Author: Vidushi Nigam

Aarushi Chauhan’s LinkedIn Interview Experience

“Aarushi Chauhan” who is interned at “LinkedIn” talks about her interview experience and some other tips to prepare for placement season. Check out what she says about the placement season.

His Interview was taken by Unsaid Talks Interviewer: “Hardik Garg”

Profile offered:  SRE (Site Reliability Engineer)

Job Location: Bangalore

Branch and Graduation Year: COE- 2024

Interview Difficulty Level: It is again a subjective concept. I faced a very lengthy online test lasting for around three and a half hour. Moreover the questions asked were of a good level. Variety as well as depth of topics was really of high standards. Although I was favored by my luck so many of the things were there as my cup of tea but I will give it 8 on 10.

Here are the questions we asked Aarushi Chauhan’ to know about her interview experience.

Question 1: Introduce yourself to our readers.

Answer: Myself Aarushi Chauhan, studying at Thapar University, Patiala. I am in 3rd year of Computer Science & Engineering. I enjoy coding, whenever get some time I like to read books, listen to music, explore new things etc.

Question 2: Was there any internal CGPA cutoff? If yes, then how much?

Answer: Directly it wasn’t there. Even if it’s there then not so high. If you want to know my opinion, it should not be the only criteria to judge any candidate; but it’s a subjective matter. while I am in favor of a decent cut like 8 to 8.5.

Question 3: What was the procedure of the placement that took place? (Shortlisting criteria/ coding or aptitude test/ number of interviews)

Answer: The whole process had 1 online test, 2 tech rounds of interview and 1 HR based round. The online test was very lengthy. After getting shortlisted for next round, there were 2 rounds of tech based interview and then 1 HR round. Both tech rounds were on the same day and result was given in a consolidated way via email. Interviews were also of a good level.

Question 4: Tell us about the written/online test. (Aptitude, Coding, Test Platform, etc)

Answer: The online test was of 3.5 hours and was conducted on HackerEarth. Two coding questions were asked which were to be answered in 2 different languages. One question was easy for me as I already have attended that on leetcode but 2nd was difficult. Other questions included OS, CS, DBMS etc. OOPS concepts of C++, OOPS concepts of Java & OOPS concepts of Python; Out of these three languages we had to choose any two, rest other sections were compulsory. All of this made the test very lengthy. But evaluation was for(I suppose), out of 2 language questions, one must be 100% correct where as 50% marks were to be attained in the other sections.

Question 5: Tell us about Interview Round 1 including the questions that were asked.

Answer:  The first round was a technical round in which I was given three OS topics; Process Management, Memory Management & one more. Along with these, CS fundamentals & DBMS individually. They gave me these five things & out of those five, I was asked to choose any three. They asked me the questions accordingly. But they were very much in depth about the three topics I chose.

Question 6: Tell us about Interview Round 2 including the questions that were asked.

Answer: The second round was conducted on the same day but difference was, 2nd was purely as per my job profile i.e. SRE. If you are an architect of a site on a large scale like FB, LinkedIn etc. it involves lot of moving components in the architect. Working of those components individually & the overall connection between them has to be planned before hand which is the role of the SRE’s. We make the Site Reliable, highly available so that the inconsistency like network failure between some components can be resolved at the earliest. So this round was about all this. During this internship, I would be doing all these for which I also have to study about System Engineering in depth.

Question 7: Tell us about Interview Round 3.(if any)

Answer: This was an HR round. After few days of 2 tech base rounds on a single day, I received a mail for getting selected and they called for the HR round.

Question 8: What were the key factors of your selection?

Answer: I will mark it as consistency in efforts for coding. You must do 2 questions daily. You must also keep on working on DSA. Then, you must be comfortable with it. Also, other topics like OS, DBMS etc. should be kept in touch.

Question 9: What are the things students should focus on, in order of priority?

Answer: They should focus on DSA and strong coding skills in any one language. Also, maintain your CGPA. A decent CGPA is very necessary to be eligible for many companies. Keep your core subjects strong. Be confident enough. And, of course, good communication skill is very important.

Question 10: According to you, what role do extracurricular activities as well as participation in societies play?

Answer: Yes, these such activities play a vital role in your selection process. I was in many of the societies in my 1st year which inculcated inner strength in me. It adds so many new but positive changes to your personality which definitely help us in a way or other. Even it gives a new horizon to our thought process which is even helpful in our professional career.

Question 11: Were there any companies you got rejected from after appearing for their interview? If yes, then tell us about your rejection story and what do you think were the reasons for your rejection?

Answer: We all have to face rejection at some or other times. I must say that the rejection by any one or two companies is not a full stop to your career. When I was in 2nd year, I applied for an internship, I was not selected, it was a real heart break for me. It was a very obvious reaction but somehow I settled down my self and thinking about the lacking or the mistakes I committed in the interview. We all walk in our learning process throughout the path way to success. Rejection is there to teach us tough lessons so take it in that way only. Keep on preparing for best. Take guidance from your seniors.

Question 12: Any other advice you would like to give to your juniors?

Answer: Do what you want to do. But, keep one thing in mind that in college we always run short of time; Always rushing for course curriculum, co curricular activities, projects, extra studies, to make a strong CV and lot more. So, always keep the time management alarm on. Be in touch with coding via leetcode and make it your consistent habit. Other topics also must be in touch and don’t ever give up in any situation.

Question 13: How can we contact you? (LinkedIn Profile Link/Contact No./etc.)

