Standard Chartered Interview Questions, Process, and Tips for Freshers

Round duration - 90 minutes
Round difficulty - Medium

Coding round, two Questions: one easy and one hard
The test was scheduled for 6 pm.

Q1. Second largest element in the array
You have been given an array/list 'ARR' of integers. Your task is to find the second largest element present in the 'ARR'.
Note:
a) Duplicate elements ...read more
Ans. Simple solution
The idea is to sort the array in decreasing order and return the second largest element in the array.
1. Sort the array in decreasing order.
2. We can create a function to sort the elements using a sorting algorithm such as quicksort or use inbuilt sorting functions.
3. Traverse from index 1(0-based indexing) because the element at index 0 will clearly be the first largest and check whether duplicates of the larger ...read more
Answered by CodingNinjas
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Q2. Ways To Make Coin Change
You are given an infinite supply of coins of each of denominations D = {D0, D1, D2, D3, ...... Dn-1}. You need to figure out the total number of ways W, in which you can make a cha...read more
Ans. Recursion
 
1. The idea is to use recursion.
2. For a particular coin, we have two options either include it or exclude it.
3. If we include that coin, then calculate the remaining number that we have to generate so recur for that remaining number.
4. If we exclude that coin, then recur for the same amount that we have to make.
5. Our final answer would be the total number of ways either by including or excluding.
6. There will be two edg...read more
Answered by CodingNinjas
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Round duration - 170 minutes
Round difficulty - Easy

For MCQ Round, we have 2 rounds:- 
1. Logical Reasoning 
2. Mathematical Reasoning

Logical Reasoning, in which there were 12 questions, and for each question we had a time limit of 75 seconds. There was a cut-off of 40 for the next round, and people who qualified were sent an e-mail with a link to continue with the process.

Numerical Reasoning-The questions were in a pair of 3 in which a table/bank statement was given and 3 questions were based on that. The questions were purely based on calculations and semi-subjective. The time given for the 1st question was 90 seconds and for the rest 2 questions, 75 seconds each

For Coding Round, 
120 minutes window(Test was of 90 minutes)
We have two questions
For the first question(30 Minutes it can be solved 2 times)
For the second question(60 Minutes)

Q1. Rat In A Maze
You are given a starting position for a rat which is stuck in a maze at an initial point (0, 0) (the maze can be thought of as a 2-dimensional plane). The maze would be given in the form of a...read more
Ans. Bactracking
Approach: We can start the traversal of the paths from the rat’s starting position, i.e. (0,0) keeping track of the visited cells during the traversal. We will recursively go through all the paths possible until the last index of the grid (destination) is reached, and add the path information using which the rat successfully reached the end.
 
Algorithm is as follows:
 
1. Take the starting position of th...read more
Answered by CodingNinjas
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Q2. Maximum Frequency Number
Ninja is given an array of integers that contain numbers in random order. He needs to write a program to find and return the number which occurs the maximum times in the given inpu...read more
Ans. Brute Force Approach
Here, we can simply run two loops. The outer loop picks all elements one by one and the inner loop finds the frequency of the picked element and compares it with the maximum present so far.
 
Algorithm:
 
• Declare 4 variables as ‘maxFrequency’ , ‘currentFrequency’ , ‘maxElement’ , ‘currentElement’ and initialize them with 0
• Run a loop from ‘i’ = ‘0’ to ‘N’
  • Set ‘currentElement’ as arr[i] and ‘curr...read more
Answered by CodingNinjas
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Round duration - 30 minutes
Round difficulty - Easy

It was an face to face round.There were 2 interviewers and they asked me coding question and some puzzles and some questions related to my project which was mentioned in my resume.

Q1. Nth Fibonacci Number
Nth term of Fibonacci series F(n), where F(n) is a function, is calculated using the following formula -
    F(n) = F(n-1) + F(n-2), 
    Where, F(1) = F(2) = 1
Provided N you have...read more
Ans. Recursive Approach
• In this approach, we use recursion and uses a basic condition that :
  • If ‘N’ is smaller than ‘1’(N<=1) we return ‘N’
  • Else we call the function again as ninjaJasoos(N-1) + ninjaJasoos(N-2).
• In this way, we reached our answer.
Space Complexity: O(n)Explanation:
O(N),  where ‘N’ is the given number.  
As recursion uses a stack of size ‘N’
Time Complexity: O(2^n)Explanation:
O(2^N), where ‘N’ i...read more
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Q2. Puzzle
25 horses problem

There are 25 horses. What is the minimum number of races needed so you can identify the fastest 3 horses? You can race up to 5 horses at a time, but you do not have a watch.
Egg Dropp...read more
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Q3. Ways To Make Coin Change
You are given an infinite supply of coins of each of denominations D = {D0, D1, D2, D3, ...... Dn-1}. You need to figure out the total number of ways W, in which you can make a cha...read more
Ans. Recursion
 
1. The idea is to use recursion.
2. For a particular coin, we have two options either include it or exclude it.
3. If we include that coin, then calculate the remaining number that we have to generate so recur for that remaining number.
4. If we exclude that coin, then recur for the same amount that we have to make.
5. Our final answer would be the total number of ways either by including or excluding.
6. There will be two edg...read more
Answered by CodingNinjas
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Round duration - 30 minutes
Round difficulty - Medium

It was basically a resume round Interviewer went through my resume throughly and asked me about the things mentioned in my resume.

