Hello All,
I'm here to share my experience with the JP Morgan Chase & Co. Code For Good Hackathon and how I secured a full-time role at the firm.
I'll be straightforward. There are three rounds in the CFG Hackathon:
Shortlisting and Online Assessment
JPMC hires from my college every year and sends an email regarding the eligible branches for the Code For Good Hackathon. We were asked to apply through our college's placement portal and also on the JPMC careers website for the role.
JPMC hires for two specific roles:
1. Interns (those who are pursuing their sophomore/second year of college and entering their third year)
2. Full-time employees (students who are in their pre-final year at the time of applying)
The cutoff for the Online Assessment was a CGPA of >=8.5 (which was higher this year).
Eligible candidates received the OA links and were given a 3-day window to complete the test on HackerRank. I received the OA on the second day of the 3-day period. The OA consisted of two programming questions of LeetCode easy-medium level, mostly revolving around arrays and strings, including different approaches like two-pointer and heap.
My Exam Set Included:
1. Min Total Cost (Easy) - Straightforward math simulation using loops.
2. Pairs (Easy-Medium) - Sorting, two-pointer, and condition checking.
I don't have the exact problem statements, but you can find similar questions on various blogs.
Insider Tip: Solve the questions as quickly as possible and with the fewest submission errors.
HireVue Round (AI Interview)
I was shortlisted for this round, where I was prompted with two questions, each with two attempts. The questions were behavioral/technical, and you had to record your response (I don't recall the exact time, but it was around 20 seconds).
My Question Set Included:
1. Tell me about a time when you resolved a conflict with a team member on an ongoing project.
2. What are your future goals?
Candidates who successfully clear this round are shortlisted for the hackathon.
Insider Tips:
1. Wear formal attire during the interview, ensure proper lighting, and make sure your face is clearly visible on camera.
2. Use industry-relevant terms like "agile" and mention tech stacks if asked about a project.
3. Communicate technically rather than in general English.
Code For Good Hackathon
This is the final stage of the hiring process and is an offline hackathon hosted by JPMC at their respective offices. In India, it was hosted in Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Bangalore on different days. Due to COVID, CFG was held online for two years but has now resumed as an offline event.
I was shortlisted for the hackathon after my HireVue interview. The Talent Acquisition team communicated the shortlist to our placements office, along with the hackathon dates, venue, and a consent form to fill out regarding the tech stacks and type of development you're into.
I was added to a Slack channel with other shortlisted students from different colleges. Before the hackathon, we had a series of workshops to prepare, which included sessions with CFG alumni, etiquette for the hack, GitHub for the hackathon, etc.
Three days before the hackathon, we received our team assignments, which consisted of 7-8 members. My team and I created a WhatsApp group and had prior meetings after a brief introduction on LinkedIn.
On the hackathon day, we were assigned designated tables at the JPMC office along with our mentors (who are usually JPMC employees). NGOs presented their problem statements, and we were then asked to select a problem statement on a first-come, first-served basis.
We were then escorted to the hackathon floor, where our mentors, who changed according to their shifts, helped and assessed us throughout the hackathon.
Our assigned NGO was CRY, and the problem was related to the internal scrutinizing of documents with the NGO and SHGs under CRY. We developed a series of dashboards in the full-stack domain using the following tech stack: Vite + React, Tailwind CSS, ShadCN components, SQL, Django, etc.
There was a coding cutoff by which we had to submit our code to the GitHub repository and make a presentation for the project. An internal judging committee evaluated teams based on the demo and presentation, which had to be done in under 7 minutes in front of the panel.
The top 2 teams from each problem statement showcased their solutions in front of senior employees and NGO core members as a panel and all the teams for their problem statements in a meeting hall. Unfortunately, we didn’t get shortlisted for the final round.
Two months after the hackathon, the results for the final FTE students were sent to our placements office, and I was among those selected.
Insider Tips:
1. Stay in constant communication with your mentors (they are key to your selection).
2. Focus on the required goals and the Most Viable Product (MVP) rather than styling or UI.
3. Maintain constant coordination with your team to avoid conflicts and issues.
A total of 4 members from my team were offered full-time roles along with a 6-month internship, and I was among them.
Thanks for reading!