Citi Bank

Role: Summer Analyst

College: COEP, Pune (Electrical Engineering student)

Interview Date: September 2020 (for 2021 position)

Interview Type: Internship, On-Campus

Result: Rejected

Difficulty: Medium (Technical, able to answer as non-CS); Hard (Puzzle in HR+Technical)

Rounds: 3 rounds

Topics Asked: Technical MCQs, Logical reasoning, Basic maths MCQs, English MCQs, Coding (Rat in a Maze, Bit manipulation), Data Structures and Algorithms (Sorting Algorithms, Arrays vs LinkedList, HashMap), Projects (Data analysis project), Puzzle ("why is the shape of lid of the manhole a circle?"), HR questions (Tell me about yourself, Why should we hire you, What you know about Citi Bank, Investment securities)

Experience:

This candidate, an Electrical Engineering student from COEP, Pune, interviewed for a Summer Analyst position at Citi Bank CSC in September 2020 for the 2021 batch.

1. Round 1 (Online Aptitude test): The test was 3 hours long and conducted on the AMCAT platform. It included sections on Technical MCQs, Logical reasoning and basic maths MCQs, and English MCQs. There were also two coding questions: "Rat in a Maze" and one on bit manipulation.

2. Round 2 (Technical Interview): This interview lasted 20-25 minutes. The interviewer focused on Data Structures and Algorithms, avoiding OS/DBMS/OOPS, acknowledging the candidate's Electrical Engineering background. Discussions started with Sorting Algorithms, exploring different approaches. Other topics included Arrays vs. LinkedList and what a HashMap is. The interviewer was reportedly impressed with the candidate's ability to answer all questions despite being a non-CS student.

3. Round 3 (HR+Technical Interview): In this round, interviewers questioned the candidate on projects mentioned in their resume, specifically a data analysis project. A puzzle was also asked: "why is the shape of lid of the manhole a circle?", which the candidate couldn't answer promptly. Basic HR questions were also posed, such as "Tell me something about yourself," "Why should we hire you?," "What all you know about Citi Bank?," and "What are investment securities?"

Ultimately, the candidate was not selected in the final shortlist, with 11 people from the CS branch being selected. A key tip provided was to make impactful projects that stand out on the resume.