Q1. Technical Questions
She asked me why do haven't done java to which i replied i have good logics and good understanding of c++ .Learning java is not difficult for me and i only have to learn syntax(be confid...read more
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Round duration - 15 minutes
Round difficulty - Easy

It was a simple hr round and he asked me basic questions

Q1. Basic HR Questions
Some questions asked are-
Why you want to join standard chartered?
Any military background?
Any political background?
Are you willingly to relocate?
About my family and what are there professi...read more
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Round duration - 150 minutes
Round difficulty - Medium

For MCQ Round, we have 2 rounds:- 
1. Logical Reasoning (Window of 4 hours)
2. Mathematical Reasoning(Window of 4 hours)
The environment was fine. They gave an option of attempting a mock test in order to familiarize us with the environment

Logical Reasoning, in which there were 12 questions, and for each question we had a time limit of 75 seconds. There was a cut-off of 40 for the next round, and people who qualified were sent an e-mail with a link to continue with the process.

Numerical Reasoning, in my opinion, was the most challenging round. The questions were in a pair of 3 in which a table/bank statement was given and 3 questions were based on that. The questions were purely based on calculations and semi-subjective. The time given for the 1st question was 90 seconds and for the rest 2 questions, 75 seconds each

For Coding Round, 
120 minutes window(Test was of 90 minutes)
We have two questions
For the first question(30 Minutes)
For the second question(60 Minutes)
The tricky thing was we only had one attempt, i.e we were allowed to submit the solution only once.

Q1. Maximum Frequency Number
Ninja is given an array of integers that contain numbers in random order. He needs to write a program to find and return the number which occurs the maximum times in the given inpu...read more
Ans. 
Step 1 : Make a Frequency array of size 26
Step 2 : Iterate on the string from left to right and increase the frequency of the character by one
Step 3 : Iterate on the Frequency array and find the max frequency and its corresponding character
Answered by CodingNinjas
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Q2. Mike and Mobile
Mike is a little boy who loves solving math problems. One day he was playing with his mom’s mobile. The mobile keypad contains 12 buttons { 10 digits(0-9) and 2 characters(‘*’ and ‘#’) }. M...read more
Ans. 
Step 1 : We can solve this using recursion but it will be too slow
Step 2 : So to improve the complexity, we need to use memoization so that we will not recalculate the same step again and again
Step 3 : Recursion + Memoization = Dynamic Programming solution Passed all cases
Answered by CodingNinjas
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Round duration - 40 minutes
Round difficulty - Medium

The timing was around 1 pm and the whole interview went for about 40 minutes.
The interviewer first went through my resume and asked me to introduce myself. After my introduction, he asked me about my projects mentioned in the resume. In the introduction itself, I told him that I am interested in competitive programming and preparing for ICPC. He then asked me about my preparation for ICPC. He then asked me some questions from OOPS. I was then asked 1 simple CP problem. The interviewer also asked about situation-based problems. As I previously mentioned about Competitive Programming, he asked how this will help in adding value to the company.

Q1. Remove Duplicates
Ninja is playing with numbers but hates when he gets duplicate numbers. Ninja is provided an array, and he wants to remove all duplicate elements and return the array, but he has to maint...read more
Ans. 
Step 1 : To mark the presence of an element size of the array, n is added to the index position arr[i] corresponding to array element arr[i].
Step 2 : Before adding n, check if the value at index arr[i] is greater than or equal to n or not. If it is greater than or equal to, then this means that element arr[i] is repeating.
Step 3 : To avoid printing repeating elements multiple times, check if it is the first repetition ...read more
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Round duration - 10 minutes
Round difficulty - Easy

In this round interviewer basically asked about my project in detail and also asked about various technologies used in that project.

Q1. Puzzle
I told them that I have been doing competitive programming in C++, he asks why am I using only C++ and not any other language. I have done a project in python also so he asks me about the difficultie...read more
Ans. 
Tip 1 : Be confident
Tip 2 : Be thorough in the theory
Tip 3 : You should know about everything you have mentioned in the resume like what it does, how it works etc.
Answered by CodingNinjas
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Round duration - 10 minutes
Round difficulty - Easy

We were asked about family background, location of the intern, any interest in startups (as they don’t want students who they hire also work with startups side by side), etc.

Q1. General Questions
1. Family background
2. Location of the intern
3. Any interest in startups (as they don’t want students who they hire also work with startups side by side)
4. Willingness to relocate
Ans. 
Tip 1 : Remain calm
Tip 2 : Interviewers often ask about your strengths and weaknesses, so be prepared for those
Tip 3 : Research the company
Tip 4 : Make sure your answers are consistent with what’s on your resume
Answered by CodingNinjas
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The aptitude test is a bit different from everyone but its interesting. There are timed questions (instead of timed paper) and it judges you on all logical and reasoning thinking. Hold your nerves, youe gonna do great.

The coding test is solvable if you can do leet code problems.

Q1. The HR intereview was nice. She asked about likes dislikes, leadership qualities and situational question. Very positively taken interview.
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Q1. It was a technicalround. Was asked questions on my project. Very approachable interviewer. Id suggest to answer calmly and just let them kjow if you dont know one.
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