Barclays Interview Experience | On-Campus 2020 (Virtual)

Barclays recently visited my college to hire summer analysts for the BA3 position. Eligibility criteria were CGPA > 8 and no active backlogs. 3rd-year students of Computer science and IT branch were allowed to sit for the test. The complete procedure comprised of two rounds, round 1 for coding and round 2 for the interview.

Round 1: The first round was the coding round conducted in the HackerEarth platform. It comprised of 16 MCQs and 2 coding questions. Questions were different for everyone. The MCQs were from topics like:

• JavaScript
• Java
• Python
• MongoDB
• DBMS
• Operating Systems

Some questions had negative marks.

Out of the coding questions, 1 was of 50 points and the other of 20. the questions were of medium and easy level respectively, although they were a bit lengthy. I wasn’t able to attempt the second question at all. Solving the coding questions is not necessary, as weightage for both MCQs and coding questions is 50-50 so pay equal attention to both the sections.

34 students were selected from the coding round.

Round 2: The interview was conducted on the very next day. There were around 7-8 panelists. I was the first candidate for the interview round.

Introduction: My panelist was the VP of the company. He was very nice and easy to talk to (which was great because it was my first interview experience, and I was panicking like hell). Be confident and hold the conversation properly. try to be as honest as possible. He asked about my college life and what other hobbies I have etc.

Technical He asked what language I was comfortable in to which I replied Java. He asked me the following questions:

• A program to print a triangle of ‘*’ pattern (really basic)
• Two ‘build-equations-from-statement’ questions, they were pretty easy, and he was really patient

Make sure you reconfirm the question in case of a virtual interview. That’s better than solving the wrong question.

Note: this round entirely depends on the panelist, some students were asked core questions and concepts of their preferred programming language, etc. so be thorough and honest with whatever you put up on your resume.

HR: Please make sure you go through Barclays RISES and know what each of its values really means. He asked me about RISES, also if I have ever shown Integrity or Stewardship in my life, any stories related to such situations, so be ready with such responses. Try not to react negatively.

Then he asked me a situational question, ill write it in the form of conversation as to what answers I gave:

• Q: If you’re sitting in an exam and you happen to notice a silly mistake your friend made, what will you do?
• A: I’ll make sure I let them know about the mistake as soon as I get a chance after the exam is over
• Q: But it’s just a silly mistake and not a deliberate one.
• A: Well it’s an exam and the exact purpose of such an environment is to examine what kind of mistake we do under pressure.

(I don’t remember the exact conversion, this is the gist)

He seemed to be satisfied with this answer, and then he asked if I had any questions for him. Please DO ask questions. It shows how attentive, curious, and ready to learn you are.

The list of selected students arrived a week later with my name on it, and I was very happy.

Just be confident and honest, keep practicing and learning. All the best!