Paytm visited our campus on 24th August for Software Engineer Role.
Round 1(Coding Round): This one happened for 70 mins where we were given 3 coding questions to solve.
- https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/check-whether-number-circular-prime-not/amp/
- I don’t remember the exact question but it is the variation of the standard problem: Min Cost Path.
- https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/permute-the-elements-of-an-array-following-given-order/amp/
After this, list of all the shortlisted students came in which total of 44 students were shortlisted and Interviews were scheduled on 4th September but due to an internal event at Paytm the interviews were postponed and rescheduled on 16th of September.
Round 2(Technical Round 1 – 1 hour): My Interview was started normally with my introduction and then she moves to the coding questions.
- She asked me the first question: Delete node in a Linked List with a given random pointer and without the head pointer. https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/in-a-linked-list-given-only-a-pointer-to-a-node-to-be-deleted-in-a-singly-linked-list-how-do-you-delete-it/amp/.Firstly she asked this standard question and then tried to do some of the variations in it.
- First I discussed the approach, then I explained to her the brute force method later she asked me to optimize it. And finally, she asked me to code it on a shared google doc.
- She then moves to the second question: Construct a binary search tree from a sorted array. https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/sorted-array-to-balanced-bst/amp/
- Again I first discussed the approach, I explained the best approach of making a balanced BST using middle element of the array but then she modified the question to construct a skewed BST using the same array and finally she asked me to code this.
- She then moves to the third question: Given a sorted array and a number x, find the pair in array whose sum is closest to x. https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/given-sorted-array-number-x-find-pair-array-whose-sum-closest-x/amp/
- I implemented this question and she was satisfied enough.
- Then she jumps to the theory part and questions were from core java(as I was having it in my resume), multithreading, about Object class in java, and various questions related to this, then she asked some questions on operating systems (from synchronization and its characteristics and different types of solutions) and some input/output questions related to different pre-defined functions of threads.
- All technical questions were completed. She asked me if there were any questions for her from my side and I asked her about my feedback. This round took approx. 1 hour.
- I was very much confident that I will receive the link for the second round
And Finally, I got a mail for the 2nd Technical round after 1.5 hours.
Round 3(Technical Round 2 – 45 minutes): The interviewer was cool enough. Started with my introduction. then He moved to coding questions directly:
- He asked me to open one of the code editors.
- First Question : We have to print the starting index of all the subarrays in an array whose sum is equal to zero. https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/print-all-subarrays-with-0-sum/amp/
- First I discussed the approach and then he told me to code this.
- Second Question : Given an array of integers, keep removing the consecutive same integers until there are no more consecutive same elements in an array and return the final modified array.
- Only the approach was expected. Firstly I discussed the brute force one and later he asked me to optimize it.
I solved both the questions.
- Then he switched to the CS Fundamentals and asked computer network questions but I honestly told him that I am not that much comfortable with computer networks so he told no worries.
- Then asked questions from DBMS which is, briefly describe all types of joins, sharding, and normalization, and some questions from oops which is about Polymorphism and examples of static as well as dynamic polymorphism.
All technical questions were completed. He asked me if there were any questions for him from my side and I asked some of the questions including the tech Stack of the company, the working culture of the company, and lastly about my feedback.
This round took approx. 45 minutes.
Verdict: Selected
A total of 4 students were given the offer, and I was one of them.
Tips:
- Be confident and make the interview interactive, don’t panic, Before answering any question clear all your doubts.
- Especially in the coding questions, ask all the constraints of the question and interact as much as possible so that the interviewer doesn’t get bored.
I would like to Thank GeeksforGeeks for such wonderful content and detailed coverage of all topics.