLs, handle collisions, and scale the system.

Here’s a piece of code. It doesn’t compile or run as expected. Can you identify and fix the issue?

Can you describe a challenging project you worked on, how you approached it, and the outcome?

Explain the difference between depth-first search (DFS) and breadth-first search (BFS). When would you use each?

What are the differences between let, const, and var in JavaScript?