Accolite Digital Interview Experience for 2022 Batch
Round 1 (M.C.Q. Based Round):
- There were 30 questions and the time duration provided was 30 minutes.
- The topics covered were basic data structure and algorithm, DBMS, OS, OOPS, CN, and general aptitude.
- The round is easy to get by if you have been preparing for placements with respect to the above-mentioned topics.
- Out of around 200 students, 67 were able to clear this round.
Round 2 (Coding Round):
- There was 1 question that was supposed to be solved in 60 minutes.
- Prior to the test, we were asked to fill a form to mention the programming language we will be using for writing the code.
- The question was based on arrays, it was very similar to ‘Count minimum steps to get the given desired array’: https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/count-minimum-steps-get-given-desired-array/amp/
- The main catch in this round was that students had to write their own test cases using google’s library ‘gtest.h’. This can be really intimidating if you have never seen the library or don’t know how unit testing works. So give this library a look before going into the round.
- 27 were selected out of 67. I was one of them.
Technical Interview-1:
- This was a one-hour coding interview that was scheduled. The interviewer was on time and started by asking me about any of the projects I had done on one major scale.
- Then He went through some resume stuff. Projects and team developments stuff like that.
- Then he started with the coding questions, I was told to open a notepad for the following questions. The first question he asked was to sort the array with elements having the highest frequency first. I did this with a priority queue and hash map. He later asked me to explain how priority queues work.
- The diameter of a tree was asked with two different methods, I gave him both but I started with a mess up. He was really helpful and guided me in the right direction.
- The difference between BFS and DFS was asked.
- Egg drop problem using various optimization techniques.
- Then he asked me about my open source journey, some repositories I have contributed to in the past.
- Some basic git commands like cherry-picking, pull requests.
- Difference between Java and C++. Why C++ is not 100% OOP supportive?
- Difference between Typescript and Javascript.
- Some basic DBMS queries, second-highest salary, and row num’s use in SQL
After 10 minutes I got the call from HR informing me I have been selected for the next round.
Technical Interview-2:
- This was again a one-hour technical interview but the level of difficulty increased a lot.
- The interviewer started with a general greeting from the interviewer, then he later proceeded to ask me to introduce myself.
- He directly moved to DSA questions, the difference between linked list and array.
- Addition of two numbers using two linked lists, for he asked me to provide the max space efficiency possible. As one int variable can hold 32 bit and my solution was only using 4 bit. I gave an idea of using char as it only has 16 bits, however, he was not satisfied, I later gave him an idea of generating a class using a bitset combination that will use only 4 bits. He agreed this will work but he then asked me why don’t store more than one bit in the list? I never thought of the question in this manner and then proceeded with giving him the solution.
- He then asked me to open a code editor and started with the coding questions.
- The first question was to implement a queue using an array, I was able to get the output right but my solution was not doing well with space complexity as I was not rotating the array rather I just kept on increasing the index, he hinted to me this multiple times but I couldn’t understand it.
- The second question was a string-based question in which he asked me to separate the words with space between them. I gave the general solution forgetting about the leading and trailing spaces, this lead to the interviewer being a bit agitated with me and told me to not expect a perfect dataset every time. I then corrected the code to which he was satisfied and we concluded the interview.
- He asked me if I had any questions, I asked him how to solve the queue question properly which he properly explained later I asked what technical stack is being used by them in the company right now. After answering that he concluded the interview, I apologized for not being able to answer and left the meeting.
I waiting for an hour and did not get a call so I thought I had failed to go to the next round, but after some more time I got the call and my interview was scheduled in the next 15 minutes.
HR Interview:
- This was the final interview of the process. It started with a general introduction about myself.
- Why did I want to be an engineer?
- Pros and cons of my college during the last 4 years.
- My future goals.
- My recent success and setbacks.
- Later he gave me a brief about how Accolite is growing and working in recent years and that I will learn a lot.
- Finally, He asked if I have any questions for him.
Verdict: Selected for Full Time + Intern
The next morning the list of selected students was announced, I was fortunate enough to be included in it.
Some tips from my end:
- Have a deep understanding of all the data structures
- Don’t take theory topics lightly
- Prepare from the previous year’s questions
- Don’t let your smile fade no matter how bad the interview is going
- Lastly don’t be disheartened if you are not selected, trust the process and move ahead.