# Senior SDE
**Role:** Software Engineer · **Level:** M
**Company:** [Expedia](https://scaleengineer.com/companies/expedia)
**Difficulty:** Hard
**Salary:** US$130000 - US$180000
**Experience:** 5 - 10
**Timeline:** ~4 days
Expedia's Senior Software Engineer (Level M) interview process is designed to assess a candidate's technical expertise, problem-solving abilities, system design skills, and cultural fit within the company. The process typically involves multiple rounds, including technical screenings, coding challenges, system design discussions, and behavioral interviews.
Canonical: https://scaleengineer.com/interviews/expedia/m-software-engineer
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## Overall evaluation

- Technical Skills
- Problem Solving & Analytical Skills
- System Design
- Behavioral & Cultural Fit

## Questions asked

- Design a URL shortening service like bit.ly.
- How would you design a system to handle real-time flight status updates for millions of users?
- Implement a function to find the k-th largest element in an unsorted array.
- Tell me about a time you had to deal with a difficult stakeholder. How did you manage the situation?
- Explain the difference between REST and SOAP.
- How would you design a distributed cache?
- Describe a situation where you had to learn a new technology quickly. What was your approach?
- What are the trade-offs between SQL and NoSQL databases?
- Design an API for booking vacation packages that can handle varying user preferences and dynamic pricing.
- How do you approach code reviews?
- Tell me about a time you made a mistake. What did you learn from it?
- Design a system for personalized travel recommendations.

## Preparation tips

### lists

- Review fundamental computer science concepts, including data structures, algorithms, and operating systems.
- Practice coding problems on platforms like LeetCode, HackerRank, or similar.
- Study system design principles and common architectural patterns.
- Prepare examples for behavioral questions using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result).
- Research Expedia's products, services, and company culture.
- Understand the specific technologies and tools used by Expedia's engineering teams.
- Practice explaining your thought process clearly and concisely.
- Prepare questions to ask the interviewer about the role, team, and company.

### studyPlan

- {"title":"Data Structures and Algorithms","longDescription":"Weeks 1-2: Focus on core data structures (arrays, linked lists, trees, graphs, hash maps) and algorithms (sorting, searching, dynamic programming, graph traversal). Practice implementing these in your preferred language. Review Big O notation for time and space complexity analysis.","shortDescription":"Weeks 1-2: Data Structures & Algorithms fundamentals. Practice coding."}
- {"title":"System Design","longDescription":"Weeks 3-4: Dive into system design concepts. Study topics like scalability, availability, reliability, databases (SQL vs. NoSQL), caching, load balancing, message queues, and microservices architecture. Work through common system design interview questions.","shortDescription":"Weeks 3-4: System Design principles and patterns. Practice design problems."}
- {"title":"Behavioral Preparation","longDescription":"Week 5: Prepare for behavioral interviews. Reflect on your past experiences and identify examples that demonstrate leadership, teamwork, problem-solving, and handling challenges. Use the STAR method to structure your answers.","shortDescription":"Week 5: Behavioral interview preparation. STAR method."}
- {"title":"Company Research & Final Review","longDescription":"Week 6: Research Expedia thoroughly. Understand their business, products, and recent news. Prepare insightful questions to ask the interviewers. Review your resume and be ready to discuss any project in detail.","shortDescription":"Week 6: Company research and final review. Prepare questions."}

