Paytm Data Science Software Engineer Interview Questions and Answers

Round: Test
Experience: There were two simple coding problems and MCQs were based on Machine Learning, Networking, OS, Application Security, Programming (OOP and Java), etc.
Duration: 75 minutes minutes

Round: Technical interview
Experience: My first interview was scheduled at 6:00 am. I reached a bit late and waited for about an hour and finally went in at 7:00 am. The first round (40 mins) was based on resume and was mostly technical. The first few questions were on OOP and software development cycle, etc. I told him that I do not know about these since I was targeting for the data science profile. I was asked about projects and a few questions were on fast fourier transform algorithms, how to efficiently invert a sparse matrix, big data and optimization.

Round: HR interview
Experience: The second round (30 mins) was HR which was being conducted by a foreigner. He asked me questions about my short term and long term goals, how technology is going to transform our future, etc.

Round: HR INTERVIEW
Experience: The third round (5 mins) was again HR where I was asked about team work, compensation, relocation, etc.

General Tips: 1) Be clear about your priorities and preferences. Also, keep in mind the specific slottings.
2) Start preparing as early as possible, summer is a good time.
3) Know your resume very well. Do not write unnecessary things that you cannot defend/explain.
4) In the interviews, try to relate your expertise/knowledge to your projects.
5) Aptitude and Coding preparation should be done sincerely even if you have a good profile for a company because shortlisting are based on these tests.
6) For non-CSE junta, get in ease with JAVA/C++. It helps in the coding tests, C can be limiting.

College Name: IIT Kanpur
Motivation: I was interested in a job which involves machine learning and optimization because I wanted to go for higher studies in the same after 1-2 years of job experience. Initially, I had Samsung research, IBM and Opera in mind. Visa was coming to the campus for the first time and they had this Data Science profile which seemed good to me. Moreover, they were just opening up offices in India and thus could offer extensive learning opportunities.