Throughout the engineering spam we all are always keen to know what exactly is asked in the interviews. How
many rounds take place? What is the quality and difficulty of the questions?
Well here is the answer to all of those, some personal experiences shared by the students of Pune Institute of Computer Technology. Everything explained in detail about 3 MNC Microsoft, Morgan Stanley and AirTight Networks.
How To Face Interview
Microsoft
Job Profile: Software Developer
Placement Process:
Test--> Technical Interview--> Technical Interview--> Technical Interview
Round 1 - TEST
Experience:
It was an online test. The company who hosted the test messed up with the interface, and a lot of people had trouble with a coding question that could not be solved because of the faulty interface. There was no retest.
Round 2 - TECHNICAL INTERVIEW
Experience:
QUE 1: Given a compact data structure to store strings sequentially, one byte stores length l of the string, next l bytes contain the string characters. Write a code to insert the given string at the ith place, making sure the DS is still compact. Write tests to verify the correctness.
QUE 2: How will you construct parse tree for ((a+b)*c)/d? What all data structures can you use?
Round 3 - TECHNICAL INTERVIEW
Experience:
QUE 1: Given a function f that returns true or false based on whether the input string satisfies some hidden criterion C, write a function that verifies that all sub strings satisfy C.
QUE 2: You hand over 'n' identical linked lists to n salespersons. After the day's work, these salesperson return the lists. Merge these lists such that all insertions, deletions, updates are taken care of, so that you can repeat this process for the next day.
Round 4 - TECHNICAL INTERVIEW
Experience:
Told about myself, my interests, my internship projects and my work so far.
A few coding questions were asked too.
In the end, they asked if i have any questions.
Tips:
Start preparing early.
Develop priorities both sector wise and company wise.
Take sufficient water and food with you. Interviews can start at 8 am on the first day!
Have enough copies of resume and transcripts with you.
If you have been shortlisted for many companies, it is preferable to have a portfolio manager who manages your phone during the day and enables you to focus on the interviews.
How to face an interview ?
Morgan Stanley
Job Profile: Software Engineer
One Line Advice: No coding knowledge expected! But get your math well!
Placement Process:
Resume Shortlist--> Test--> HR Interview--> Technical Interview--> Group Activity
Round 1 - RESUME SHORTLIST
Experience:
Started out with learning to identify and portray the focal points in a resume companies are looking for. Then went on to list my achievements (big and small) over the years, and the qualities they reflect about me (the hardest part!!). I then selected the 4 I wanted to put forward, and wrote my resume accordingly.
Round 2 - TEST
Experience:
Written Technical test; 30 out of ~ 200 short-listed; 2 Rounds (1 Tech + 1 (Tech + HR); 15 out of 30 short-listed & 2 rounds (1 Tech + 1 Group Activity); 5/6 out of 15 selected. Test was pure coding syntax. Do not come just prepared with just algorithms! Work in one language and master the syntax. The first tech round was some basic programming problems - Eliminating the originating node in a very large circular linked list in the least computational time. Sorting algorithms - Some basic Inheritance.
Round 3 - HR INTERVIEW
Experience:
The second round was an HR round supposedly. We discussed my work in the startup I was in, and then went on to the system design for the same. Later, He tried to put me off-track with a simple guesstimate (no of petrol pumps in Bombay), and ended with a simpler puzzle (Rectangular plate with an arbitrary rectangular hole to be divided into 2 equal halves).
Round 4 - TECHNICAL INTERVIEW
Experience:
The third round was more technical with some more basic algorithm problems & - Traversing a 2 - dimensional array in a spiral fashion - Syntax of commands in C (the language I had chosen for the test, others were Java and C++) - OOPS concepts.
Round 5 - GROUP ACTIVITY
Experiences:
The fourth round was a group activity where a team had to build a model building with straws, come up with a marketing campaign for the same, and make a presentation of the same at the end of the day.
How to face an interview:
Prepare your programming language syntax well. That is where most people lose out in the written tests.- The people here are not looking for very high tech stuff, just some basic programming skills and very basic algorithms, so go through concepts like the unique features of OOPS, differences between Java and C++ etc. Read through basic algorithms they like to refer algorithms by their names. - Do not show in the interview that you are looking for working on cutting edge stuff etc. This goes for all I-Banking IT. Focus more on brand name etc., and possible client and business Interaction (seems they love it!)
You can also visit Complete Interview Guide For Accenture
Airtight Networks
Job Profile: Java Developer
One Line Advice: Be the best at what interests you !
Placement Process:
Technical Interview--> Technical Interview--> HR Interview
Round 1 - Technical Interview
Question 1: Core Java Interview Questions (Google it & You will Get thousands)
Question 2: Logic based questions for example calculation of offset in Pagination scenarios.
Experience: This round was basic elimination of people weak in their java basics and logic.
Round 2 - Technical Interview
Que 1: OS basics and application based questions
Que 2: Networking fundamentals
Que 3: Programming Logic Based questions
Que 4: Data structure and algorithms
Experience: Saying you're favorite subject/what you're good at means you have to be best at it.
Round 3 - HR Interview
Que: Questions may be many but they all want the same thing from you !
Experience: Most importantly you need to be sure what you have, what you want and what you think this position can give you.
How to face interview:
Work smart not hard and you will find a way which isn't as long as it seemed to be !
Keep your basics in place and logic intact.
Be clear in your thought process and confident in your approach.
All thanks to the students and PICT placement experiences facebook page for sharing this information with us.