BankBazaar Interview Questions, Process, and Tips

Round: Test
Experience: 2 hours @ Takshila PC labs. 4 programming questions to be solved in a language of your choice (C or C++ or Java). Internet usage and reference books are allowed.
Tips: Fast programming and algorithmic analysis is needed. You must break down the problem into smaller steps and write efficient code because there is a time limit on compile and execution time. Analytical skills - algorithms and graph theory are needed. Break down the questions into parts and write code for as many parts as possible. Your code, even if it’s incomplete for a question, must be free of syntax errors and every part must be algorithmically correct. You need not finish every question. I attempted only 1 out of 4 questions. I managed to write the input and processing parts but not the output. So, my code compiled and executed in time but did not produce any output. Despite this, it appears they personally read the code, so they liked it and thought I was good enough for the next round.

Round: Problem Statement
Experience: A question is displayed on a projector screen. Everyone is required to solve it individually in an hour or so. You are allowed to ask doubts or discuss your problem-solving method with the interviewers whenever you want. They may give you hints, so tell them as much as you understand. I had not studied graph theory so I could only solve 2 out of 3 parts and not the most important (3rd) one. I mentioned this while discussing the problem and also let him know that I was aware my solution for the 3rd part works but is not the optimal one.
Tips: When you solve the question (or any part of it), discuss it with any of the interviewers.

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: You are assigned to one of the interviewers. He will ask you 1-2 questions at a time and move to the next student (sitting some distance away from you so you cannot hear them). He’ll return to you some time later, ask more questions and continue this process. Only 2-3 questions about the CV followed by all technical questions. I was asked to solve Olympiad-level maths problems.
Tips: Probability, number theory and a general puzzle-solving ability is required. Be honest when asked questions about the CV, since the interviewer will be a KGP alumnus. Take your time to solve the questions. Note that the same questions may be asked to others so be on the lookout, you just might overhear their answer. As is true of the entire selection process, your problem-solving method counts more than the final answer.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: This interview is conducted by the senior VP of the company. He will ask general HR questions. This phase may be optional, Some students were selected without going through this phase. I must mention here that in the previous year, a telephonic interview with difficult technical questions was conducted instead (as I heard from a B.Tech. batchmate who was selected that year).  
“Why do you want to join Bankbazaar instead of big companies like Google, Microsoft, IBM etc.?” 
My answer - I will face better challenges in such a new company and will have more freedom to work in my own way. ”What qualities will you bring to Bankbazaar?” 
My answer - I am hardworking, and a quick learner. Also, having been the governor of a society here, I know how to be a team leader. (Because of this answer, I was asked the following questions). 
”So what qualities does a team leader have? Also givean example where you needed to step up as a leader.” 
”What are your weaknesses? Give an example where this weakness cost you something.”
Tips: Read a little about Bankbazaar online. You don’t need to know any details. Show a LOT of interest in working at Bankbazaar. Think of your strengths and weaknesses (with real-life examples) before the interview. At the end, you are allowed to ask him any question. Think of something good. I wasn’t expecting an HR round and wasn’t prepared, so I couldn’t. I also told him that I really liked the selection process because they tested for the right things without any bullshit, especially the online test which gave me the tools and I was allowed to use them in my own way to solve the problem (this was how I truly felt and he really seemed to like this).

Skill Tips: Good performance in CS/related courses (in addition to 1st year PDS course) is important. If you didn’t take any such courses, you should study at least some core CS theory and mention it honestly during the selection process. In my case, I had taken Operating systems theory and lab (CS dept 6th sem depth) as breadth subjects in my 8th sem scoring B and A respectively.
1. GSoC participation is a big advantage.
2. Interhall tech events especially Opensoft are important.
3. Overnite (ktj) and similar participation in any fest.
4. Certifications from LPI, Sun, Microsoft etc. 
5. Qualifying Maths Olympiad might help too, though I’m not sure how much it counts unless you have been to the International Maths Olympiad. Note that these will certainly help but you won’t be at any significant disadvantage if you don’t have these qualifcations. I only had one certification - I had done Microsoft’s MCSE course in class 8th but only took one of the seven required exams, so my certificate was just MCP and not MCSE. I had qualified RMO (1st level of Maths Olympiad) but failed INMO (2nd level). I was AIR 1 in National Cyber Olympiad in class 10th (honestly it’s easy and not really prestigious). I doubt this counted for much. I did not participate in GSoC, interhall tech events or overnite.Bankbazaar’s selection process tests for the right funda. If you have programming skills and know algorithms and some graph theory, you’ll probably be selected. Your CV need not have much because once you get shortlisted, only your performance in the ongoing phase matters and the CV loses its importance.
Skills: Maths, Programming
College Name: IIT-Kharagpur

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: Students with good grades in the lab mentioned by them would have an edge. Also, students involved in open-soft, BIT Wise etc. have an advantage. 4 questions, totally coding based. Skills: Aptitude for coding.

