Role: Software Engineer
College: Not Specified (On-campus in their institute)
Interview Date: July 23, 2025
Interview Type: On-Campus/Full-Time
Result: Rejected
Difficulty: Easy (Technical), Hard (HR, specifically one question)
Rounds: 3 rounds (CV Shortlisting, Technical, HR)
Topics Asked: Data Structures, Operating Systems, DBMS, STL in C++, Python, Computer Networks, Online Coding, Semaphores, Puzzles, Behavioral questions.
Experience:
Philips conducted an on-campus drive at the candidate's institute.
Round 1: CV Shortlisting
Candidates were shortlisted based on their resumes.
Round 2: Technical Interview
This round started with "Tell me about yourself" and then moved to favorite subjects.
- Favorite Subjects: DS, OS, DBMS, STL in C++, Python were mentioned, but the interviewer started with Network questions.
- Network Questions: What are the layers in OSI models? What are protocols? In which layer do we parse a string? What is Ping? Questions about all layers.
- Online Coding: Asked if the candidate did online coding and for their handle.
- Coding Question: "Missing no. find out with decreasing order sorting?" The candidate solved it with STL and then optimized it using the XOR method, which the interviewer found "Very Interesting".
- Operating Systems: What are Semaphores?
- Algorithms: Asked about types of algorithms used in online coding.
- Puzzle: "2 eggs 100 floors puzzle". The candidate found it very basic and answered perfectly.
The candidate was selected for the HR round after this.
Round 3: HR Interview
This round started with general behavioral questions.
- Background: Tell me about your background.
- Recent Movie: Which movie did you see recently? (Candidate mentioned "Transcendence" and "Interstellar").
- Story Explanation: Asked to explain the story of the movie.
- Strengths and Weaknesses: Standard question.
- Why Philips: Why do you want to join Philips?
- Personal Logistics: Questions about travel time and distance from home to college, and frequency of going home. The candidate's answer about going home 3-4 times yearly led to a follow-up question ("Means in 4 years you went home 15-16 times?"), which the candidate believes was a negative point and a reason for rejection.
The candidate was rejected after the HR round due to not handling a specific HR question well.