SmartinfoLogiks Interview Questions and Answers

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: I think they were looking for Basic understanding of financial accounting, confidence.
My experience of working on valuation of Oil & Gas projects, financial modelling helped a lot
Tips: My confidence in answering questions related to finance and Read thoroughly two chapters 11 & 12 of “Financial Accounting” book by RNS

Skill Tips: They will give you required training
Skills: Finance
College Name: IIM Bangalore

Round: Test
Experience: The first round, quite naturally, was the aptitude round. We had to answer questions that were designed to test our quantitative and technical abilities. But this was only the first part. The second part involved finding computational solutions to simulated situations. These questions needed to be solved in a programming language we were asked to choose earlier, during the aforementioned first part. I chose to do it in Java as that is one language I am really thorough with. I understand that C/C++ are more important and versatile, but what matters here is your inherent understanding of the concepts involved

Round: Group Activity
Experience: We had to build model buildings, using LEGO blocks. Other than the fact that I love building things from other smaller things, the supplied material took me back to my childhood days. We were divided into four groups. Two in each room, and each group consisted of 8-10 candidates. We were given a time limit within which we had to design and construct a building. As a surprise, after half time, they asked the two groups in each room to merge their projects. This probably was to see if the candidates were pro-active team players, and could handle unexpected situations like professionals.

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: There was another technical interview after the group activity. I was interviewed by two of their officers, who again asked questions similar to those from the first technical round.  It went quite well, since I was quite confident about the way I was solving the problems they gave me. Thinking out loud is key, as that lets them in your problem-solving abilities. That way, they let you know if you are headed in the right direction. My interviewers were quite pleasant, as they liked discussing possible scenarios to the problems they gave me.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: there was an HR round, where the woman interviewed me about my projects. She needed to know if I had the guts to finish whatever it is that I started. So she asked more on the lines on my role in the projects I had undertaken in the previous years. She also asked me about my working experience from before. That too went well. It was pretty much a standard HR interview – projects, hobbies, traits, etc.

Round: fitness roound
Experience: There was another round in the end, which was to test the candidate’s professional fitness – if they indeed are the right people for the job. I found it to be a blend of technical and HR interviews, more on the lines of HR though. All in all, it was a brilliant experience

General Tips: To my juniors, study hard, be sincere, be yourself, be smart (preferably in that order, but you are free to improvise!)
College Name: IIT MADRAS

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: They didn't had any aptitude test, only resume based short-listing.

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: There were 10-15 students. There was 3 mins thinking time and 10 minutes discussion time. After the discussion each student was asked to conclude the GD and express his/her viewpoint.
Tips: 1. Jot down your point during the three minutes. 
2. During the GD make sure that you express your opinion coherently. 
3. Also make short notes during the GD which will be helpful in concluding it. 
4. While concluding the GD, ensure that you cover all the points discussed during the GD (notes will be helpful here) and in the end express your own stand.
Duration: 10-15 minutes

Round: HR Interview
Experience: It was a HR + Puzzle round. Panel was of Some junior management and the duration was of 30-40 minutes. By the end of this round, they were quite impressed and sent me for the second interview immediately.

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: This round was based on Current Affairs and Finance and lasted for 20 minutes. And, I asked them a few questions about CS and job cutting etc. After this interview they had mentioned that they were quite positive on me and that I had to just interview with one more senior manager. This really boosted my confidence.

Round: Other Interview
Experience: It was also based on finance and current affairs. Panel consisted of the Senior most employee who had come for recruitment. After this round I was informally offered the job.

General Tips: 1. Even when you are unable to answer questions, don’t get bogged down or disheartened remain calm. DB quite often takes stress interview. Just keep your cool and smile while answering questions. 
2. If you do not know any answer, there is no harm is admitting that.
3. Be confident. Know your resume inside out. 
4. Practice a few HR interviews before the actual one. 
5. Also, communication skills in English are very important.
Skills: Probability and Statistics, Basic Finance, Puzzles, Newspaper and current affairs, Major events in the financial world over the past 5-6 years
College Name: IIT KANPUR

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: My strong resume aided in getting shortlisted for Credit Suisse.

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: The GD went well as I did not haste into my chance and was calm throughout.

Round: Other Interview
Experience: The interview was with an alumni who told me that my GD performance was good, and asked me a puzzle. It was followed by some questions on my resume, mainly my internship.
Another puzzle followed, which I took some time to solve. I was able to solve the next one instantly,
Then I was asked to sell a crumbled piece of paper innovatively.

