HDBC

Role: TSE (Trainee Software Engineer)

College: Not Specified

Interview Date: October 2023

Interview Type: On-Campus, Full-Time (Fresher)

Result: Offer

Difficulty: Easy

Rounds: 4 rounds

Topics Asked: Aptitude, Technical (English Usage, Analytical Reasoning, Technical questions), Coding (easy questions, arrays and strings), Values Assessment, CS fundamentals (DSA, OOPS, DBMS), Projects (Spring Framework, Hibernate, Spring MVC, Spring Boot, NLP-based project), DDL queries, NoSQL vs SQL, Extracurriculars, Why HSBC, Career aspirations, Self-improvement.

Experience:

The HSBC recruitment process for the Trainee Software Engineer role, held on-campus in October 2023, comprised four elimination rounds.

Round 1.1 (AON platform - Aptitude + Technical): This round consisted of 70 questions to be completed in 75 minutes. It included sections on English Usage (20 questions), Analytical Reasoning (20 questions), and Technical questions (30 questions).

Round 1.2 (AON platform - Coding): Only candidates who cleared the first paper were eligible for this round. It involved two easy coding questions to be solved in 30 minutes. Questions were primarily based on arrays and strings.

Round 2 (Values Assessment Test): This was an elimination round where over one-third of the students did not clear.

Round 3 (Technical Round): The interview began with an introduction. The interviewer asked the candidate to explain their first project, which was developed using Spring Framework, Hibernate, Spring MVC, and Spring Boot. This discussion lasted about 10 minutes, and the candidate was asked to draw different diagrams related to the project. A brief discussion followed on a second, NLP-based project. The interviewer then asked very easy Computer Science fundamentals questions covering Data Structures and Algorithms (DSA), Object-Oriented Programming (OOPs), and Database Management Systems (DBMS). The candidate mentioned their LeetCode/GFG rankings and ratings. Specific DBMS questions included simple DDL queries and the difference between NoSQL and SQL databases. A short discussion on extracurriculars also took place.

Round 4 (HR Round): This round started with a self-introduction. Questions asked included "Where do you see yourself in the next 3 years?", "What are 3 things you would like to change in yourself?", and "Why HSBC?". The interviewer also asked about projects, preferred location (Bangalore/Pune/Hyderabad), and desired technological stack. The candidate was advised to be calm, confident, and authentic.