Infosys HackWithInfy DSE Interview Experience 2021

Infosys conducts its off-campus hiring fest through Infytq and Hackwithinfy. This year Hackwithinfy consisted of two rounds. The first round was held in May. In my case, the exam date was 9th May 2021. The second round is the Grand Finale.

Round 1 was a coding test for all the registered students comprising of 3 easy to hard level questions. There were questions from dynamic programming, greedy algorithms, and basic problem-solving.

Based on the performance of round 1, candidates were shortlisted for PPI (Pre Placement Interview) for profiles of :

1. Digital Specialist Engineer (DSE) 
2. Power Programmer (PP) 

The result of round 1 was disclosed in the month of June. 

• To all the qualified candidates Infosys sent out mail stating that he/she has received a PPI for this role, the details will be shared later. Usually, if you solved more than 1 question the chances are that you will be called for an interview. In my case, I solved one question and 50% of test cases of another question. For simplification let’s say I solved 1.5 questions. Owing to that, I received an interview call for the DSE role in the month of June 2021.
• My interview was scheduled for 7th July 2021 from 1 PM in the afternoon. Due to the ongoing pandemic, the interview was in online mode. I joined 15 mins early. The interviewer joined in around 1:03 PM. Now here I would like to state that the candidate who is facing the interview must be patient. Please wait if the interviewer is not present at the scheduled time. Just wait for around 30 mins and if there is still no communication just write an email to the HR point of contact. Don’t freak out!

Given below are my experiences and how the interview went. 

Introduction: The interviewer was an experienced professional from Infosys itself. 

• He first introduced himself and asked me to tell him something about myself.
• I gave a brief introduction about myself in around 2 mins stating my background, my schooling, family details, hobbies, and of course about my academics. I was from Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE) background and so was the interviewer.

Tips:  Here I would like to say that this is the most important question of the interview. Don’t fumble around and be honest. Don’t mug up some answers and tell. This is the point where you have to explain the 20-22 years of your life in 2-3 minutes. Make it crisp and don’t make it too long. Make sure to include the following points – 

• Mention your name, college education, college name, and the course you are enrolled in.
• Tell about your native place and your family background like what your parents do and how you get motivated by them.
• Your schooling.
• Any extra-curricular activities, be it sports, music, etc. Again just don’t lie in this part as you may expect questions from this part.
• Hobbies

Projects: Infosys really stresses your project. Make sure to prepare it well. You can expect a good 15-20 mins discussion on the same. In my case, the interviewer was really impressed by our project and asked many questions regarding the same. 

Subject of Interest: This part may vary from stream to stream and also on what you have written on your resume. 

• In my case, since I was from one of the circuit branches and so was the interviewer.
• he asked me basic questions from Digital Electronics such as what are XOR and XNOR gates, what is its importance, combinational circuits, etc., Control System and all. Just be clear with the basics and you will be all good.

Coding Part: The interviewer asked me to open an editor of my choice and told me to write two basic programs. 

• Here they usually check your basics and not much since you have already qualified for a coding exam to get to this interview. I was asked to write all the numbers in a range which are multiples of both 2 and 5. Next, I was asked a question based on string comparison.
• Here I would like to say that just be interactive. If you are not able to understand the logic just do not sit blank. Ask questions on the test cases, what could be the possible approaches, what you are thinking, and all.

HR questions: Once my technical parts were over I was asked some of the HR-related questions such as –

1. Despite being from a non-CS/IT background what is your motivation in joining IT industry?
2. Why Infosys?
3. Suppose you are a team leader and you are assigned a task. How will you proceed?
4. Show an example where you have shown leadership skills.
5. If you are facing any problem, how will you tackle it?
6. Any questions for me?

These are very common questions. Don’t mug up from any sources. Just give your honest opinion and you will be all good. 

This is how my interview went. I got a mail from college TPO on 5th August 2021 that I was selected for the DSE role. 

NOTE:

• Have a good knowledge of data structures, different sorting algorithms, their time complexities, and comparisons. Go through your resume thoroughly.
• Even if you are from non-CS/IT background you can expect questions from CS topics like DBMS, Operating systems, SDLC, and all.
• My interviewer was also from ECE background and thus I was asked questions from circuit branches topics. However, a friend of mine was asked questions on OS, DBMS, and all.
• During the interview, my interviewer continuously supported me and was giving compliments like “good answer”. So don’t panic during the interview, just be yourself and honestly give your answers.

My preparation Sources: 

• Data Structures and Algorithms – Abdul Bari(https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAXnLdrLnQpRcveZTtD644gM9uzYqJCwr)and GeekforGeeks.
• SDLC – Gate Smashers. (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxCzCOWd7aiEed7SKZBnC6ypFDWYLRvB2)
• HR – Dr. Sandeep Patil (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7JWAQVYqiM4igiZFQXbsbECcz2lLnfK3)
• Codechef (https://discuss.codechef.com/t/preparation-for-se-ses-dse-pp-interview-hack-with-infy-and-infytq/70917)

That was it from me. Best of luck and thank you.