Online Assessment:
Round 1: HackerRank Test - 3 Sections
- 1 DSA question (medium level, binary search on answers)
- 20 technical questions (OS, DBMS, CN, and other CS fundamentals)
- 15 general aptitude and communication questions
Face-to-Face Interviews:
Round 1 (Technical – 50 Mins):
The interviewer asked me to introduce myself and suggested addressing him by his name instead of Sir/Madam.
He confirmed Java as my primary language.
Java Questions:
- Explain heap and stack memory
- Memory-related errors in Java (StackOverflowError and OutOfMemoryError)
- Explain Garbage Collection
- What is static and dynamic binding?
- JVM and platform independence of Java
- Singleton class example
- What are JAR files?
DBMS and SQL:
- What is a table and a view?
- Explain RDBMS and SQL Commands: DDL, DML, DCL, and TCL
- Difference between DROP, TRUNCATE, and DELETE commands
- CAP Theorem and its trade-offs
- Difference between 3NF and BCNF
- Given 2-3 tables, wrote SQL queries based on joins and basic subqueries
DSA:
- Sort a LinkedList. I told him the merge sort approach.
- Explained the intuition behind merge sort. Then asked to analyze its time complexity.
- Why is the time complexity of binary search log(N) and not N/2?
Operating Systems:
- What is a deadlock and how to avoid it?
- Explain the Dining Philosopher Problem.
- Process synchronization
- What is Semaphores?
- Explain wait() and signal()
- What is bootstrap program in OS?
The interviewer concluded by asking if I had any questions for him. To build rapport, I asked:
- What are some common mistakes freshers often make, and how can I avoid them?
- What do you see as the future of Oracle?
Round 2 (Technical – 45 mins):
In-depth Project Analysis:
- Design schema and draw ER diagram for a DBMS project (Airport Management System)
- Normalize a given table; I normalized it up to 3NF.
- Prolonged discussion on my Machine Learning project, testing in-depth knowledge
Which app do you use often on your phone? (I answered Instagram)
How would you test the Instagram app? Questions related to authentication
I asked the same two questions to this interviewer that I had asked in the first round.
Round 3 (Technical – 45 Mins):
The interviewer asked me to introduce myself again.
In-depth Project Analysis:
- Asked different solutions for various scenarios he created based on my Machine Learning project
- How would you handle sensitive data
- Limitations of your project
- Encryption and decryption
REST APIs:
- Explain REST with examples
- various HTTP requests and CRUD operations
- Differences between PUT and POST, and write POST method
- Discussion about status codes
Why should we hire you?
What are strengths and weaknesses?
I asked 2-3 questions at the end. The interview ended positively.
Interview ended by 3 PM, results were announced around 7:30 PM on the same day.
Final Verdict: Selected
Tips:
- Maintain a small smile and stay relaxed. This helps you look confident and approachable.
- Only include skills on your resume that you're confident in.
- If you're stuck on a question, don't panic. Just tell the interviewer what you're thinking.
- If a question isn't clear, don't hesitate to ask for clarification; it's better to fully understand than to guess.
- Express your ideas clearly and explain your thought process. Good communication helps the interviewer understand your skills and how you approach problems.
- Prepare a few thoughtful questions to ask the interviewer. This shows that you're interested in the job and have done your research.
Best of luck