I received it unexpectedly recently Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC)Unsolicited interview invitation from SRE. The entire process lasted for more than a month from start to finish. The pace was not fast, but each round gave relatively sufficient preparation time, including technical aspects, TSMC hackerrank test, and the final algorithm implementation aspect. Looking back, the overall interview experience was quite complete and very rewarding, so I recorded it as a reference for future students preparing for TSMC SRE.
Overall interview process overview
The overall TSMC SRE interview is divided into:
- Three rounds of technical aspects
- One round of recruitment interview
- A HackerRank online programming quiz
- English + aptitude test (need to go to the factory)
During the epidemic, except for the test that requires on-site visits, the rest of the interviews are conducted online via video. The default interval between each technical level is about two weeks. If the interviewer wants to speed up the pace, he or she can coordinate with human resources.
Level 1: Introduction to expertise + technical Q&A (60 minutes)
The first round is led by the supervisor, and the process is roughly divided into four parts:
- Department and job introduction
- Overall interview process description
- Interviewer’s expertise introduction + technical questions
- Q&A time
What is special is that the supervisor made it clear that he has read his resume in full, so he does not need to introduce himself from the beginning, but focuses directly on the technical direction he is best at. The spindle I chose at that time was Golang + Web Backend.
What was actually asked included:
- Common data structures and algorithms
- Sorting algorithm
- BST, stack, queue, binary tree, hash map
- Specific implementation method + time complexity
- HTTP protocol process and packet format
- How cookies work
- Linux environment operation
- View memory
- Network package
- Service port
- Process management
My self-assessed answer to the Linux part was not very good. I could only tell what tools I would use, but when asked about more detailed principles, I was a little stuck. The supervisor also made it clear that such questions are mainly to judge the technical depth. If you don't know the questions, you can just explain them directly, and no points will be deducted for this.
After the meeting, the supervisor made an appointment on the spot for the next level that was the TSMC HackerRank test, and gave him two weeks to prepare. He also suggested that you start practicing with questions with higher LeetCode acceptance.
Level 2: HackerRank Online Quiz (90 minutes)
This round is standard HackerRank online program test:
- 90 minutes
- 3 questions
I personally feel that the overall difficulty level is the same LeetCode Easy Or so, if you have the habit of answering questions, it’s actually not that stressful.
My result is:
- Passed all 2 test cases
- There are 2 test cases that I failed in the last question (the judgment conditions were not written completely enough)
The overall completion is pretty good. The next day after submission, HR called to arrange the time for the third level technical interview and HR interview. At the same time, it was notified that you need to go to the factory to complete the English and aptitude tests. It can be said that the efficiency is quite high.
English test (30 minutes)
There is a lot of information on English test online, but I will briefly cover it here. Personal experience:
- The reading test is too difficult
- The font formats of different chapters vary greatly, and some are slightly blurry and it is not very friendly to the reading experience.
Background score reference:
- TOEIC 755 (expired three years ago)
- TSMC English Quiz:Level 7
Level 3: Algorithm & Data Structure interview (120 minutes)
This is what i thinkThe most stressful and valuable level.
Interview format:
- 120 minutes to write 3 questions LeetCode
- About 40 minutes per question
- Use a language you are familiar with (I use Golang + Go Playground)
The complete process includes:
- Read the questions and think about the solutions. You can ask questions at any time.
- Orally discuss problem-solving logic and time complexity with supervisor
- Share the IDE screen and implement the code on-site
- Explain the code line by line and discuss optimizable space and readability
Actual performance and experience
To be honest, due to nervousness and lack of experience in practical algorithm interviews, the logic of the first question was stuck for a time. It was obviously the simplest question, but it took the most time. Fortunately, the status was adjusted in time later, and a solution that met the requirements was finally given within the time limit.
The latter two questions were much smoother, and the correct solution ideas were given in one go.
What impressed me most about this level is:
The code implementation process itself is the focus of evaluation
- Thinking pause
- Compile error
- Missing writing judgment logic
- Early execution leads to test case error
These will be fully recorded and discussed one by one after the problem solving. The overall discussion atmosphere is rational and technology-oriented, and the supervisor is quite friendly and does not deliberately create pressure.
Interview feedback
The final feedback given by the supervisor included:
- The algorithm is logically clear
- Code readability is good
- Golang has a high degree of mastery
But it is also clearly stated:
- Inadequate interview experience, resulting in nervousness at the beginning
- I was not stable enough when writing code. I stepped on it in the second question. Invalid memory access
The secret to winning the offer: I am not fighting alone in this interview
To be honest, before this round of SRE, I was so anxious that I couldn’t sleep all night. I failed Meta and TikTok twice before, both due to brain freeze caused by nervousness. I couldn’t understand the questions on the spot even though I knew how to write them. This time I don’t want to gamble my luck anymore, I just Bridged ProgramHelp Interview assistance services.
The experience really completely subverted my understanding: it is not the low-end TeamViewer ghostwriting, and there is no embarrassment of mouse grabbing. It was like I was wearing an invisible ear monitor during the whole process. When I encountered the Edge Case jamming, I immediately heard a reminder from the master: "Here we first mention Time Complexity, and then use HashMap to optimize..."
If you are technically competent but prone to collapse on the spot, or urgently need this Offer to extend your life, I really recommend contacting them. Don't hold on, find a "plug-in" teammate, it's really fun to reduce the dimensionality.
