Hsbc

HSBC Interview Experience – Software Engineering Intern Interview Mode: Online Rounds: 2 (Technical + HR) Round 1: Technical Interview (~25 minutes) The interview started with a discussion about my projects, particularly my RAG-based project. The interviewer asked what RAG is, how it works, and how I implemented the complete pipeline in my project. Next, I was asked a DSA question using the JDoodle online compiler. Question: Given a string containing digits, find the maximum product of two adjacent digits. For example, 50552 → adjacent pairs are 50, 05, 55, and 52. The maximum product is 5 × 5 = 25. I solved the question successfully. The interviewer then asked a follow-up about how I would handle the input if it contained characters other than digits. Round 2: HR Interview (~7–10 minutes) The HR round focused on my motivation and career goals. Questions included: Why HSBC? Why software engineering instead of core ECE? How do you see your career progressing from ECE to software engineering? Experiences of Other Candidates Based on the experiences shared by other candidates, the technical interviews varied. Most candidates were asked around 1–3 DSA questions, along with project-related discussions and, occasionally, basic CS fundamentals. Some of the other questions included: LeetCode-style problems involving strings and digits, such as finding the maximum product of adjacent digits. Maximum 69 (LeetCode 1323): Given a number containing only 6s and 9s, change at most one digit to maximize the number. Other standard LeetCode-style DSA problems involving arrays, strings, and basic problem-solving. Project-related questions about the candidate's implementation and technical choices. One candidate was specifically asked DBMS fundamentals, including: Horizontal vs. vertical scaling. How horizontal scaling is implemented. Partitioning vs. sharding. Overall Experience & Preparation Tips Overall, the interviews focused mainly on DSA, projects, and occasionally core CS fundamentals. The difficulty appeared manageable, with an emphasis on basic problem-solving and understanding the projects mentioned on your resume. Preparation tips: Practise easy-to-medium LeetCode problems, especially arrays and strings; understand your projects and their implementation thoroughly; revise basic core CS concepts; and prepare clear answers for HR questions about HSBC and your transition from ECE to software engineering.