Zscaler Softech Backend Developer Interview Questions and Answers

Round: Test
Experience: The test was conducted online. All the questions were of medium standard and easy to crack if we have patience for thinking.

English comprehension level is slightly below the standard of CAT. Those who have the habit of reading English news paper can easily crack the test.

Data analysis questions were also of medium standard. Those who have knowledge about graphs, bar & pie charts can easily crack the exam.
Tips: Practice Aptitude questions from R S Agarwaal book and CAT material.

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: Over all interview experience is cool. Interviewers never grilled on anything. In many cases they have helped me to arrive at answers.
Tips: Read C++ and Oops concepts from E Balaguruswamy text book.
For Data structures and algorithms read 'Data structures' by Yeshwant kanethkar.
Minimum knowledge about all the courses of your department will be an added advantage. This will help you to depict you are sincere in your studies and don't have any personal constraints in learning a new thing.

General Tips: Just be confident and believe in yourself. You will get through.
Skills: Programming skill in C++
College Name: NIT Warangal
Motivation: No special motivation. It is a rapidly growing company offering good package.

Round: Test
Experience: The questions were tricky. We were given a paragraph and after reading it, a statement was given to us and we were asked to say if it is true, false or cannot say. The structure of the statement put us into a a tough place. So practice of such kind of questions is necessary.

For data interpretation questions a good hand on basic statistical mathematics is needed. One has to be quick because of the time crunch. The questions were approachable

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: In this round my resume was scanned and I was required to speak about myself, my projects and explain certain areas of my resume. The interviewer picked up one of my basic project, surprisingly, and asked me to elaborate on it. He asked me how I can improve the project. And I had to write a code to make that change. Basically, one should have a good idea about the projects they've done/ mentioned in their resume. And know it in detail.

Few questions on data structures. Prepare well for coding type questions and data structures.

Round: Puzzle Interview
Experience: The interviewer asked me two puzzles. They were moderate level. And also luckily he was helpful whenever I got stuck.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: HR round was good. Basic questions like " tell me more about yourself", brief information about my past history, college life, extra curricular activities. In the end she asked me, "should we hire you?" And I lightly answered " why not!" So it was a good interview overall.

Skills: Coding Skills, Team Working Ability, Project management
College Name: Visvesvaraya National Institute Of Technology

Round: Test
Experience: I was from civil branch so had the above listed sections for pen paper written test. We had to attempt any 2 of the first 3 and last two were cumpolsory (Same for mechanical branch also). For CS, IT, ECE and EEE there were only 2 sections - first was programming - 5 questions and second was situational based.

All the three sections consisted 5 questions in each sections. Questions were very easy and hardly a pen was needed to solve. Quants section consisted of questions on binary to decimal, pipes and cistern and number system. Verbal section consisted of a passage followed by 5 questions and Logical section consisted of 5 simple sequence and series questions.
In 4 th section, we were asked to write an algorithm/flowchart for a given scenarion with some contraints - opening a bank account.
Last section was situational based questions. We were asked to exoress our views in maximum of 100 words on what we would do in a given situation.
Tips: Skip vrbal part as there can be chance of getting wrong. Solve quants and logical as there would be 100% chance of being correct due to very easy questions.
In 4th section, draw flowchart/tree showing how you will proceed and what you think. Before proceeding further think like a layman person how he will fill the form and then decide how to write an algorithm so that even a layman can understand well how to proceed with that particular form. Show output screens, consider exceptions, find every possible combinations for the various options given in the problem.
For last question, try to be practical, brief, concise and to the point. Don't write anything in round about manner.
Above all, as this is pen paper test, write in a beautiful hand writting.
Duration: 45 minutes
Total Questions: 12

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: The technical interview was easy. The questions were straingh forward. Questions were based on projects that I had done. I had Informatics Practices (Java) in class 12 so I told interviewer about database management. I was asked to explain tables used in project and a SQL Querry which I failed to answer.
Then she asked me to write a program to determine which offer is better to invest if in one interest rate increases by 2 each year and the one in which it increases by 1. I quickly wrote it. She said to improve the DBMS part and applauded for the programming skills.
Tips: Be confident and true. They ask only what you say about yourself. Prepare well for SQL querries as they focus more on SQL. Also practice programming as one queston will be essentially on it. Don't try to learn all languages. Know only one but know well. For civil students, have one project that involves programming. Try to learn MATLAB programming during B.Tech. It will make a good impact.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: The HR round was very easy. HR was very friendly. I was asked to introduce myself and then he asked me to explain about my project which I had done in MATLAB. He then asked HR questions like why I wanted to join software industry, where I see myslef in 5 years, previous interview experiences.
Tips: Be cool and confident. If you made till HR round, the probability of being selected in 90%. For civil students, try to be familiar with programming languages and SQL. Also try to have some extra skills that make you different from others. Don't think civil engineers only build buildings and roads; there is a lot more for us to do. Its always good to stand away from crowd.
All the best!