Answer: LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/aarushi-chauhan-8a15001b8

Manvi Gumber’s Deloitte Interview Experience

“Manvi Gumber” who is interned at “Deloitte” talks about her interview experience and some other tips to prepare for placement season. Check out what she says about the placement season.

Her Interview was taken by UnsaidTalks Interviewer: “Riya”

Profile offered: USI consulting

Job Location: Not decided

Branch and Graduation Year: CSBS-2023

Interview Difficulty Level: I would rate it 7.

Here are the questions we asked Manvi Gumber to know about her interview experience.

Question 1: Introduce yourself to our readers.

Answer:  Hi. My name is Manvi gumber. I am in 4th year and my branch is CSBS. I have a CGPA of 9.01. I was a frosh mentor and president of SAIC. Also, I was a part of Econ club.

Question 2: What was the procedure of the placement that took place? (Shortlisting criteria/ coding or aptitude test/ number of interviews)

Answer: There was an aptitude test. Shortlisted candidates appeared for the interview. There was only one round of technical interview.

Question 3: Tell us about the written/online test. (Aptitude, Coding, Test Platform, etc)

Answer: It was an aptitude test.They check on verbal, logical reasoning and aptitude skills.The platform was Amcat.

Question 4: Tell us about Interview Round 1 including the questions that were asked.

Answer: The interview started with my introduction. He asked why i want to join Deloitte. After 3-4 min, he went on asking technical questions. He started with projects. He asked what were my learnings, what languages I used to build those projects. They asked questions from C, C++, OOPS. Knowing the basics was the key.

Question 5: What were the key factors of your selection?

Answer: According to me, for a non-tech role other than the your knowledge and your preparation ofcourse, your communication skills play a very important role. The way you present yourself, how you build a rapport with the interviewer, how you conduct yourself in the interview, and how you convey whatever work you have done in college, be it your academics or your society work, all of these things count.

Question 6: What are the things students should focus on, in order of priority?

Answer: Be clear about whether you are targeting a tech profile or non-tech profile and start preparing for that. Stay focused. All those who are targeting non-tech profile, make sure to prepare for guesstimates and solve case studies and puzzles. And at the same time, make sure that you are well versed in languags like Python and have a basic understanding of tools like MS- Excel.

Question 7: According to you, what role do extracurricular activities, as well as participation in societies, play?

Answer: I think they play an important role in building your personality and improving your communication skills. Societies can help you to interact with seniors and gain knowledge from their experiencs. Also it opens a lots of opportunities that you may otherwise not know about.

Question 8: Were there any companies you got rejected from after appearing for their interview? If yes, then tell us about your rejection story and what do you think were the reasons for your rejection?

Answer:One of the companies was JPMC. In this, there was a group discussion round, and unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to speak my point. It was really an eye opener on how actual GDs would look like when I would be sitting for placements and gave me an idea on areas that I needed to work on.

Question 9: What message would you like to give to your juniors regarding the stress they go through during placement season?

Answer: Stay focused and stay calm. Don’t panic. Keep on preparing.

Question 10: Any other advice you would like to give to your juniors?

Answer: Take the help of your friends in whatever field you are lacking. Practice mock interviews and case studies with your friends, very important. This would give you a totally new perspective, which otherwise you would have missed.

Question 11: How can we contact you? (LinkedIn Profile Link/Contact No./etc.)

Answer: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/manvigumber/

Manvi Gumber’s Mamaearth Interview Experience

“Manvi Gumber” who is interned at “Mamaearth” talks about her interview experience and some other tips to prepare for placement season. Check out what she says about the placement season.

Her Interview was taken by UnsaidTalks Interviewer: “Riya”

Profile offered: Business Analyst

Job Location: Gurgaon

Branch and Graduation Year: CSBS-2023

Interview Difficulty Level: I would rate it 7.

Here are the questions we asked Manvi Gumber to know about her interview experience.

Question 1: Introduce yourself to our readers.

Answer:  Hi. My name is Manvi gumber. I am in 4th year and my branch is CSBS. I have a CGPA of 9.01. I was a frosh mentor and president of SAIC. Also, I was a part of Econ club.

Question 2: What was the procedure of the placement that took place? (Shortlisting criteria/ coding or aptitude test/ number of interviews)

Answer: There was shortlisting based on resume and then 2 rounds of interviews were conducted.

Question 3: Tell us about the written/online test. (Aptitude, Coding, Test Platform, etc)

Answer: There was no online assessment.

Question 4: Tell us about Interview Round 1 including the questions that were asked.

Answer: The first round was mainly conversational and it was Technical+HR. They asked why I want to join mamaearth and why am I targeting a Business Analyst profile. Then they asked questions from Python and Excel, both of which were mentioned in my resume. They asked questions on VLOOKUP from Excel. Python questions were from basics. The duration of this interview was 10 mins.

Question 5: Tell us about Interview Round 2 including the questions that were asked.

Answer: In this round, the interviewer was mainly testing my problem-solving skills. They checked my Python and Excel skills again and asked me some puzzles. The puzzles they were asking were similar to those on gfg.

Question 6: What were the key factors of your selection?

Answer: According to me, for a non-tech role other than the your knowledge and your preparation ofcourse, your communication skills play a very important role. The way you present yourself, how you build a rapport with the interviewer, how you conduct yourself in the interview, and how you convey whatever work you have done in college, be it your academics or your society work, all of these things count.

Question 7: According to you, what role do extracurricular activities, as well as participation in societies, play?

