Buckman Laboratories Interview Questions and Answers

Round: Test
Experience: • 1 question was on time complexity of searching an unsorted array.
• 2 questions were on recursion, ie, number of recursive calls.
• 1 question on analysing given function on string.
• 1 question was on probability(Two hotels, say A and B. Probability of moving from A to B is 2/3, staying at A is 1/3. Probability of moving from B to A and staying at B is 1/2. If they make decisions each hour, and if they were at A at 7:00 pm, what is the probability that they will be at B at 10:00 pm).
• If a set has elements {1,2,3,4 .... n}. Then what is the sum of elements of it's power set. (Ex: S = {1,2}. Then power set is {{},{1},{2},{1,2}}. The sum is 6.
• If a set has elements {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10}. Then how many subsets of 3 elements has no consecutive elements.
• 1 question was on designing a DFA for a string starting with a and ending with c and has at least b in it.
• 1 question had machine instructions. We had to find out minimum number of cycles needed to execute the given set of instructions. (a) If the instructions are executed in the given order. (b) If the instructions are executed in random order.
• 1 puzzle on bridges.

Tips: In this round they not only see the answer. They also verify how you approached(So, give correct explanation to your answers).
Duration: 90 minutes
Total Questions: 10

Round: Coding Round
Experience: Two questions were there. 3 hours duration.

1. Long question, I don't remember fully. I'll just give input/output examples. It was basically on string decoding. If jon2snow3 is there the decoded string will be jonjonsnowjonjonsnowjonjonsnow. Given a string and an integer k we have print the kth character in the decoded string
input:
jon2snow3
8
output:
n

2. Given an array and an integer k return the number of contiguous sub arrays whose sum is divisible by k.
input format:
n k

input:
4 5
10 0 4 5

output:
4

explaination: {10},{0},{10,0},{5} are the sub arrays with sum divisible by 5.


Tips: You will have lots of time, so try to optimise the solution if you can. Remember here also they review each individual's code.

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: They will help you a lot if you are stuck at some point in the question. You have to be smart enough to grasp the clue.
Tips: They only ask questions only on data structures and algorithms.

Skill Tips: You have to be strong in coding. Algorithm questions will be mostly on dynamic programming. Data structures questions are mostly on trees.
Skills: C Programming, Maths(esp Probability), Algorithms And Data Structures
Duration: 5
College Name: JSS Mahavidyapeetha Sri Jayachamarajendra College Of Engineering, Mysore

Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - Fluid mechanics basics should be clear especially bernoulis equation

Round: Test
Experience: It was pretty easy and generic. Not much related to my branch i.e. Chemical Engineering. Out of 24, 6 were selected for the next round.
Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: 6 of us were given the choice between 2 topics: online shopping vs. Conventional shopping, and the success of swachh bharat. We selected the prior one after a discussion of 1 minute. We were given 3 minutes to brainstorm and 12 minutes to speak, so 12+3 = 15 minutes total. The mediators, that is the HR lady and the technical gentleman, just listened, did not interfere in our discussions.
Tips: Like any GD, it's crucial to demonstrate leadership without being patronising. And to dominate without being disrespectful to others. While it's ok not to take a rigid stance in a GD, it certainly gets you bonus points if you can convince the other person and "bring them to your side". It's not a debate, so even if you argue, you have to come to a more-or-less unanimous conclusion within the set time so your discussion must have a set direction. Bonus points if you're the one giving the direction.
Duration: 15 minutes

Round: HR Interview
Experience: It was for about 10-15 minutes. The HR lady and the tech gentleman were very chill. They began by asking me about myself. I have a startup of my own so I gave a short intro about myself, my immediate family, my goals and then into my startup. They had gone through my CV so they started asking about my activities in college and what I was doing. I think they were trying to figure out my character and if all of it was genuine. Then I again started talking about my startup, so they finally relented and asked me about it. I explained the idea to them and told them that I would want to continue working on my startup. They told me that it was not in accordance with their company's policy to have an employee occupied full-time in two companies. Then I informed them that my startup was my priority, and we agreed that I would not be a good fit for Thermax.
Tips: Be confident, cool and open during the interview. You are already good if you've progressed to the last stage of the selection process. The interviewer already knows you have flair. What they want to figure out is that whether you are the right fit for their company's culture. If you're not, no matter how good you are, they will not select you. And that's ok.

Topics to prepare for Thermax Limited Senior Engineer interview:

• Boe
• Energy manager

Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - Be confidential and technically strong.

Topics to prepare for Thermax Limited Intern interview:

• Java

Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - Prepare codes well
Revise oops

Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - This interview was a technical one but was majorly a stress test. It lasted for about 1 hour 10 minutes. The interviewer wanted to test both my knowledge and communication skills. Most of the questions asked to me were related to my B.Tech curriculum i.e. computer science related topics. He stressed a lot on the basics related to my project topic. Luckily I was able to answer most of the questions correctly. I tried to answer each question with examples and also used props on the table (like pens, paperweights, pen stands etc.) to explain my theories. It was my first offcampus interview, and I think I did pretty well for a fresher. You need to stay calm and should apply presence of mind. Please go through the job description thoroughly word-by-word and recheck your resume to ensure that you are a best-fit for the position.