Accolite

Role: Software Engineer

College: Not Specified (On-Campus)

Interview Date: Not Specified

Interview Type: On-Campus, Full-Time (with 2-year bond clause)

Result: Not Specified (Describes the complete interview process)

Difficulty: Easy - Medium

Rounds: 5 rounds

Topics Asked: Code debugging, output analysis, DSA, SQL queries, Java, C++, CS Fundamentals (Deadlock, Starvation, Processes vs Threads, Multiprogramming, Page Faults, Normalization, Network topologies, Deep/Shallow copy, Copy constructor, OOPs), Stack using Queue, String problems, BFS

Experience:

This interview experience for a Software Engineer role at Accolite, offered through an on-campus drive, included a 2-year bond clause.

Round 1 (Online Assessment): This assessment had two sections.

• Section 1: Consisted of 30 Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) covering code debugging and output analysis, Data Structures and Algorithms (DSA), SQL queries, and concepts in Java and C++.
• Section 2: Featured a single DSA problem to be solved within 45 minutes.
• Coding Question: An ant is traveling in a forest represented as the x-axis. Starting from the origin (position = 0), the ant must reach a target position x. With each step, the ant can move either 'a' units forward or 'b' units backward. The ant cannot move behind position 0, but it can go beyond position x if necessary to eventually reach x in a finite number of steps. The task is to find the minimum number of steps required for the ant to reach position x from the origin. A hint was provided to consider using a Breadth-First Search (BFS) approach.

Round 2 (Online Interview - Technical): The interviewer started with a self-introduction, followed by the candidate's introduction, then moved directly to questions.

• DSA Problem: The interviewer asked to solve LeetCode problem #6: ZigZag Conversion.
• CS Fundamentals: Explained the concepts of Deadlock and Starvation, Deadlock avoidance methods, Differentiate between Processes and Threads, Multiprogramming and Page Faults, Normalization in databases (including 1NF, 2NF, and 3NF), Explain Network topologies and their types, What is Deep copy and Shallow copy?, Describe the use of a Copy constructor.

Round 3 (Online Interview - Technical): This round was primarily focused on Computer Science Fundamentals, with a significant emphasis on Object-Oriented Programming (OOPs).

• DSA Problem: Implement Stack Using Queue.
• Some easy string-based problem (details not remembered).
• Lots of theoretical CS Fundamentals were asked, including questions about Smart Pointers (which the candidate, being more fluent in Python, struggled with as it's a C++ concept).

Round 4 (Online Interview - Technical): This round also focused on CS Fundamentals.

Round 5 (HR Round): This was a basic conversational HR round.

Tips: It is important to focus on CS fundamentals, as the company places a strong emphasis on OOPs concepts. DSA problems encountered were generally in the easy category, with the exception of ZigZag Conversion.