Answer:I think they play an important role in building your personality and improving your communication skills. Societies can help you to interact with seniors and gain knowledge from their experiencs. Also it opens a lots of opportunities that you may otherwise not know about.

Question 8: Were there any companies you got rejected from after appearing for their interview? If yes, then tell us about your rejection story and what do you think were the reasons for your rejection?

Answer: One of the companies was JPMC. In this, there was a group discussion round, and unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to speak my point. It was really an eye opener on how actual GDs would look like when I would be sitting for placements and gave me an idea on areas that I needed to work on.

Question 9: What message would you like to give to your juniors regarding the stress they go through during placement season?

Answer: Stay focused and stay calm. Don’t panic. Keep on preparing.

Question 10: Any other advice you would like to give to your juniors?

Answer: Take the help of your friends in whatever field you are lacking. Practice mock interviews and case studies with your friends, very important. This would give you a totally new perspective, which otherwise you would have missed.

Question 11: How can we contact you? (LinkedIn Profile Link/Contact No./etc.)

Answer: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/manvigumber/

Rohit Garg’s Expedia Interview Experience

“Rohit Garg” who got interned at “Expedia” talks about his interview experience and some other tips to prepare for placement season. Check out what he says about the placement season.

His Interview was taken by Unsaid Talks Interviewer: “Danish Agnihotri”

Profile offered: Software Development Engineering Intern

Job Location: Gurgaon

Branch and Graduation Year: COE-2024

Cgpa Cutoff: No

Interview Difficulty Level: I would rate it as 7-8.

Here are the questions we asked Rohit Garg to know about his interview experience.

Question 1: Introduce yourself to our readers.

Answer: My name is Rohit and I am a pre final year student at Thapar University pursuing B-tech in computer engineering.

Question 2: Was there any internal CGPA cutoff? If yes, then how much? 

Answer: No

Question 3: What was the procedure of the placement that took place? (Shortlisting criteria/ coding or aptitude test/ number of interviews)

Answer: First there was a aptitude+behavioural round(around 230 selected) then there was online coding test on Hackerrank(28 selected).then there were 2 interviews both consists of coding + behavioural questions(15 selected= 12 software+3 product)

Question 4: Tell us about the written/online test. (Aptitude, Coding, Test Platform, etc)

Answer: Aptitude+behavioural test was conducted on there own website.it consists of basic general task ques,sitution based ques etc.it consists of 45 min. then there was a coding test which consists of 6 mcq and 2 coding ques both were of moderate level. time = 60 min.

Question 5: Tell us about Interview Round 1 including the questions that were asked.

Answer: Round 1 was of easy to medium level she asked me ques based on linked list (find the point of intersection 2 linked list ) she asked me the follow up questions such as if the given linked lists are of same length then if the lists of different length their time and space complexity etc. then she asked me about my project not in depth but the difficulties you faced,how you handle the conflicts.then she given me situation and asked me how you will solve it(both team mates have different opinion how you will convince him to follow your way)

Question 6: Tell us about Interview Round 2.(if any)

Answer: Round 2 was of medium to hard level.initially he asked me about which data structure I like the most and why(answer= vector because easy to perform all operation as space is allocated sequentially) then he asked me about 3-4 dsa ques(from leetcode medium to hard level) ques(1). find pair having sum as k in increasing array(solved using basic hashmap approach then by 2 pointers ) he asked me about about the time and space complexity .then to confuse he asked me about to further reduce the time complexity from log n but that was not possible and asked the reason. ques (2) Longest Palindromic Substring(solved using brute force but further wants me to solve using dp) but then asked me about the time compexity of my approach. ques (3) house robber (solved using backtracking and dp both) asked me about the time complexity of both approach. 1 ques was from operating system (difference between process and threads). 1 ques was from oops (basic features of oops,what is encapsulation) interviewer asked me to write the code on paper for all the questions. behavioural ques:- 1 why you want to join expedia. 2 if you will leave expedia after some time in future what would be the reason for it. then he told me about his work and the work interns will do during the period interview time was of about 2 hours.

Question 7: What were the key factors of your selection?

Answer: I think my consistency on solving dsa based ques was the main reason as the interview questions seems familiar to me due to this reason.

Question 8: What are the things students should focus on, in order of priority?

Answer: data structure > algorithm > competitive programming regularly (atleast 3 ques daily) > try to solve all the famous question > previously asked ques in interviews > learn core subject during the course and revise before interview.

Question 9: According to you, what role do extracurricular activities, as well as participation in societies, play?

Answer: They play major role like they help you to build confidence,improve speaking skills etc.

Question 10: Were there any companies you got rejected from after appearing for their interview? If yes, then tell us about your rejection story and what do you think were the reasons for your rejection?

Answer: No this was my first interview!!

Question 11: What message would you like to give to your juniors regarding the stress they go through during placement season?

Answer: Don”t stress . if you are consistent then dont worry every thing will go good.

Question 12: Any other advice you would like to give to your juniors?

Answer: Be consistent and try to do dsa as early as possible because earlier most of the good companies came and there is less competition in early phase, also try to give mock interviews this will help you alot!!

Question 13: How can we contact you? (LinkedIn Profile Link/Contact No./etc.)

Answer: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohit-garg-bnl/

Email: rohitgarg20021@gmail.com

Gautam Jain’s Accenture Interview Experience

“Gautam Jain” who is interned at “Accenture” talks about his interview experience and some other tips to prepare for placement season. Check out what he says about the placement season.

