DarwinBo

Role: Product Development Intern (leading to Full-Time SDE)

College: Gayatri Vidya Parishad College of Engineering (Autonomous)

Interview Date: Around October 2024

Interview Type: On-Campus / Internship / Full-Time

Result: Selected

Difficulty: Medium to Hard

Rounds: 4 rounds (2 Coding Rounds, 1 Technical Interview, 1 HR Round)

Topics Asked: DSA, Puzzles, SQL, Project Discussion (Machine Learning, NodeJS, ReactJS), Java, DBMS (ACID properties, GROUP BY, WHERE), Python (shape vs reshape), Best Time to Buy and Sell Stock

Experience:

This is an interview experience of Vethan, who was selected as a Product Development Intern for the 2025 Batch from Gayatri Vidya Parishad College of Engineering (Autonomous) (GVP).

Eligibility Criteria: The college primarily selected candidates based on CGPA (cutoff around 8.8 CGPA for top 120 students). Additionally, strong coding profiles on platforms like LeetCode were considered.

Coding Round 1: This round was conducted in college computer labs and included three coding questions and MCQs.

Coding Round 2: Also held in college labs, this round consisted of 8 MCQs and two hard coding questions. The MCQs focused on JavaScript, SQL, and basic C pseudo-code. The coding questions included one hard Dynamic Programming problem and a graph-based problem (which was reportedly not available in public domains).

One of the coding questions was a medium-level problem involving a rhombus with N*2 levels. Another question was "Best Time to Buy and Sell Stock 1" (LeetCode 121), which, while an easy question, the interviewer expected a Dynamic Programming approach.

Technical Interview (TR Round):

• Introduction: Started with a formal self-introduction.
• Resume Discussion: The interviewer scanned the resume and pinpointed skills relevant to the company.
• Puzzle: A puzzle was given: break a 40kg stone into four smaller pieces of different weights such that all integer weights from 1 to 40 can be measured using a balance scale.
• SQL Questions: Two SQL queries were asked:
  1. Find users who have a subscription and logged into a webpage on a specified date (solved using INNER JOIN).
  2. Find non-subscription users who visited a webpage on a specified date (solved using LEFT JOIN after an initial suggestion of using MINUS was asked to be re-evaluated).
• Project Discussion: Detailed explanation of the candidate's machine learning project, including difficulties faced. Questions were asked on NodeJS (synchronous vs. asynchronous, promises in JavaScript) and ReactJS for friends who mentioned these.
• Core Concepts: Questions on DBMS (ACID properties, using GROUP BY and WHERE clauses simultaneously) and Python (difference between 'shape' and 'reshape').

HR Round: This was a general HR round.

• Self-introduction and project discussion.
• Questions like "Why Darwinbox?" and "Why not any other company?"
• "If you got an offer from another company with the same package, would you prefer it over Darwinbox? Justify."
• "Do you have any plans for higher studies? Justify."

Result: Vethan was selected for the Product Development Intern role with a stipend of 25,000 INR per month. Upon conversion to a full-time role, a CTC of 16.3 LPA was offered, comprising 8 LPA fixed salary and the remainder in incentives.

Tips and Suggestions: Strong coding and problem-solving skills (DSA and competitive programming) are crucial. Candidates should have a thorough understanding of their projects and the technologies mentioned in their resume, and be honest in the interview. For startup companies, strong development skills are beneficial, but problem-solving remains the primary pillar.