Round: Test
Experience: Coding related online test.
Tips: Try to write efficient codes.

Round: Test
Experience: Only one question was asked. It was important to solve the question quickly and as efficiently as possible.
Tips: Do’s : Try to do them as fast as possible. Try to be efficient

Round: HR Interview
Experience: Interview with one of the VPs.

Skill Tips: Good Programming skills is necessary. Involvement in coding related work is beneficial, But is not a necessity. Good knowledge of Data Structures and Algorithms. Things related to coding will be good.
Skills: Programming skills
College Name: IIT KHARAGPUR

Round: Test
Experience: 4 programming questions are given. Programming skill, Design skills are most necessary.
Tips: Don’t waste time thinking about efficient solutions. Even Brute force solution will make you clear the test.

Round: design round
Experience: Given a specific Design problem.

Round: Interview
Experience: Asked a lot of questions on Data structures and Algorithms. Problem based on Greedy solution is asked.
There were also a lot of questions on Binary Trees.

College Name: IIT KHARAGPUR

Round: Test
Experience: The person who wrote this problem is going through the bad phase of his life. But, fortunately he won some cash in his last programming event.

Now to make his girlfriend feel special, he wants to buy her some chocolates. As mentioned, he is not having good time so he want to spend as less as possible.

Keeping that in mind, he decided to play a game with her. The rule of game is as follows:

1) There are N chocolates represented by type 1..N

2) He will arrange them in a row in some random order

3) Now she (his girlfriend ofcourse) has to pick an index say i, then she will get all the chocolates at index j such that j>i and type of chocolate at j is strictly less than type of chocolate at index i.He believes that his girlfriend is not that clever and will surely not choose the most optimal index, but he wants to know that if by any chance she picked the optimal index then how many chocolates will he have to buy.Input:

First line contain N. then next line contain N space separated integers.output :

A single integer which is the answer.Constraints :

1 = N = 1051<=A[i]<=10^5Sample Input (Plaintext Link)

10

7 6 10 5 2 8 1 9 3 4

Sample Output (Plaintext Link)

7

Explanation

If she chooses i=3, then all the elements in right of i have type less than 10, hence ans is 7. In none of the other case she can get more chocolates2) Forgot the 2nd question.

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: Given a binary tree find the pairs which violate the BST property.
In BST EVERY element in left subtree must be less than every element in the right subtreeeg: 50
30 60
20 25 10 40 In above tree the pairs violating BST property are (20, 10), (30, 25), (30, 10) , (25, 10), (50, 10) and (60, 40).
Expected time complexity for the problem is O(nlogn) time ?
solution: Make in-order traversal. Store the in-order traversal in an array. Find the pairs which voilate the property

I have not cleared this round so no f2f interview questions.

College Name: NA

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: Q1 – Give an efficient algo to find if every nodes value is equal to sum of left + right node.My Ans – Kinda Postorder traversalQ2 – Give an appropriate DS to retrieve minimum from set of valuesMy Ans – Min-Heap & something else (don’t remember)Q3 – Best DS to store and manipulate huge numbersMy Ans – Linked List

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: Q1 – Given a million strings , for the input string get count of anagrams of input string among the million . O(1) solution neededMy Ans – Modified Trie + Back PointerQ2 – Efficient Algo to find second shortest path in a graph given edges part of the shortest pathMy Ans – Got to do with removing edge by edge from Shortest , find best second shortest so far .

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: This went badlyQ1 – Effecient Algo for Tower of Hanoi , Trace working , Time complexity derivation       As a build up to this, given more than 1 auxillary rod how would u change the algo for better        performance and drive/proove itMy Ans – Use DP to derive the new Time Complexity

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: Q1 – Efficient working code to traverse tree level by level and print odd levels left to right , even right to left .My Ans – Simple level traversal use 2 stacks.Q2 – Given a sorted rotated array , efficient code to find element .My Ans – Sime Binary Search + special conditions

Round: HR Interview
Experience: Traditional HR questions , Why Bankbazaar ? etc. usual onesAmong all the questions I got everything right except the Tower of Hanoi

College Name: NA

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: I had my resume uploaded in naukri.com portal. One gets a HR call from company if there profile matches the job profile. The req was for 1-3 year experience.
Tips: Update your resume weekly for increased visibility.

Round: Test
Duration: 20 minutes
Total Questions: 10