Round: Other Interview
Experience: This round was with a senior member in the company who asked about my resume, stay in campus, post of election officer and some tricky questions, which I answered well. A question on probability was asked. A few more puzzles followed, along with some questions on finance. He also mentioned that he did not expect me to answer these as I had no background in finance. But i was able to answer them.
I was then asked to leave and HR was called inside. I also had an interview with Diamond. The HR came to me and told me that they were interested in and asked me to stall my interview with diamond for a while.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: It was with VP and continued for 45 minutes with no puzzles, finances or cases. It was more of a discussion on all fields ranging from campus life to UP politics to Sachin's retirement, etc.
I was asked about my internship experience and the reason i wanted to join their company .

Round: HR Interview
Experience: It was with the Director, who said that he had a sore throat and hence would not say much. he said that they wanted to hire me and that I do not interview with any other firm. I was more than glad! I was the first person to bag an offer in the placement season.

College Name: IIT KANPUR

Round: Test
Experience: There was negative marking for these questions (+4 & -1) and the number of questions in the second section were more (10 and 20 respectively, I think).The second part of the test was a Coding Round, online. We were given 3 problem statements to be solved in 45 minutes and the programming languages allowed were C, C++ and Java. However you are required to use the same language for Part 1 (Technical Skills) and Part 2 (Coding Round). So make sure you know any one language in its entirety. I hadn’t touched anything apart from C. The questions were essentially based on data structures.
Tips: Word of caution: Be wise in designing your strategy to solve questions, there always IS a sectional cut off and the competition is cutthroat.

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: -1 was pretty much basic, probably just for them to find out whether you know everything that you claim to know. I was asked questions on the basics of C, Data structure implementation, DBMS AND OS. Sounds daunting, but it really wasn't. My panellists were really cool about giving me all the time in the world to think about my answers, they'd even roll their chairs to the corner of the room and chit chat when I'd ask them to stop looking at me. Not a recommended course of action for you guys, because you might get really badass panellists who might want to take a stress interview and using this would probably get you a ticket to take you directly out of the building. But the point is that you don't need to panic when you're asked a question that you don't understand AT ALL. It is probably just a coating of shiny silver on a very basic problem. ALWAYS remember to restate the question as you understood it to make sure that you're on the right track. If you're right you get a bonus for being able to analyse well. If you're not, they will make you understand and you won't spend 15 minutes of your interview time solving a misinterpreted question.

Round: Group Activity
Experience: This is subject to change every year, but for ours we had the one with the Lego toys

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: This round was perhaps the most difficult of all, with gruelling technical questions that I couldn't make head or tail out of. But they were satisfied with a broad outlook to the number of solutions and the different ways to approach the problem. They asked me a little about how my day had been till then and for improvisations on the answers to the questions I was asked in the previous rounds. I was also asked a question about synchronization that I answered with my knowledge of embedded systems. They were really interested in how I applied unrelated knowledge to solve a problem that I would otherwise not be able to answer. This was the end of TECH-2 which made me believe that I had screwed up entirely and that I was out for sure.

Round: PRO FIT ROUND
Experience: I went in to my ProFit round with an "I-should-really-have the-best-time-with-this-thing-since-it-is-all-down-the-drain-anyway" attitude, but really, I think that is just what you're expected to do anyway. :) This ended up being the coolest round of all and I had the time of my life for those 30 minutes. My interviewer asked me ALL the general questions you expect in an HR, and I answered them all very, very truthfully and with really long explanations :P The guy was a veeeeery keen listener and caught on to each and every one of my indications. He let me talk about practically everything, from my very hippie-like outlook of life to the most silly bets I have placed, ever. And the best part was that he was always interested, poker-face like, but always waiting patiently for more exemplifications. Don't bother trying to make up achievements you haven't really made, because they don't care about how accomplished you are, more like how zestful you are, and it probably shows when you're talking about things that you love. Long story short, talk your heart out, they hardly speak in all of those 30 minutes. Let them know that you really ARE passionate about the things that you do.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: The next round that I was immediately ushered into was my HR. Now, I probably felt what I did because I had talked a LOT in my previous round, but I really thought this round was predominantly precursory. My interviewer was one of the big shots of the day, but he hardly asked me any questions that could qualify as HR. This person was the only one from all of my interviews who was even remotely rigid, but that too only marginally. He was ultra-friendly again by the end of the interview. This might vary case by case, but he only asked me things like my comfort with relocation and what I aimed to achieve in the next 5 years. At the end of the interview, he kid around a little and escorted me to the waiting room.

College Name: IIT MADRAS

Round: Puzzle Interview
Tips: Prepare for questions on your resume, puzzles and a couple of HR questions.

Round: Puzzle Interview
Experience: A few resume based questions were asked too.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: They tried to judge how well the candidate would fit in with their company.

General Tips: Focus on the few companies that you want to get into, and prepare well for them. 
Do not give way to peer influence. Do what you want to, even if it is not the most sought after.
College Name: IIT KANPUR