Uber SSE II (Level 5B) Interview Experience: 8 Rounds, India (March 2020)
Updated July 17, 2026
The candidate had 7.5 years of experience and a non-CS degree from a top IIT in India, and was working as a senior architect at a 600-800 person robotics company at the time. In March 2020 they interviewed in India for an SSE II (Level 5B) role at Uber, spending about a month beforehand on dedicated preparation covering data structures and algorithms, system design, and core CS fundamentals.
The loop ran to eight interviews: a technical phone screen combining coding and design, two coding rounds, two low-level design (LLD) and general design rounds, one system high-level design (HLD) round, a hiring manager round covering technical and behavioural topics, and a bar raiser round. The candidate reported clearing the design-focused rounds and solving every coding problem presented, but said the company assessed their coding speed as too slow for the role, and the process ended without an offer.
How the process went
Preparation
Set aside roughly one month before the interviews. Preparation covered data structures and algorithms, operating systems, databases, networking, distributed systems, and system design, using resources such as LeetCode, HackerRank's interview kit, online courses, and conference talks.
Interview loop
Eight rounds in total: one technical phone screen (coding and a design question), two coding rounds, two LLD/general design rounds, one system HLD round, one hiring manager round (technical and behavioural), and one bar raiser round.
Outcome
The candidate reported clearing the design rounds and solving all the coding problems presented, but said Uber felt their coding speed was not strong enough for the role. The recruiter indicated that more time spent speeding up coding could have changed the outcome. The company did not move forward with an offer.
Technical Phone Screen
Combined coding and design question, as the initial technical screen
Specific questions were not disclosed by the candidate.
Coding Rounds (two rounds)
Algorithmic coding problems
Specific questions were not disclosed by the candidate.
Candidate reported solving all the problems presented but said the company assessed their coding speed as too slow.
LLD and General Design Rounds (two rounds)
Low-level design and general system/object design
Specific questions were not disclosed by the candidate.
Candidate reported clearing these rounds.
System HLD Round
High-level system design
Specific questions were not disclosed by the candidate.
Hiring Manager Round
Technical and behavioural discussion with the hiring manager
Specific questions were not disclosed by the candidate.
Bar Raiser Round
Final bar-raiser interview
Specific questions were not disclosed by the candidate.
Key takeaways
- Clearing design rounds and solving every coding problem is not always enough — this loop was decided on coding speed, so practice solving problems under a strict time limit, not just for correctness.
- Block out dedicated prep time before a senior-level loop; this candidate used about a month to cover algorithms, system design, and core CS fundamentals.
- Budget preparation across the whole loop, not just DSA — this process weighed LLD, HLD, and a behavioural round as well as coding.
- If day-to-day work has shifted away from hands-on coding (for example, into an architecture or lead role), account for extra practice time to rebuild coding speed before interviewing.
- Ask the recruiter for specific feedback after a rejection — in this case it pointed to one fixable gap (coding speed) rather than a broad mismatch.
Practice a Uber interview
Rehearse out loud against the kinds of questions in this story — with an AI interviewer that asks follow-ups.
Practice this interviewSource
The questions and process facts come from the candidate's public write-up, linked below. The retelling above is our own summary.
Candidate's public write-up on LeetCode Discuss