DE Shaw vs Pinterest Interview Questions

DE Shaw lists 105 LeetCode interview questions while Pinterest lists 49. They share 5 problems — 5% of DE Shaw's bank and 10% of Pinterest's. Focus on the overlap first, then drill into 100 DE Shaw-only and 44 Pinterest-only questions.

Overview

DE Shaw

105 questions

Easy 11Medium 64Hard 30
Pinterest

49 questions

Easy 1Medium 29Hard 19

Preparation Strategy

Step 1 — Shared core: Solve the 5 overlapping problems first. These are the highest-yield questions for candidates interviewing at both DE Shaw and Pinterest.

Step 2 — Company-specific depth: Add DE Shaw-specific problems like Binary Tree Cameras, Find Minimum Cost to Remove Array Elements, Maximum Number of Subsequences After One Inserting and Pinterest-specific problems from the exclusive lists below.

Step 3 — Difficulty tuning: Pinterest skews harder in our data. Budget extra time for Hard problems if you are targeting that company.

Difficulty Comparison

Easy
DE Shaw
11
Pinterest
1
Medium
DE Shaw
64
Pinterest
29
Hard
DE Shaw
30
Pinterest
19

Top Shared Topics

5 Shared Questions

High-priority problems to practice for both DE Shaw and Pinterest.

ProblemDifficulty
Letter Combinations of a Phone NumberMedium
Reorganize StringMedium
Number of IslandsMedium
Find First and Last Position of Element in Sorted ArrayMedium
Split Array Largest SumHard

Unique to DE Shaw (100)

Problems in DE Shaw's list that do not appear at Pinterest.

ProblemDifficulty
Binary Tree CamerasHard
Find Minimum Cost to Remove Array ElementsMedium
Maximum Number of Subsequences After One InsertingMedium
Minimum Size Subarray in Infinite ArrayMedium
Maximum Subsequence ScoreMedium
Maximum Points After Collecting Coins From All NodesHard
Minimum Number of Taps to Open to Water a GardenHard
Maximum Points Tourist Can EarnMedium
Max Number of K-Sum PairsMedium
Number of Subarrays With AND Value of KHard
Relative Sort ArrayEasy
Sum GameMedium

Unique to Pinterest (44)

Problems in Pinterest's list that do not appear at DE Shaw.

ProblemDifficulty
Count and SayMedium
Reconstruct ItineraryHard
Shortest Path in a Grid with Obstacles EliminationHard
Optimal Account BalancingHard
Count Subarrays With Score Less Than KHard
Maximum Profit in Job SchedulingHard
Bus RoutesHard
Expression Add OperatorsHard
Find Median from Data StreamHard
Shortest Way to Form StringMedium
Is SubsequenceEasy
Design Search Autocomplete SystemHard

Frequently Asked Questions

How many LeetCode questions do DE Shaw and Pinterest share?

DE Shaw and Pinterest share 5 LeetCode interview questions. 100 problems appear only in DE Shaw's list and 44 appear only in Pinterest's list.

What topics overlap most between DE Shaw and Pinterest?

The most common shared topics between DE Shaw and Pinterest are Array (3 shared questions), Hash Table (2 shared questions), String (2 shared questions), Greedy (2 shared questions), Binary Search (2 shared questions). Mastering these areas prepares you for both companies.

Which company asks harder LeetCode questions: DE Shaw or Pinterest?

DE Shaw has 11 Easy, 64 Medium, and 30 Hard questions. Pinterest has 1 Easy, 29 Medium, and 19 Hard questions. Pinterest has a higher proportion of Hard problems in its interview set.

How should I prepare if interviewing at both DE Shaw and Pinterest?

Start with the 5 shared problems since they cover what both companies ask most often. Then add 20 DE Shaw-specific and 20 Pinterest-specific questions to round out your prep.

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