LinkedIn vs Expedia: Interview Question Comparison

When preparing for technical interviews, understanding the specific focus and expectations of each company can dramatically improve your efficiency. LinkedIn and Expedia, while both major tech employers, present distinct interview landscapes in terms of question volume, difficulty distribution, and core topic emphasis. This comparison breaks down their profiles to help you prioritize your study time effectively.

Question Volume and Difficulty

The most immediate difference is the sheer scale of their question banks on platforms like CodeJeet.

LinkedIn presents a formidable 180 questions, categorized by difficulty as Easy (26), Medium (117), and Hard (37). This large volume, with nearly two-thirds of questions at the Medium level, indicates a deep and well-established interview process. Preparing for LinkedIn requires a significant time investment to cover a broad range of problem variations and complexities. The high number of Medium questions suggests they heavily test the application of core algorithms to non-trivial scenarios.

Expedia, in contrast, has a more focused set of 54 questions, with a difficulty spread of Easy (13), Medium (35), and Hard (6). The distribution is still Medium-heavy, but the total count is about 30% of LinkedIn's. This smaller, more concentrated set implies you can achieve solid coverage with less time. The lower number of Hard questions suggests their interviews may place slightly more weight on foundational competency and clean implementation under pressure rather than on solving the most complex algorithmic puzzles.

Topic Overlap

Both companies strongly emphasize fundamental data structures, as seen in their top topics: Array, String, and Hash Table. This overlap means core preparation in these areas serves you for both.

LinkedIn's unique standout is Depth-First Search (DFS), a specific graph/tree traversal algorithm. This signals that LinkedIn interviews frequently involve problems related to trees (binary trees, n-ary trees) or graph exploration (connected components, pathfinding), requiring recursive or iterative stack-based solutions.

Expedia's distinctive key topic is Greedy Algorithms. This indicates a focus on problems where a locally optimal choice leads to a global optimum, often in domains like scheduling, partitioning, or interval problems. While DFS is a specific technique, Greedy represents a broader problem-solving paradigm.

Preparation Implication: If targeting both, master Arrays, Strings, and Hash Tables first. Then, branch into DFS (tree problems, recursion) for LinkedIn and Greedy (sorting + iteration logic) for Expedia.

# Example: A problem combining Hash Table & Array (common to both)
def two_sum(nums, target):
    seen = {}
    for i, num in enumerate(nums):
        complement = target - num
        if complement in seen:
            return [seen[complement], i]
        seen[num] = i
    return []

# Example: DFS for LinkedIn
def dfs_tree(node):
    if not node:
        return
    # Process node
    dfs_tree(node.left)
    dfs_tree(node.right)

# Example: Greedy for Expedia
def max_profit(prices):
    min_price = float('inf')
    max_profit = 0
    for price in prices:
        min_price = min(min_price, price)
        max_profit = max(max_profit, price - min_price)
    return max_profit

Which to Prepare for First

Your priority should be dictated by your timeline and the depth of preparation required.

Prepare for Expedia first if: You are short on time or newer to technical interviews. The smaller question bank allows you to build confidence by achieving comprehensive coverage of their focused problem set. Mastering their core topics (Array, String, Hash Table, Greedy) provides a strong foundation that is also largely transferable to LinkedIn's requirements.

Prepare for LinkedIn first if: You have more lead time or are already comfortable with fundamentals. Tackling LinkedIn's larger and more difficult question set is a more intensive undertaking. Successfully covering a significant portion of their 180 questions, especially the 117 Medium problems, will inherently prepare you well for Expedia's interview, as you will have deeply practiced the overlapping core topics and developed stronger general problem-solving stamina.

Ultimately, the shared foundation in Array, String, and Hash Table problems means preparation for one company is beneficial for the other. Start with the company whose timeline is sooner, or choose Expedia to build a quick, strong base before diving into LinkedIn's greater depth and breadth.

For focused practice, visit the LinkedIn question list and the Expedia question list on CodeJeet.