1000+ Associate Consultant Interview Questions and Answers

Calculate the total number of handshakes between 2 cricket teams with 11 players each.

• Use the formula n(n-1)/2 to calculate the number of handshakes for each team.

• Multiply the result by the number of players in the other team.

• Add the two results together to get the total number of handshakes.

Assess the situation, try to find the missing data, and if not possible, inform the client and senior management.

• Check if the missing data can be retrieved from any other source or system

• If not, assess the impact of missing data on the project and client's requirements

• If the impact is significant, inform the client and senior management immediately

• If the impact is minimal, complete the project with available data and inform the client about the missing data

• Document the incide...read more

I have experience using JIRA and HP ALM for test management and defect tracking.

• I have used JIRA extensively for managing test cases, test plans, and tracking defects.

• I have also worked with HP ALM for test management and defect tracking.

• Both tools have robust reporting capabilities that allow for easy tracking of project progress and defect resolution.

• In addition, I have experience integrating these tools with other software development tools such as Jenkins and Git for cont...read more

The task is to reverse a given string that may contain lowercase letters, uppercase letters, digits, and special characters.

• Iterate through the string from the last character to the first character and append each character to a new string.

• Alternatively, you can use built-in string reversal functions or methods available in your programming language.

• To solve the follow-up question with O(1) space complexity, you can use a two-pointer approach. Swap the characters at the start...read more

Questions related to Scrum methodology and agile practices.

• Scrum ceremonies include daily stand-up, sprint planning, sprint review, and sprint retrospective.

• Verification and validation (V&V) should be included in sprint planning.

• Scrum and Kanban differ in terms of roles, ceremonies, and visualization techniques.

• Scrum planning estimation techniques include planning poker, t-shirt sizing, and affinity mapping.

• Product backlog contains all the user stories while sprint backlog co...read more

AWS services, S3 storage types, troubleshooting web server, DNS hosting, static hosting, IAM policies, load balancers, NAT gateway

• Used EC2, S3, RDS, Lambda, CloudFront, etc.

• S3 storage types: Standard, Infrequent Access, Glacier

• Check server logs, network connectivity, security groups, etc.

• DNS hosting can be achieved using Route 53

• Static hosting is used to host static websites using S3 and CloudFront

• Roles define permissions for AWS resources, service rules define access to spec...read more

It is not possible to calculate the number of white cars sold in Mumbai every year without the help of internet.

• Without internet, it is impossible to access the necessary data and statistics.

• The number of white cars sold in Mumbai can vary greatly from year to year.

• Data on car sales is typically collected and analyzed using online platforms and databases.

• Without internet, it is difficult to gather information from car dealerships, manufacturers, and government agencies.

• Estima...read more

The task is to find the third largest element in an array of distinct integers.

• Read the number of test cases 'T'

• For each test case, read the number of elements 'N' and the array 'ARR'

• Sort the array in descending order

• Return the element at index 2 as the third largest element

11 players in a cricket team shake hands with each other once. Find the total number of handshakes.

• Each player shakes hands with 10 other players.

• Total number of handshakes = 11C2 = 55

• Formula for nC2 = n*(n-1)/2

Git stash is a feature that allows you to temporarily save changes without committing them.

• Different ways of git merge: fast-forward, recursive, octopus

• Git pull: fetches and merges changes from a remote branch, Git fetch: only fetches changes

• Branching strategy in Git: Gitflow, trunk-based development, feature branching

• To create a new branch: git branch , to switch to it: git checkout

• Secrets should not be stored in Git repo, use a secure key management system

• Staging area in G...read more

Program to remove duplicate elements from String and count their occurrences.

• Create a HashSet to store unique characters from the String.

• Iterate through the String and add each character to the HashSet.

• While adding, check if the character already exists in the HashSet and increment its count.

• Print the count of each character that has duplicates.

• Return the modified String with duplicates removed.

The right key is the switch that is turned on.

• The bulb will only turn on if the switch that controls it is turned on.

• Since you can only enter the room once, you need to determine which switch is turned on without entering the room.

• You can try each switch one by one and observe if the bulb turns on or not.

The task is to find the total number of subsequences in which all elements are equal in an integer array.

• Iterate through the array and count the frequency of each element.

• For each element, calculate the number of subsequences with all elements equal using the formula (frequency * (frequency + 1)) / 2.

• Sum up the counts for all elements and return the result modulo 10^9 + 7.

Questions related to SAP SD implementation and processes.

• Pricing procedure is determined based on condition technique and can be customized as per business requirements.

• ASAP methodology involves various phases like project preparation, business blueprint, realization, final preparation, and go-live and support.

• GAPS during implementation project can arise due to differences between business requirements and system capabilities.