General Tips: Have good command on basics of what learnt C++ or Java and MySQL in class 12. Try to have a project using any programming skill if you are from non CS/IT background as it will help you prove you interest in programming despite your branch. Knowing foreign language atleast till intermediate level will add stars to your extra skills.
Skill Tips: For civil and mechanical students, if you has C++ or Informatics Practices in class 12, be in touch with that knowledge. They test only basics. Familiarize yourself with OOPS and SQL querries.
Be confident with what you speak and speak in clear voice. If you don't know simply say no. Must attent the interview with a good explanations of questions asked about your weak skills.
Skills: Confidence, Programming Skills In Any Language Like C, Database Management
College Name: VIT Vellore
Motivation: Interest in programming.
Funny Moments: When HR asked where I see myself in 5 years I said that I see myself in Europe. To which he said that he is hiring for India and when I said that I am hired for India right now but not for 5 years. He smiled with the answer and wished me all the best.

Round: Test
Experience: The selections process started with a presentation by the company where they introduced you to the environment of the company. It was followed by a written subjective test which basically tested your programming skills. Questions were based on arrays, classes and OOP concepts. Last part of the paper was an essay asking about the city you live. Total 3 questions were asked which had to answered in 25 minutes time. Total no. of students appeared for the test was around 30.

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: After the test only 5 students were shortlisted for interview. Interview for each candidate began with a technical round where they asked us to pick one programming language we are comfortable with. I picked C++. They asked me very basic concepts example Function overloading, Operator overloading, 2-D array concepts other OOP concepts.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: It went very smooth for me. They asked me what I know about the company. Though i couldn't remembered much I told them two points and then smiled. Then they asked me to tell me about myself and our NITK campus. I answered that aptly. Then they started asking serious questions i.e. if I want to go for higher studies, why am I not joining ARMY (I told them my father is in armed forces). Then they asked me if I want to work in Chennai or Bangalore, I told them Bangalore and also the reason behind it. After that, it was a casual interaction and I became quite sure about my selection.

General Tips: I think one thing which matters the most is your self-confidence. Hard-work and dedication are very important of-course but it is your confidence that separates you from other individuals. Also for most of the interviews they do not ask very big concepts, they will assess you on basic concepts, how much you know about the subject. So, be it any language, have your basic concept clear first and while giving interviews speak confidently.
This was my first campus interview I got selected and I cleared it. So yes, I was in a little shock and surprise to clear the interview.
Also one thing I forgot to mention was that the pointer cut-off for this company was 7.5 while I had only 7.11. Still I got selected. It does not matters much how much pointer you have. What matters at last is how much thorough you are with the subject. Well till morning I was not even sure if I am sitting for this company and by I got placed.
Skill Tips: Though there are huge resources of materials lying online and market, don’t run in all directions. Choose one book and an online source and start preparing it.
In my case I studied Sumita Arora for C++ and it proved to be quite beneficial for me. Also solve aptitude questions for programming available online like indiabix.com. It provides a lot of help in understanding and applying your concepts and also for time limit.
For aptitude question the best book available is "Quantitative aptitude by Arun Sharma".
For C++ language focus mainly on OOPS concepts, its features and basic building blocks like arrays, pointers etc.

Skills:
College Name: NIT Surathkal

Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - Be true to yourself and the interviewer, he/she doesn't want you to be full of all technical skills. He/she wants you to be atleast good at the things mentioned in your resume. Showcase that you're ready to switch to any language even if it is uncomfortable for you

Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - get good knowledge on core java and collections

Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - The first step of the interview is the basic communication skills, which is taken on computer, try to listen carefully, most of the questions are only about what you have comprehend from the automated voice when played over.

OOP is very basic, they may ask some real life examples.

If you have worked previously, they may ask you about one of your projects. What technologies have you used ans why.

Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - learn basic javascript questions with practical approach