GSA Capital coding interview
questions, leaked.
2 problems reported across recent GSA Capital interviews. Top patterns: array, two pointers, heap priority queue. The list below is what most reported candidates actually saw, plus the honest play if you can't grind all of it.
GSA Capital's assessment is small but dense. Two medium problems, both array-heavy, both requiring you to see the pattern fast. Total Cost to Hire K Workers hits heap and two-pointers; Maximal Square demands dynamic programming on a matrix. You won't have time to second-guess. If you blank mid-assessment, StealthCoder runs invisible during screen share and surfaces a working solution in seconds. That's your safety net for whatever pattern didn't click in prep.
Top problems at GSA Capital
| # | Problem | Diff | Frequency | Pass % | Patterns |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Total Cost to Hire K Workers | MEDIUM | 100.0 | 43% | Array · Two Pointers · Heap (Priority Queue) |
| 02 | Maximal Square | MEDIUM | 93.3 | 49% | Array · Dynamic Programming · Matrix |
Frequencies derived from public community-tagged interview reports. Click a row to view on LeetCode.
You have a week, maybe less. You can't out-grind the list above. StealthCoder runs invisibly during the actual GSA Capital OA. The proctor cannot see it. Screen share cannot detect it. Built by an engineer who got tired of watching his cohort grind for six months and still get filtered at the OA stage.
Get StealthCoder- array2 · 100%
- two pointers1 · 50%
- heap priority queue1 · 50%
- simulation1 · 50%
- dynamic programming1 · 50%
- matrix1 · 50%
Array dominates both problems, so that's your first drill target. The heap and two-pointers combo in the hiring problem is a classic GSA move: you need to track candidates by cost and know when to swap. The Maximal Square problem is pure DP on a grid, testing whether you can build a table without overthinking. Neither problem is rare, but the execution window is tight. Study the heap approach for K-selection problems first, then lock down the DP recurrence for square submatrices. StealthCoder is your hedge if the DP state doesn't surface under live pressure.
Companies with similar patterns
If you prepped for GSA Capital, these companies recycle ~60% of the same topics.
You've seen the list.
Now make sure you pass GSA Capital.
Memorizing every problem above in a week is a fantasy. StealthCoder is the hedge: an AI overlay that's invisible during screen share. It reads the problem on screen and surfaces a working solution in under 2 seconds. Built by an engineer who got tired of watching his cohort grind for six months and still get filtered at the OA stage. Works on HackerRank, CodeSignal, CoderPad, and Karat.
GSA Capital interview FAQ
Should I practice both problems before the GSA assessment, or focus on one?+
Both are medium and appear to be core to their assessment. Spend 60 percent of prep time on the hiring problem because heap and two-pointers is harder to nail under pressure. The Maximal Square pattern is more common once you've done a few DP-on-grid problems, so it should click faster on the day.
What's the fastest way to study arrays and heaps for this assessment?+
Start with heap basics: insertion, extraction, heapify. Then drill K-largest and K-smallest variants. The hiring problem is a K-selection under cost constraints. Once heap ops are automatic, the two-pointers logic becomes the real challenge. Practice until you can sketch the solution in under five minutes.
How long should I spend on dynamic programming for Maximal Square?+
The DP here is standard: build a table where each cell stores the side length of the largest square ending at that position. Spend 20 to 30 minutes on the concept, then solve it three times without looking at hints. The recurrence is dp[i][j] = min(dp[i-1][j], dp[i][j-1], dp[i-1][j-1]) + 1 if grid[i][j] is '1'.
Is two-pointers essential for the hiring problem, or can I solve it another way?+
Two-pointers is the intended path: one pointer tracks expensive candidates to remove, the other tracks new candidates to add. You could brute-force with sorting and a heap, but you'd waste time and risk off-by-one errors. Nail the two-pointers approach first.
What if I get stuck on either problem during the real assessment?+
Both are solvable patterns. If you hit a wall on the heap logic or the DP recurrence, you need a working solution fast. That's exactly when StealthCoder surfaces the correct approach invisibly. You can keep moving and finish the assessment instead of stalling.