## Location differences

- {"location":"Seattle, USA","differences":{"tips":["Research Expedia's technology stack and recent product launches.","Prepare specific examples demonstrating leadership and impact.","Be ready to discuss trade-offs in system design decisions.","Understand the challenges of building a global, high-traffic platform.","Showcase your ability to adapt to new technologies and methodologies."],"interviewFocus":["Deep understanding of distributed systems and cloud technologies (AWS, Azure, GCP).","Experience with large-scale data processing and analytics.","Strong problem-solving skills applied to travel industry specific scenarios.","Ability to lead technical discussions and mentor junior engineers.","Cultural alignment with Expedia's values of customer focus, innovation, and collaboration."],"commonQuestions":["How would you design a system to handle real-time flight status updates for millions of users?","Describe a complex technical challenge you faced and how you overcame it.","Tell me about a time you had to mentor a junior engineer. What was your approach?","How do you ensure the scalability and reliability of a distributed system?","What are your thoughts on microservices vs. monolithic architectures in the context of travel platforms?"]}}
- {"location":"London, UK","differences":{"tips":["Highlight projects where you've significantly improved performance or user satisfaction.","Be prepared to whiteboard solutions to coding problems.","Demonstrate your understanding of software development lifecycle best practices.","Emphasize your communication and teamwork skills.","Familiarize yourself with Expedia's mission and values."],"interviewFocus":["Proficiency in specific programming languages relevant to the team (e.g., Java, Python, C#).","Experience with agile development methodologies.","Understanding of data structures and algorithms for performance optimization.","Ability to collaborate effectively in a remote or hybrid team environment.","Focus on user-centric design and delivering high-quality software."],"commonQuestions":["Design an API for booking vacation packages that can handle varying user preferences and dynamic pricing.","How would you optimize database queries for a travel recommendation engine?","Discuss your experience with A/B testing and its application in improving user experience.","What strategies do you employ for ensuring code quality and maintainability in a large codebase?","How do you approach debugging complex issues in a production environment?"]}}
- {"location":"Gurugram, India","differences":{"tips":["Prepare examples of your contributions to open-source projects or significant personal projects.","Be ready to discuss your thought process for solving algorithmic problems.","Showcase your understanding of system design principles.","Highlight your ability to learn quickly and adapt to new challenges.","Connect your experience to Expedia's business goals."],"interviewFocus":["Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.","Experience with cloud-native architectures and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes).","Ability to articulate technical concepts clearly and concisely.","Proactive approach to identifying and resolving technical debt.","Demonstrated ability to work independently and take ownership of tasks."],"commonQuestions":["How would you design a system for personalized travel recommendations based on user history and preferences?","Discuss your experience with building and deploying microservices.","Tell me about a time you disagreed with a technical decision. How did you handle it?","What are the key considerations for ensuring data privacy and security in a travel application?","How do you stay updated with the latest trends in software engineering?"]}}

## Round 1: Coding Interview
**Type:** Technical Screening (Coding) · **Difficulty:** Medium · **Duration:** 45 min
Coding challenge to assess fundamental programming skills.
This round typically involves a coding challenge, often conducted via a shared online editor. The interviewer will present a problem that requires the candidate to implement a solution using a programming language of their choice. The focus is on assessing the candidate's ability to translate a problem into working code, considering efficiency and correctness.
**Interviewers look for:** Strong coding skills.; Understanding of algorithmic complexity.; Problem-solving approach.; Ability to write clean and maintainable code.
**Evaluation criteria:** Correctness of the solution.; Efficiency of the code (time and space complexity).; Clarity and readability of the code.; Ability to explain the approach and trade-offs.
**Common rejection reasons:** Inability to articulate thought process.; Poor understanding of fundamental data structures and algorithms.; Inefficient or incorrect code implementation.; Lack of attention to edge cases and constraints.
## Questions

- Given an array of integers, find the contiguous subarray with the largest sum.
- Implement a function to reverse a linked list.
- Find the first non-repeating character in a string.

## Preparation tips

- Practice coding problems regularly.
- Focus on understanding the underlying data structures and algorithms.
- Be comfortable explaining your code and its complexity.
- Practice coding under timed conditions.

