HDBC

Role: Software Engineer Trainee

College: Not Specified

Interview Date: 23 Jul, 2025

Interview Type: On-Campus, Full-Time

Result: Not Specified

Difficulty: Easy to Medium

Rounds: 5 rounds

Topics Asked: Networking, DSA, DBMS, OOPS (Inheritance, Shallow vs Deep Copy), String and Array manipulation, Resume-based questions, Situational questions.

Experience:

The recruitment process for the Software Engineer Trainee role at HSBC was conducted on-campus and involved three online rounds, one technical interview, and one HR interview. Each online round was an elimination round.

Round 1 (MCQs): This round comprised multiple-choice questions related to CSE subjects such as Networking, Data Structures and Algorithms (DSA), and Database Management Systems (DBMS). The questions were foundational, covering topics like the OSI layer, time complexity, and SQL query outputs. Results for this round were immediate.

Round 2 (Coding): Candidates who qualified Round 1 proceeded to this round, which involved solving two programming questions. The specific questions were not recalled, but they focused on String and Array manipulation. Results for this round were provided within 5-6 minutes.

Round 3 (Values Assessment): This online round assessed candidates' alignment with HSBC's values through situational judgment questions. Participants had to select two answers that best represented their approach from a given set of options. This was also an elimination round, with approximately 100 students being eliminated.

Technical Interview (Offline): The technical interview was conducted offline on campus. It began with a self-introduction, followed by questions about the candidate's family, which was noted as unusual. The interviewer inquired about the candidate's most proficient programming language. Questions on Object-Oriented Programming (OOPs) concepts, including Inheritance, and the difference between shallow copy and deep copy were asked. The interviewer also asked the candidate to write code for reversing a linked list and other problems related to String and Array manipulation. Questions based on projects and internships mentioned in the resume were also part of this round.

HR Interview (Offline): The HR interview started with a basic introduction. Most questions were derived from the candidate's resume, including inquiries about internship experiences and challenges faced. Situational questions were posed, such as how to deal with disagreements with seniors in the company. A specific question asked was "Who invented Java?", where the candidate correctly replied James Gosling for Sun Microsystems, which the interviewer initially disagreed with but later verified.