His Interview was taken by UnsaidTalks Interviewer: “Riya”

Profile offered: Not yet disclosed.

Job Location: Not yet disclosed.

Branch and Graduation Year: COE-2024

Interview Difficulty Level: I would rate it 4.It was really easy. If anything, they were probably checking if the other person can talk properly when they are in a tense situation.

Here are the questions we asked Gautam Jain to know about his interview experience.

Question 1: Introduce yourself to our readers.

Answer:  Hi! I am Gautam Jain, currently pursuing B. Tech in Computer Science in Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala. I am in my third year right now. My main interests in computer science are cyber security, software development and cloud computing. As for my hobbies, I like to play games and play musical instruments like guitar. If you are more interested in my projects, please visit my github: https://github.com/BloodThearch

Question 2: Was there any internal CGPA cutoff? If yes, then how much?

Answer:  There is a high probability there was an internal CGPA cutoff and it was around 7 CGPA.

Question 3: What was the procedure of the placement that took place? (Shortlisting criteria/ coding or aptitude test/ number of interviews)

Answer:  There were four rounds in total: 1) Cognitive and Technical Assessment: There were 90 questions, and 90 minutes were given for them. 2) Coding Assessment: There were 2 questions with 45 minutes in total where I had to code for given problem statements in their provided online compiler. 3) Communication Assessment: This test also had multiple sections, but all of them mostly focused on if we could comprehend questions and answer them back in English. It also tested our pronunciation and vocabulary. I would advise others to listen to the questions carefully since most of them will be spoken by an AI and not get confused with the format of answering the question. For example, if you are given a set of sentences to speak. It does not mean we have to speak all of them together, we had to speak only those sentences which were being told by the AI. 4) Interview: The interview was the easiest among the other rounds. I will give the details in the next questions.

Question 4: Tell us about the written/online test. (Aptitude, Coding, Test Platform, etc)

Answer: Accenture told us to download and install their own online platform where we had to take our test. I think the platform was installable for windows but not for linux. In the first round, the questions were also divided into 4 sections. I don’t remember the order of the sections, but let’s say the first section tested English grammar and reading comprehension. Second section questions asked for output of a given piece of code in each question. Third section was about general questions on programming and operating systems. Last section was an aptitude test.

Question 5: Tell us about Interview Round 1 including the questions that were asked.

Answer: There was only one round of online interview. We first had introductions. Then the interviewer asked if I had worked on any projects or internships in the past and to give brief details on them. Then I was asked which programming language I had the most expertise in. I answered it with Python. And because of that, he asked a few questions on python to see if I was not empty boasting. Later, he asked me how I would debug my program and which resources would I use to solve an error in a program. I was also asked questions like which subject in my computer science course did I like the most and the reason for it. The interview felt more like a HR interview.

Question 6: What were the key factors of your selection?

Answer: The key factors that helped in my selection was that I was able to answer most of the questions in the cognitive and technical assessment round and also had answered both the questions in the coding round.

Question 7: What are the things students should focus on, in order of priority?

Answer: The students should focus in the following priority: 1) CGPA (at least above 8): Without a decent CGPA, you would not even get the chance to sit in the first rounds. 2) DSA and dynamic programming. Or in other words, competitive coding. 3) Projects or research. (At least 2 or 3 any)

Question 8: According to you, what role do extracurricular activities, as well as participation in societies, play?

Answer: I have not joined any societies, so I can’t really say they would not help students in getting placed for internships or jobs. But I think the interaction in the societies is a unique experience that will certainly help the students to ace their interview rounds at the very least.

Question 9: Were there any companies you got rejected from after appearing for their interview? If yes, then tell us about your rejection story and what do you think were the reasons for your rejection?

Answer: Accenture was the first company I got interviewed for.

Question 10: What message would you like to give to your juniors regarding the stress they go through during placement season?

Answer: Main advice I would like to give to my juniors would be that stress will not help at all. If anything, try to convert that stress into motivation to learn DSA and dynamic programming during that time. Because one requires a stable mind in order to perform well in the programming rounds.

Question 11: How can we contact you? (LinkedIn Profile Link/Contact No./etc.)

Answer: EmailId: gautamjain2323@gmail.com

Aastha Singhal’s Accenture Interview Experience

“Aastha Singhal” who got placed at “Accenture” talks about her interview experience and some other tips to prepare for placement season. Check out what she says about the placement season.

Her Interview was taken by Unsaid Talks Interviewer: “Laxita Singh”

Profile offered: Application Developer Analyst

Job Location: Not yet Disclosed

Branch and Graduation Year: EIC – 2023

Interview Difficulty Level: It was medium so it would be around 7.

Here are the questions we asked Aastha Singhal to know about her interview experience.

Question 1: Introduce yourself to our readers.

Answer: I am Aastha Singhal currently in 4th year of my B.Tech Engineering from Electronics Instrumentation and Control and I’ve been recently placed at Accenture at application developer analyst role.

Question 2: Was there any internal CGPA cutoff? If yes, then how much? 

Answer: 6.5

Question 3: What was the procedure of the placement that took place? (Shortlisting criteria/ coding or aptitude test/ number of interviews)

Answer: Firstly we had a Cognitive and Technical Assessment of 90 minutes in which there were 90 mcqs . After clearing this first assessment, within next five minutes there was a technical assessment in which there were two coding questions. We got 40 minutes to solve both the questions. Then we have to wait for two days, then the list of shortlisted students came and major students were eliminated after technical assessment. Then, there was a communication round in which our communication skills were tested after which an offline interview took place.