## Round 2: System Design
**Type:** System Design Interview · **Difficulty:** Hard · **Duration:** 60 min
Assess ability to design scalable and reliable systems.
This round focuses on a candidate's ability to design complex, scalable, and reliable systems. The interviewer will present an open-ended problem, such as designing a specific service or feature (e.g., a social media feed, a ride-sharing app, or a booking system). The candidate is expected to discuss requirements, propose an architecture, identify components, and explain how they interact, considering aspects like data storage, APIs, scalability, and potential bottlenecks.
**Interviewers look for:** System design thinking.; Knowledge of distributed systems.; Ability to handle large-scale problems.; Understanding of architectural patterns.; Communication of complex ideas.
**Evaluation criteria:** Scalability of the proposed design.; Reliability and fault tolerance.; Performance considerations.; Clarity and completeness of the design.; Ability to discuss trade-offs and justify decisions.
**Common rejection reasons:** Inability to design a scalable and reliable system.; Poor understanding of distributed systems concepts.; Failure to consider trade-offs and constraints.; Lack of clarity in explaining design choices.
## Questions

- Design a system like Twitter's news feed.
- How would you design a rate limiter?
- Design a distributed key-value store.

## Preparation tips

- Study common system design patterns and principles.
- Practice designing various types of systems.
- Understand trade-offs between different technologies and approaches.
- Be prepared to draw diagrams and explain your design verbally.
- Consider aspects like availability, latency, consistency, and fault tolerance.

## Round 3: Behavioral Interview
**Type:** Behavioral Interview · **Difficulty:** Medium · **Duration:** 45 min
Assess behavioral competencies and cultural fit.
This round assesses the candidate's behavioral competencies and cultural fit within Expedia. Interviewers will ask questions about past experiences, focusing on how the candidate has handled specific situations related to teamwork, conflict resolution, leadership, and dealing with challenges. The goal is to understand how the candidate aligns with Expedia's values and how they would contribute to the team environment.
**Interviewers look for:** Cultural fit.; Teamwork and collaboration.; Leadership potential.; Problem-solving and decision-making skills.; Communication clarity.
**Evaluation criteria:** Alignment with Expedia's core values (customer focus, integrity, innovation, teamwork, etc.).; Communication and interpersonal skills.; Problem-solving approach in non-technical situations.; Leadership and teamwork capabilities.; Self-awareness and ability to reflect on past experiences.
**Common rejection reasons:** Lack of alignment with company values.; Poor communication or interpersonal skills.; Inability to provide specific examples of past behavior.; Negative attitude or lack of enthusiasm.; Dishonesty or inconsistency in responses.
## Questions

- Tell me about a time you had to work with a difficult colleague. How did you handle it?
- Describe a project where you took initiative or demonstrated leadership.
- How do you handle constructive criticism?

## Preparation tips

- Prepare examples using the STAR method for common behavioral questions.
- Understand Expedia's company culture and values.
- Be honest and authentic in your responses.
- Show enthusiasm for the role and the company.
- Practice articulating your experiences clearly and concisely.

## Round 4: Hiring Manager Chat
**Type:** Hiring Manager Interview · **Difficulty:** Medium · **Duration:** 30 min
Final discussion with the hiring manager about fit and career goals.
This is typically the final round with the hiring manager. The focus is on discussing the candidate's career aspirations, understanding their motivations for applying to Expedia, and ensuring a good fit with the team's goals and the manager's expectations. It's also an opportunity for the candidate to ask in-depth questions about the team, projects, and career growth opportunities.
**Interviewers look for:** Candidate's motivation and career aspirations.; Understanding of the role and team dynamics.; Cultural alignment with the manager and team.; Engagement and interest in Expedia.; Potential for growth within the company.
**Evaluation criteria:** Alignment of candidate's goals with the role and team.; Enthusiasm and interest in the position.; Understanding of the role's responsibilities.; Ability to ask insightful questions.; Overall fit with the hiring manager's vision for the team.
**Common rejection reasons:** Lack of alignment with team's technical direction.; Unrealistic salary expectations.; Poor fit with the team's working style.; Lack of clarity on career goals.; Failure to ask relevant questions.
## Questions

- What are your long-term career goals?
- Why are you interested in this specific role at Expedia?
- What kind of work environment do you thrive in?

## Preparation tips

- Research the hiring manager and their team if possible.
- Prepare thoughtful questions about the role, team, and company culture.
- Clearly articulate your career goals and how this role aligns with them.
- Reiterate your interest and enthusiasm for the position.