I applied off campus, therefore, the first round was a little different, then it would have been in the case of an on-campus drive. The first step was resume shortlisting, as soon as my resume was shortlisted I received a mail from HR regarding further rounds:
ROUND 1: Pre-Employment Assessments
These assessments were divided into two parts:
- Cognitive Aptitude Assessment: There were 20 minutes to answer 40 questions across three general categories: math and logic, verbal ability, and spatial reasoning.
- Behavioral Assessment: You will have to respond to statements about yourself in a work environment. This section was not timed and took about 10 – 15 minutes to complete.
ROUND 2: Coding Round
It was a web-proctored round conducted on Hacker Earth. There were 3 coding questions and a time limit of 1.5 hrs. I could complete 2 out of 3 questions and be shortlisted for the next round.
ROUND 3: TECHNICAL INTERVIEW -1
This round went for 1 hour 15min. The interviewer first asked me to introduce myself and after that, he started with the basic questions. He asked about my favorite programming language and I told him C++, then he asked about differences between C and C++, linked list, and an array and then he gave me the following coding questions
- Spiral order Binary tree: https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/level-order-traversal-in-spiral-form/
- Reverse Linked List using both iterative method and recursion method: https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/reverse-a-linked-list/
I was able to solve both the questions and he was also very happy with the approach that I used. Since, there was still some time left so he asked me a few more questions about Semaphores and Queues. At last, he told me to explain my final year project.
The interview went very well and the interviewer was also very nice and was giving various suggestions and hints. I was shortlisted for the next round.
ROUND 4: TECHNICAL INTERVIEW – 2
This round went for an hour. I was given 2 coding questions to solve
- Convert a binary tree to linked list: https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/flatten-a-binary-tree-into-linked-list/
- Delete last leaf node of a binary tree: https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/delete-the-last-leaf-node-in-a-binary-tree/
Though I got stuck once in the middle while writing the code but interviewer was kind enough to provide me with some hints. Ultimately, I was able to solve both problems. Interviewer told me that there were few basic mistakes but they can be neglected considering interview pressure. I was moved to the final round of interviews.
ROUND 5: MANEGERIAL + HR DISCUSSION
This round went for 1 hour. Initially, HR asked me to introduce myself and after that, he asked me about my college experience and my birthplace.
Then he asked me to design a system which would shortlist the employees based on their resume and will check their eligibility for the job based on some criteria. He gave me 4 criteria’s according to which I had to design the system. He told me to feel free give any suggestions irrespective of any domain as he just wishes to see how I think. I satisfactorily provided him the answers for 3 out 4 of criteria. Then he asked me about the static class, OOP’s principle, and a SQL query to show third highest salary earning employee. He then asked about my internship experience and challenges faced during internship.
As the interview was coming to end he even asked some HR questions like what are my strengths and mention some situation where this quality has helped me and at last he asked me that, why should I not select you. I gave all the genuine answer to these HR questions so that it may not seem that I am trying to make up the answers.
The result came after 1.5 weeks and I was selected as an Associate Software Engineer at Gainsight, Hyderabad.