Question 4: Tell us about the written/online test. (Aptitude, Coding, Test Platform, etc)

Answer: In the Cognitive and Technical Assessment, we had 6 sections consisting of English, basic powerpoint and excel questions, computer programming, pseudocodes, aptitude and basic questions related to data structures. In the Technical Assessment, there were two coding questions which were of medium level.

Question 5: Tell us about Interview Round 1 including the questions that were asked.

Answer: There was only one interview round which was held offline. At first, they asked me to introduce myself and then started looking at my resume. They told me to throw some light on my projects and asked basic questions from it. I did a internship so they asked about it too. Then they asked questions related to programming and OOPs and also asked to write a SQL query about joins. After that, they asked basic HR questions and about teamwork.

Question 6: What were the key factors of your selection?

Answer: My key factor was basically my communication and interaction as I was explaining everything by using pen and paper to my interviewer so he was kind of relating to my examples and explanation.

Question 7: What are the things students should focus on, in order of priority?

Answer: Students should also focus on theory projects as the interviewer majorly asks about theory subjects and projects too.

Question 8: According to you, what role do extracurricular activities, as well as participation in societies, play?

Answer: An NGO would be fine and a society which involves teamwork.

My first interview was of Oracle and the major reason for the rejection I think was I majorly focused on DSA concepts rather I should have focused on theory concepts as my interviewer was asking theory concepts and I was not able to recall.

Question 9: What message would you like to give to your juniors regarding the stress they go through during placement season?

Answer: I would like to say just be patient, keep calm and trust the process. You will get there eventually.

Question 10: Any other advice you would like to give to your juniors?

Answer: My advice would be just practice DSA like we used to practice Maths in our school time and focus more on theory subjects and work on your communication skills also as one who is a good communicator has a upper hand.

Question 11: How can we contact you? (LinkedIn Profile Link/Contact No./etc.)

Answer: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ekroop-kaur-8905a122a/

Manvik Jain’s Advantage Club Interview Experience

“Manvik Jain” who was placed at “Advantage Club” talks about his interview experience and some other tips to prepare for placement season. Check out what he says about the placement season.

His Interview was taken by Unsaid Talks Interviewer: “Akesh Kumar”

Profile offered: Backend Developer

Job Location: Gurugram

Branch and Graduation Year: ENC- 2023

Interview Difficulty Level:  The difficulty level of the interview was about 6.

Here are the questions we asked Manvik Jain to know about his interview experience.

Question 1: Introduce yourself to our readers.

Answer:I am Manvik Jain. I am from Ludhiana, and I have a great interest in technology. I also like to play basketball and tennis.

Question 2: Was there any internal CGPA cutoff? If yes, then how much?

Answer: 7.5

Question 3: What was the procedure of the placement that took place? (Shortlisting criteria/ coding or aptitude test/ number of interviews)

Answer: There was an online coding test after that, and then there was round 1, which was also a coding test. First, we had to dry run the code, then we had to write the code, and then we had to explain it to the interviewer.

Question 4: Tell us about the written/online test. (Aptitude, Coding, Test Platform, etc)

Answer: In the first coding round, we asked a question related to “the next permutation.” We were given a digit and had to tell about the next permutation. After which, 20 students were selected for the role of backend developer.

Question 5: Tell us about Interview Round 1 including the questions that were asked.

Answer:We were asked about the implementation of max and min heaps in the first round, and then we had to find the third largest element and write an optimal code for it. After this round, only eight students were selected.

Question 6: Tell us about Interview Round 2.

Answer: In this round, I was asked to divide two numbers without using the division operation, and I had to write a code while keeping time and space complexity in mind.

Question 7: Tell us about the HR interviews(if any) specifying the number of rounds and questions asked.

Answer: In the HR round, I was asked basic HR questions like, “Why do you want to join this startup and not an established company?” “What are your strengths and weaknesses?” “What are your future plans?” etc.

Question 8: What were the key factors of your selection?

Answer: I would say my confidence and my problem-solving skills are the main reasons for my selection. I have been practising DSA questions on LEETCODE, so I was very sure about my solutions during the coding round. And also, the knowledge I have regarding the projects I mentioned on my resume.

Question 9: What are the things students should focus on in order of priority?

Answer: First of all, you should focus on your CG. Then you should focus on DSA, OS, and DBMS. You should have in-depth knowledge of DSA, OS, and DBMS. And try to make industry-relevant projects. And you should have knowledge about each and everything that you mentioned in your resume.

Question 10: According to you, what role do extracurricular activities as well as participation in societies play?

Answer: I did not think so. Societies only help juniors interact with seniors. Societies are mainly for entertainment. As a fresher, if you want to connect with your seniors or you want to improve your communication skills, then societies are good for you.

Question 11: Were there any companies you got rejected from after appearing for their interview? If yes, then tell us about your rejection story and what do you think were the reasons for your rejection?

Answer: Yes, I got rejected by McKinsey. I think I was not prepared enough at that time, and that was the reason for my rejection. I do not have enough knowledge of core subjects. And also, we have to sit from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., due to which my mind got tired.

Question 12: How can we contact you? (LinkedIn Profile Link/Contact No./etc.)

Answer: LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/manvik-jain-a448761a7

Abhinav Jain’s Pure Software Interview Experience

“Abhinav Jain” who was placed at “Pure Software” talks about his interview experience and some other tips to prepare for placement season. Check out what he says about the placement season.

