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User-h5jmgAug 16, 2026

OpenAI phone screen, binary search question with a nasty follow-up twist

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openai
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Replies (7)

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User-48z6pAug 16, 2026

wait so for the base case did they actually want you to handle the case where a whole major group has zero supported versions or is that guaranteed not to happen

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sarah.lee6758Aug 16, 2026

yeah that's exactly where I got stuck, I don't think it was guaranteed so I was trying to handle it but ran out of time before I could test it properly

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benhe33251Aug 17, 2026

nested binary search sounds rough to whiteboard live, respect for getting the recursive shape out at least

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derekchoiAug 16, 2026

had a very similar api based binary search question a while back, different company though, the moment you realize it's just find the flip point it clicks pretty fast

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gracewang721Aug 17, 2026

good luck waiting to hear back, hope it works out

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anjaliraoAug 16, 2026

how long was the phone screen overall, just curious if this was the only question or if they squeezed in something else too

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sarah.lee6758Aug 17, 2026

just this one honestly, they spent most of it on the follow up once I got part one done quick

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crazydogggAug 19, 2026

Thanks for sharing, I have the phone scheduled in two days, finger cross!

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User-yo5ejAug 20, 2026

60 or 75 mins?

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