Barclays Internship Interview Experience (On-Campus) 2021

Barclays India visited our college during the 5th semester to hire BA3 Summer Interns for 2022.

Eligibility Criteria: CS & IT Students from 3rd year with >= 60% score across class X, XII and Engineering Semesters.

Round-1 (Online Test – 21/10/2021)

It was conducted on the HackerEarth platform for 90 minutes and consisted of two coding questions and 30 MCQs (Technical).

• The Two Coding Questions were 50M (Leetcode Medium) and 20M (Leetcode Easy) respectively. I managed to solve the 20M coding question passing all test cases and partially solved the 50M coding question passing 70% of the test cases.
• Suggestion: Try solving the coding question which seems easier at first and then proceeds to the second one in order to utilise your time efficiently.
• The MCQs were based on Data Structures, Algorithms, DBMS, SQL Queries, and finding the output to the programs given.

Tips: Solve all the questions with a calm mind and note that there is no negative marking in MCQs so would suggest attempting maximum MCQs as much as possible while maintaining good accuracy.

Out of 150+ students who gave the test, 35 were shortlisted for the personal interview.

Round-2 (Technical + HR Interview – 25/10/2021)

It was conducted on the WebEx platform virtually and was taken by a Vice-President in Barclays. As soon as the Interview began, I was asked to introduce myself. Then the technical questions he asked me were based on the information mentioned in my resume. 

The discussions that took place were similar to the ones mentioned below:

• He asked me about one of the projects mentioned in my resume and what stack was used for making it?.
• What Algorithm was implemented for specific functionality in the project and its accuracy with the reason why that algorithm was chosen?
• I even went ahead and asked him politely if I could screen-share and showed him some of my projects on GitHub which gave him more clarity.
• He then asked me about one of my Internships and what work I had done in it and asked what libraries I had worked with in detail.
• In the process, I was asked to explain the logic for 1-2 DSA Questions (no Pseudo code/implementation was required).

Suggestion: Mention only those things in your resume about which you are really confident and never lie during the interview or even in your resume as it might lead to a bad impression in front of your interviewer.

HR Questions:

• I was asked many situational questions.
• Questions were asked related to Barclays Values (RISES) and how I could incorporate them in real-life scenarios.

Tip: Be thorough with Barclays Values (RISES) before your Interview.

• Strengths and weaknesses were asked and how could I add value as an individual when working in a Team?
• Finally, in the end, I was asked if I had any questions.
• This entire round lasted for about 50 mins.

Finally, 20 students were selected for the summer Internship and I was fortunate to be one of them.

Some general suggestions and tips:

• Make sure you have at least 1-2 good projects and Internships mentioned in your resume with in-detail knowledge of them.
• Practice DSA regularly on Leetcode/GFG.
• Practice Technical Aptitude MCQs on GFG for specific topics.
• Browse Company Website before your Interview and get a good idea about the company.
• Read GFG Archives as they help you get a good idea about the Real Interview experience.
• Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn in case of any queries ( Search ‘Rishabh Kothari KJSCE’).