His Interview was taken by Unsaid Talks Interviewer: “Hardik Garg”

Profile offered: SDE

Job Location: Noida

Branch and Graduation Year: ECE- 2023

CGPA cutoff: 7

Interview Difficulty Level: Honestly, If I were asked to rate my interview on the basis of difficulty then I would rate it as “4” because for the interview or for the online test to be precise, the only thing which one has to take care is that since Pure Software works on Java so, one has to solve all the coding questions with Java and rest everything was towards easier side. Even the coding questions or the CS fundamental questions or the mental ability ones, all were towards easier side if you have given a descent time during your preparation and thus, I would rate it as a “4”.

Here are the questions we asked Abhinav Jain to know about his interview experience.

Question 1: Introduce yourself to our readers.

Answer:  I, Abhinav Jain, am a final year student of Electronics & Communication Engineering at Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology, Patiala. I am an upcoming SDE at Pure Software. I am currently having a CGPA of 8.52 which I think is quite a good one. I would love to share my experience as I have given four to five interviews so, I think I have enough knowledge regarding the interview procedure of various companies.

Question 2: Was there any internal CGPA cutoff? If yes, then how much ?

Answer:  In my knowledge, the CGPA cut was between 7-7.5 but, if you ask me then I would suggest that to maintain a CGPA of around 8.5 is good as it helps you to at least showcase yourself in front of the company because sometimes a person with a bunch of skills is deprived of the opportunity just because of his/her CGPA so, if not so high like 9 or 9.5, one can set a goal of around 8.5 as I believe that is not a very big task to do. Basically, one must have a balance between SKILLS and CGPA.

Question 3: What was the procedure of the placement that took place? (Shortlisting criteria/ coding or aptitude test/ number of interviews)

Answer: The whole process included three online tests out of which the first was to check your grammatical knowledge and hence was based on some English grammar based questions. The next one was coding based test which had some MCQ’s as well as some coding questions and the last test was completely mental ability based that contained MCQ’s based on the same. After getting a bare minimum score at the tests, we had three more interview rounds in which the first one was a technical round having some coding questions and some basic CS fundamental questions. Then, the second round was a Director’s round and then lastly, the third one was a HR round. So, in order to get placed, one must perform well in all the tests as well as all the interview rounds.

Question 4: Tell us about the written/online test. (Aptitude, Coding, Test Platform, etc)

Answer: The online test was divided into three parts and was conducted on HackerEarth. All the three tests were to be submitted simultaneously. The first one was to check your grammar so, had some MCQ’s based on the same and I feel that even a little knowledge of it would help you crack at least this part of the test. Then, the second part was a technical test that contained 30 MCQ’s and four coding questions out of which one has to do submit only one which has to be coded in JAVA; I found this part of the test as an easier one just because I had to code only one question out of the four so, this policy of the company turned the ball in my court. Then, the third part of the test was a mental ability test having MCQ’s based on the same and it was also a cakewalk with basic knowledge and practice of the same. Lastly, the one with a bare minimum score in all the three parts altogether was selected for the interview rounds.

Question 5: Tell us about Interview Round 1 including the questions that were asked.

Answer: The first round was a technical round in which I was asked some questions based on Object Oriented Programming so, I would suggest my juniors also not to take OOPS lightly as everyone think that it is a one day thing but one has to pretty good with it’s concepts as anything can be asked. Then, my next suggestion would be that one must also have descent knowledge about the SQL queries as I was asked from the same and my practice in the same helped me to answer the questions quickly and efficiently. Lastly, I was asked some basic data structures and I can say from my experience that no company ever dig in into the complex data structures; rather they try to ask you from the basic ones like arrays, linked list, stacks, queues, binary tress, etc. as I was also asked some pretty easy questions like “Iterative method to print Fibonacci Series” and “Recursively printing N prime numbers”. I also want to say that if one gets stuck at any question then instead of sitting idle, he/she should be confident and interactive because if you try to interact with the interviewer then, they help you with some hints so, one must be very confident while giving the interview.

Question 6: Tell us about Interview Round 2 including the questions that were asked.

Answer: It was basically a Director’s round in which I was asked myself and my project only. So, I would suggest my juniors that instead of being confident that he/she can give the introduction or can say about their projects without any preparation, one must have a preparation of that as well as one must be prepared that what he/she is gonna tell about himself/herself or about their projects without an inch of fumble. So, when I was asked for the same, I somehow managed to describe everything about me and my projects and thus, I was selected for the next and the last round. For this round also, I would suggest that one must be very confident, interactive and must be formal in front of the interviewer with a bright and big smile as it leaves a good impression on the interviewer.

Question 7: Tell us about Interview Round 3(if any).

Answer:It was purely HR round. I can call it a very simple round as compared to previous two’s. Here, they were much interested in knowing about myself. Then, they told me about the package and all and asked me some questions like “Why I chose Pure Software?”, etc.

Question 8: What were the key factors of your selection?

Answer:  If you ask me, I would say that the first and the most important factor would be your friend circle as they help you and motivate you throughout and act like a pillar of support which ultimately results as a very important factor in your selection. Secondly, I would say that your OOPS must be very strong as since I had a good knowledge of it so, I easily cracked my interview. Next, I would say that your data structures and that too the basic ones must be good and clear. Lastly, I would say that you should be confident and interactive. So, I think these all were the factors which helped me getting placed.

Question 9: According to you, what role do extracurricular activities as well as participation in societies play?

