Accolite

Role: Software Engineer

College: Not Specified (On-Campus)

Interview Date: Not Specified (Batch 2022)

Interview Type: On-Campus, Internship + Full-Time

Result: Selected

Difficulty: Easy - Medium

Rounds: 5 rounds

Topics Asked: Java, DBMS, Networks, OS, DSA, OOPs, Competitive Programming, Linked List, Arrays, Binary Search, String, Palindrome, Normalization, BCNF, Projects

Experience:

The interview process for the Software Engineer role (Batch 2022) at Accolite Digital consisted of five rounds.

Round 1 (MCQ Round): This round was conducted on Accolite's own platform, Eduthrill. It comprised 30 Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) to be attempted in 25 minutes. Questions were based on Java, DBMS, Networks, OS, DSA, finding errors, and writing missing code. Out of 245 students, 75 were shortlisted for the next round.

Round 2 (Coding Round): This test was conducted on Accolite's Codelyzer platform. One coding question was given to solve in 60 minutes, with the catch that candidates had to write their own test cases using `assertEquals` in minimum time. 21 out of 75 shortlisted for this round.

Round 3 (Technical Interview - I): The interviewer started with self-introductions and then directly moved to coding/competitive programming questions. The interviewer stated that solving 2 out of 3 questions in 60 minutes would be considered good enough. Candidates were asked to explain all possible approaches before coding the efficient one.

• Coding Questions:
• Given a string, return if any anagram of the string is a palindrome or not (reference: GeeksforGeeks problem).
• Correct Position of an element to be inserted in an array (e.g., for `1 2 3 4 6` and inserting `5`, return index `4`). The candidate provided both naive and efficient approaches, solving it with Modified Binary Search.
• Find Loop in a Linked List and also find the start of the loop (reference: GeeksforGeeks problem).
• Theory Questions: What is normalization? Why do normalization? Explain BCNF. Explain OOP Concepts. Explain one of your projects.

14 out of 21 candidates were shortlisted after this round.

Round 4 (Technical Interview - II): This round was very similar to Technical Interview I, lasting between 70-80 minutes, making it an exhaustive round. Again, three coding questions were asked along with questions on computer fundamentals. The interviewer specifically asked about the pillars of OOP and requested the candidate to code an example for each.

Round 5 (HR Round): This round involved generic HR questions such as "Introduce yourself," "Why did you choose engineering?", "What are your strengths & weaknesses?", "What will you do if your team is not able to perform well / below your expectations?", and "How will you resolve a conflict in your team?". The HR also explained about Accolite Digital, including working locations, salary breakup, and the internship + FTE offer structure (internship for 6/9/12 months based on college curriculum). All 8 shortlisted candidates for HR were selected.

Overall Experience and Tips: The interviewers were friendly and helpful if the candidate got stuck. All coding and theory questions were of Easy to Medium difficulty. Being thorough with basics and practicing competitive programming on platforms like LeetCode and GeeksforGeeks is recommended. In technical rounds, it's advised to think aloud all approaches (from naive to efficient) before coding. Always ask relevant questions to the interviewer.