ByteDance vs DE Shaw Interview Questions
ByteDance lists 64 LeetCode interview questions while DE Shaw lists 105. They share 15 problems — 23% of ByteDance's bank and 14% of DE Shaw's. Focus on the overlap first, then drill into 49 ByteDance-only and 90 DE Shaw-only questions.
Overview
Preparation Strategy
Step 1 — Shared core: Solve the 15 overlapping problems first. These are the highest-yield questions for candidates interviewing at both ByteDance and DE Shaw.
Step 2 — Company-specific depth: Add ByteDance-specific problems like Smallest Subsequence of Distinct Characters, First Day Where You Have Been in All the Rooms, Course Schedule and DE Shaw-specific problems from the exclusive lists below.
Step 3 — Difficulty tuning: DE Shaw skews harder in our data. Budget extra time for Hard problems if you are targeting that company.
Difficulty Comparison
Top Shared Topics
15 Shared Questions
High-priority problems to practice for both ByteDance and DE Shaw.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| LRU Cache | Medium |
| Remove Duplicate Letters | Medium |
| Number of Islands | Medium |
| Basic Calculator II | Medium |
| House Robber | Medium |
| Two Sum | Easy |
| Trapping Rain Water | Hard |
| Rotting Oranges | Medium |
| Best Time to Buy and Sell Stock | Easy |
| Longest Substring Without Repeating Characters | Medium |
| Insert Delete GetRandom O(1) | Medium |
| Valid Parentheses | Easy |
| Sliding Window Maximum | Hard |
| Text Justification | Hard |
| Unique Paths | Medium |
Unique to ByteDance (49)
Problems in ByteDance's list that do not appear at DE Shaw.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Smallest Subsequence of Distinct Characters | Medium |
| First Day Where You Have Been in All the Rooms | Medium |
| Course Schedule | Medium |
| Combination Sum | Medium |
| Merge Intervals | Medium |
| Shortest Bridge | Medium |
| Maximal Square | Medium |
| Regular Expression Matching | Hard |
| Top K Frequent Elements | Medium |
| Design Memory Allocator | Medium |
| Word Ladder | Hard |
| Longest Increasing Subsequence | Medium |
Unique to DE Shaw (90)
Problems in DE Shaw's list that do not appear at ByteDance.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many LeetCode questions do ByteDance and DE Shaw share?
ByteDance and DE Shaw share 15 LeetCode interview questions. 49 problems appear only in ByteDance's list and 90 appear only in DE Shaw's list.
What topics overlap most between ByteDance and DE Shaw?
The most common shared topics between ByteDance and DE Shaw are Array (9 shared questions), String (5 shared questions), Hash Table (4 shared questions), Stack (4 shared questions), Dynamic Programming (4 shared questions). Mastering these areas prepares you for both companies.
Which company asks harder LeetCode questions: ByteDance or DE Shaw?
ByteDance has 4 Easy, 51 Medium, and 9 Hard questions. DE Shaw has 11 Easy, 64 Medium, and 30 Hard questions. DE Shaw has a higher proportion of Hard problems in its interview set.
How should I prepare if interviewing at both ByteDance and DE Shaw?
Start with the 15 shared problems since they cover what both companies ask most often. Then add 20 ByteDance-specific and 20 DE Shaw-specific questions to round out your prep.