Answer:  Yes, these such activities play a vital role in your selection process. Sometimes directly while indirectly all the times. We agree that these all activities boost up our confidence which helps in dealing with the situations. Our expression power increases remarkably. For an instance, if we are appearing in any interview for team leader or so, then the recruiter must see the leadership qualities in us. Which are developing by these do curricular activities. At the same time, I would also say that it all must be according to your interest and choice; not only for participation.

Question 10: Were there any companies you got rejected from after appearing for their interview? If yes, then tell us about your rejection story and what do you think were the reasons for your rejection?

Answer: We all have to face rejection at some or other times. I must say that the rejection by any one or two companies is not a full stop to your career. If we loose one option, 10 more options are there to get. So, go for them. If you are positive about your futuristic approach, you will definitely get the success. One more thing which I want to say is that if you are full of confidence you will not even find the time to regret and think of what went wrong or what mistakes you did because you will be busy enough to find other options. So I don’t think stress due to rejection is a big issue especially during the college placements.

Question 11: What message would you like to give to your juniors regarding the stress they go through during placement season?

Answer: I want to say that to be successful, one must keep some factors in mind .Start your practice for success early, look over all the available opportunities, have a word with your seniors more and more, prepare a good and strong resume because at many places, resume is very important specially in non tech interviews. Prepare some key factors about your skills and mention them in the resume. Many companies shortlist the resumes by scanning them via ATS Scanner, which scan some key factors the recruiter is looking for. That’s why it is very important to highlight the key factors.

Question 12: How can we contact you? (LinkedIn Profile Link/Contact No./etc.)

Answer: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhinav-jain0104/

 

Khushi Priya Srivastava’s Shell Interview Experience

“Khushi Priya Srivastava” who was placed at “Shell” talks about her interview experience and some other tips to prepare for placement season. Check out what she says about the placement season.

Her Interview was taken by Unsaid Talks Interviewer: “Sai Nikhil”

Profile offered: Associate IT Engineer

Job Location: Bangalore

CGPA Cutoff: 7

Branch and Graduation Year: COE- 2023

Interview Difficulty Level:  I would rate the overall difficulty level to be 8 out of 10.

Here are the questions we asked Khushi Priya Srivastava to know about her interview experience.

Question 1: Introduce yourself to our readers.

Answer: Hi, I am Khushi Priya Srivastava. I am doing my bachelor’s in Computer Science at Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology. I have worked in Interviewbit and Celebal Technologies as a Software Development Intern. I have also worked as a Research Intern at IIT Kanpur. I’m placed in Shell IT Hub Bangalore as an Associate IT Engineer.

Question 2: Was there any internal CGPA cutoff? If yes, then how much ?

Answer: No

Question 3: What was the procedure of the placement that took place? (Shortlisting criteria/ coding or aptitude test/ number of interviews)

Answer: There was a technical test of 2 hours. The test checked the programming skills. The next day the selected students were sent the interview invites. There was only one round of interviews which was a combination of Technical and HR.

Question 4: Tell us about the written/online test. (Aptitude, Coding, Test Platform, etc)

Answer: The online test was held on the Mettl platform. It included 2 coding questions and about 5 sections of aptitude, programming, English, network, and database domains. Coding questions and the MCQs were of medium level. The main task was time management, as the test was very lengthy. I first completed the coding questions as they were of the maximum score, then moved on to the MCQs.

Question 5: Tell us about Interview Round 1 including the questions that were asked.

Answer: When I entered the online meeting, there were two interviewers. One was an HR, and the other worked in the technical department. I briefly introduced myself, and then we talked about some general topics. They asked about my work with Celebal Technologies and went into depth in technical and HR domains. Next, they moved on to my project and asked various conceptual questions. As a frontend intern, I was asked to write code in javascript. I was also asked to write an SQL query. They also asked about some general concepts related to DSA. We also discussed some of the things mentioned in my resume. The interview was mostly resume-based. I was asked about my social work and some HR questions related to my internships. They also gave me some situation-based questions.

Question 6: What were the key factors of your selection?

Answer: The key factors of my selection were Programming skills, DBMS, OOPS concepts, DSA, Time management, and good communication skills.

Question 7: What are the things students should focus on in order of priority?

Answer: Firstly you should be well-versed in Data Structures and Algorithms. You should know the basic concepts of OOPS, OS, and DBMS. Time management is the key skill to cracking online assessments. Confidence is also an important factor when it comes to interviews.

Question 8: According to you, what role do extracurricular activities as well as participation in societies play?

Answer: These activities bring out your creative side. When you participate in society, you get a chance to interact with different people. So, you learn how to communicate and portray your thoughts in an efficient manner.

Question 9: Were there any companies you got rejected from after appearing for their interview? If yes, then tell us about your rejection story and what do you think were the reasons for your rejection?

Answer: Yes, Before Shell, I also gave interviews for Cloudera and Naukri.com. I gave my life’s first interview for Cloudera, so I was very nervous. I knew the concepts, but I could not answer properly due to nervousness. So I learned that I need to work on that. When I gave the interview for Naukri.com, I qualified for the first two technical interviews but did not move forward with the third. I was disappointed, but all these interviews taught me what not to do in an interview. This helped me during the interview for Shell, and it went very smoothly.

Question 10: What message would you like to give to your juniors regarding the stress they go through during placement season?