• Condition technique involves defining access seque...read more

Jenkins is a popular CI/CD tool with various job types, access control, build triggers, and master-slave architecture.

• Job types: Freestyle project, Pipeline project

• Access control: Role-based Authorization Strategy plugin

• Jenkins is written in Java

• Build triggers: Manual, Scheduled, SCM, Remote Trigger, etc.

• Build failure: Email notification, Console output, Build log

• Master-slave: Distributes workload across multiple nodes for faster builds

Ansible is called agentless because it does not require any agent to be installed on the target host.

• Ansible uses SSH to connect to the target host and execute commands remotely.

• The command to run an ansible-playbook is 'ansible-playbook '.

• Variables in Ansible are used to store values that can be used across multiple tasks and playbooks.

• Roles in Ansible are a way to organize tasks, handlers, and variables into reusable units.

• Ansible maintains inventory data in the inventory f...read more

Agile fundamentals are a set of principles and values that prioritize flexibility, collaboration, and continuous improvement in software development. Waterfall model is a traditional linear approach to software development.

• Agile emphasizes iterative development and customer collaboration

• Agile values individuals and interactions over processes and tools

• Agile promotes responding to change over following a plan

• Waterfall model follows a sequential approach to software development...read more

Command for CPU usage in Linux, checking free memory in GB, and creating NFS.

• Command for CPU usage: top or htop

• Checking free memory in GB: free -g

• Creating NFS: install nfs-utils, configure /etc/exports, start nfs-server and nfs-lock services

• Linux used not specified

I have experience in functional, regression, integration, and acceptance testing. On average, I write 20-30 test cases per day.

• Functional testing to ensure the software meets the requirements

• Regression testing to ensure new changes do not break existing functionality

• Integration testing to ensure different components work together

• Acceptance testing to ensure the software meets the user's needs

• On average, I write 20-30 test cases per day

• Examples include testing a new feature on...read more

Marker interface is an interface with no methods. It is used to mark a class for special treatment.

• Marker interface is used to provide metadata to the JVM.

• It is used to indicate that a class has some special behavior or characteristics.

• Example: Serializable interface in Java.

• Marker interfaces are used for reflection and serialization.

• They are also used in frameworks like Spring and Hibernate.

• Marker interfaces are also known as tagging interfaces.

• They are used to group classes...read more

Convert infix expression to postfix expression by following operator precedence rules.

• Use a stack to keep track of operators and operands while converting infix to postfix.

• Follow the precedence rules of operators to correctly convert the expression.

• Handle parentheses to ensure correct order of operations.

• Example: For '3+4*8', the postfix expression would be '3 4 8 * +'.

Toothpaste company facing revenue and margin decline. What to do?

• Conduct market research to identify reasons for decline

• Analyze competitors' strategies and pricing

• Revamp marketing and advertising campaigns

• Introduce new product variants or improve existing ones

• Consider cost-cutting measures to improve margins

• Explore new distribution channels

• Collaborate with dentists or dental clinics for endorsements

• Offer promotions or discounts to attract customers

• Invest in digital marketing ...read more

To prioritize international markets for a leading cement manufacturing firm in India, a plan of action can be formulated based on market research and analysis.

• Conduct market research to identify potential markets based on factors such as demand, competition, and regulatory environment

• Analyze the economic and political stability of each potential market

• Consider the logistics and transportation costs of exporting cement to each market

• Evaluate the cultural and language barriers ...read more

It is not possible to accurately determine the number of Reynolds pens sold in Gurgaon every year without specific sales data.

• The sales data of Reynolds pens in Gurgaon is not publicly available.

• The number of Reynolds pens sold can vary each year due to factors such as market demand and competition.

• To determine the exact number, one would need access to sales records or conduct a market research study.

• Without specific data, it is only possible to make an estimate or provide a...read more

A program to capitalize the first letter of each word in a sentence.

• Split the sentence into words

• Loop through each word and capitalize the first letter

• Join the words back into a sentence

Explanation of Dockerfile, Docker Compose, and differences between them and Kubernetes.

• Dockerfile is a script that contains instructions to build a Docker image.

• Fields in Dockerfile include FROM, RUN, COPY, ADD, CMD, and more.

• Docker Compose is a tool for defining and running multi-container Docker applications.

• Docker Compose uses a YAML file to define services, networks, and volumes.

• Kubernetes is a container orchestration platform that automates deployment, scaling, and manag...read more

The client's gear manufacturing business has expanded from 1000 cr to 4000 cr, but profitability has dropped from 10% to 5%. Find out why.

• Possible increase in production costs

• Increased competition leading to lower prices

• Investment in new technology or equipment

• Changes in market demand or consumer preferences

• Inefficient management or operations

• Economic factors such as inflation or recession