Red Hat

Role: Software Engineer Internship

College: Not Specified

Interview Date: 2021 (Implied, test link received Sept 2021, interviews Nov 2021)

Interview Type: Off-Campus, Internship

Result: Selected (Implied, as they were asked to decide on joining)

Difficulty: Easy to Medium

Rounds: 3 rounds (Online Test, Technical Interview, Managerial Interview)

Topics Asked: CS fundamentals (flowchart, SQL, aptitude, Java/Python/C++ specific), Java (StringBuffer vs StringBuilder, final/finally/finalize, String vs StringBuilder), OS concepts (Race condition, deadlock), DSA (reverse each word in a sentence)

Experience:

The candidate received an invitation for an online test after a Pre-Placement Talk and submitting a form. The online test was 45 minutes long on Hackerrank, with 23 easy questions. These questions covered flowcharts, SQL, aptitude, and CS fundamentals, including some specific to Java, Python, and C++.

The first technical interview, lasting 45 minutes, was one-on-one. The interviewer inquired about the candidate's preferred programming language (Java) and asked about differences between StringBuffer and StringBuilder (which the candidate couldn't recall initially), and then about final, finally, and finalize keywords. Projects were discussed in detail, with questions on OS concepts like Race condition and deadlock, including a real-life example. A DSA question was posed: "reverse each word in a sentence" (similar to GeeksforGeeks' "Reverse Individual Words"). The candidate solved it in 5 minutes with an O(n) solution, and the interviewer asked follow-up questions about potential failure cases and the difference between String and StringBuilder.

The managerial interview, also 45 minutes, focused on HR questions such as "Why Red Hat?" and inquiries about its products. The interviewer also asked about the candidate's ethics and why they should be hired given another internship offer. The candidate was asked to respond within 5 days regarding their decision to join.