Answer: I was discouraged at times when I was rejected. The placement season can be stressful, but everyone has to find one or another way to deal with it. For me, my friends were my stress-busters. I studied the whole day, but in the evening, I always took out time to spend time with my peers. So try to find something you like to do and do that whenever you are discouraged. Just try to surround yourself with people you can talk to freely.

Question 11: Any other advice you would like to give to your juniors?

Answer: College is the best time of your life. So do everything that you want to do. Make good friends. Surround yourself with positive people. Try to participate in different activities. The placement season can appear tense, but it improves once you learn how to cope. You could be nervous initially, but eventually, you’ll learn many things. Just keep doing hard work along with the things you like. Lastly, I would like to say that you believe in yourself. Just be yourself!

Question 12: How can we contact you? (LinkedIn Profile Link/Contact No./etc.)

Answer: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/khushipriyasrivastava/

Priyansh Jain’s Info Edge Interview Experience

“Priyansh Jain” who was placed at “Info Edge” talks about his interview experience and some other tips to prepare for placement season. Check out what he says about the placement season.

His Interview was taken by UnsaidTalks Interviewer: “Ishani”

Profile offered: Software Engineer

Job Location: Noida

Branch and Graduation Year: COE- 2023

Interview Difficulty Level: I will rate it around 7-8.

Here are the questions we asked Priyansh Jain to know about his interview experience.

Question 1: Introduce yourself to our readers.

Answer: Priyansh is a final-year student from COE who got placed at Info Edge (Naukri.com).

Question 2: Was there any internal CGPA cutoff ? If yes, then how much ? 

Answer: The CGPA cutoff to fill up the form was 7.5.

Question 3: What was the procedure of the placement that took place? (Shortlisting criteria/ coding or aptitude test/ number of interviews)

Answer:  There was an online test. After that, there were a total of three technical interviews, followed by one HR round.

Question 4: Tell us about the written/online test. (Aptitude, Coding, Test Platform, etc)

Answer: The online test had some MCQs based on computer fundamentals and two medium-level coding questions.

Question 5: Tell us about Interview Round 1 including the questions that were asked.

Answer:  This round was completely based on DSA. The first question was easy to medium level, followed by a medium-level question. Both the questions were: 1. Spiral traversal of a matrix. 2. In a binary tree, you have to check whether all the leaf nodes are on the same level.

Question 6: Tell us about Interview Round 2 including the questions that were asked.

Answer: This round started with a medium-level question, followed by hard and medium-level questions. Both the questions were: 1. You are given an array of elements, and the value of the elements is the price of a stock on a specific day. We can do multiple transactions; you can buy a stock one day and sell it the next, but you can only keep one stock in an array, and you must sell the first stock before buying another, and you have to calculate the maximum profit that you can make. 2. Boundary traversal of a tree.

Question 7: Tell us about Interview Round 3(if any).

Answer:In this interview, Priyansh was given a low-level system design problem and computer fundamental questions from OOPs, OS, and DBMS, followed by a discussion about projects that he has done. The system design problem: You were given a bunch of computers, and those computers will act as a database for a company. You have to design an architecture for these computers, such as the data structure or architecture you want to use. But the main constraint was that read and write operations on that database should be as minimal as possible.

Question 8:Tell us about the HR interviews(if any) specifying the number of rounds and questions asked.

Answer: Questions in the HR round were pretty basic, like: 1 “Where are you from?” 2. “Are you okay with the location of your office?”

Question 9: What were the key factors of your selection?

Answer: DSA, computer fundamentals, and projects are the three factors that your placement depends on. Aside from these, an internship or previous work experience is important for startups but not as important for MNCs.

Question 10: What are the things students should focus on in order of priority?

Answer: The priority should be on DSA as without it you won’t be able to proceed to interview rounds. And when you reach interview rounds, Computer fundamentals(OOPs, DBMS, OS, and CN) play an important role as DSA. The next thing that you should focus on is projects.

Question 11: According to you, what role do extracurricular activities as well as participation in societies play?

Answer: They do play an important part, as if you have held a previous position of responsibility or participated in some extracurricular activities, they will build an impact on the interviewer. It is not a necessity, but it’s a good thing to have.

Question 12: Were there any companies you got rejected from after appearing for their interview? If yes, then tell us about your rejection story and what do you think were the reasons for your rejection?

Answer: Yes, Priyansh was turned down by Zynga. The first two rounds of interviews were based on DSA and went smoothly, but the third round was based on computer fundamentals, and Priyansh was not aware that computer fundamentals hold such value.

Question 13: What message would you like to give to your juniors regarding the stress they go through during placement season?

Answer: The stress is there, but don’t think of taking shortcuts, as they will make your path longer and longer. Keep doing hard work, and eventually things will come to you.

Question 14: Any Other Advice you would like to give to your juniors?

Answer: Focus and practice DSA as much as you can. It gives you confidence in interviews, and if possible, try multiple coding platforms like LeetCode, Code Chef, Coding Ninjas, etc. Working on these platforms will give you confidence for your online tests. Basically, DSA gives you confidence, and with confidence, you can crack any interview. In interviews, if you’re unable to give optimal answers, at least impress the interviewer with your approach and thinking capabilities. The other thing would be communication, you should know how to convey your thoughts to your interviewer correctly and as precisely as you can. Another thing to consider is the quality of your code because, in the corporate world, everyone expects clean code that is easy to understand. All these things play a huge role in interviews.

Question 15: How can we contact you? (LinkedIn Profile Link/Contact No./etc.)

Answer: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/priyansh-jain-bb4159186/