SAP Labs visited our campus on September 30th to recruit final students for associate developer roles, and they allow EE and MCA, MSc, and all CSE M.Tech students from CSE, IT, ECE, and B.Tech to participate in the recruitment event.
Conditions: CPI ≥7, 10th and 12th both reach 60%
Dispose:
- CV-based shortlisting
- PPT
- Online testing
- First Technical Interview
- Second Technical Interview
- Manage rounds
- HR round
On October 1st, the PowerPoint and online test rounds were held at 5:30 p.m. in the evening.
Round 1 (1 hour of online testing): This round is played on HackerEarth. It consists of 10 OOP-based MCQ questions (C++ and Java-based), C (pointer-based), and 2 coding questions.
- Find the length of the longest subsequence of a string, i.e. a substring of another string
- Given a string P consisting of small letters and a 26-bit string Q, 1 represents a special character and 0 represents a common character with 26 letters. The task is to find the length of the longest substring that contains up to K normal characters.
The test has a truncated cut-off point, so it’s important to do a good job in both the MCQ and the coding section. Since online exams are set up differently for different students, it is important to address the issue as soon as possible to improve your chances of being shortlisted.
The coding questions were very simple, as I solved both in 40 minutes. I’m also doing a great job with MCQs (I believe at least 9 out of 10 MCQs are correct). That evening, 34 students were shortlisted for interviews.
Round 2 (Technique 1): This round took place on September 5 on the HackerRank code pair, and the interview lasted about 45 minutes. Since my spot was the last of all 34 students, I was very nervous because I thought I would be eliminated eventually. However, the interviewer was very humble and supportive of the methods and explanations I gave. She first introduced herself, and then I introduced myself.
Note: First impressions last a long time, so make sure you’re ready to get started.
First, give me 3 code snippets in which I have to figure out the time complexity of each code (they are easy to solve). Then, while explaining my approach to solving the problem, I was given two questions to code and run:
Given a linked list with odd and even values, return the updated header of the given linked list, where all odd-numbered nodes are removed. (I passed all the test cases for the issue for the first time)
Given a linked list of binary values, convert the sorted binary values to the desired decimal values. (I passed 14/15 test cases, and then, I debugged the only test case that failed and also passed on the second attempt)
For example:
0->1->1->0->1 ===>>> (01101)2Therefore, this will give 13 as the answer.
Make sure to comment important lines when encoding. This will give the interviewer more clarity. Think and explain out loud, as most interviewers will see the way you solve the problem, not whether you can answer perfectly (but it’s still better not to take risks and solve the problem completely)
Given a linked list and a pointer to the node, how do you remove the node with optimal time complexity? (This method is the only way)
I couldn’t find the best way to answer this question, and as time went by, she ended the interview.
Then the round ended with me asking the interviewer a question about SAP Labs. Prepare and research information about the company thoroughly and ask the best questions to let them know that you have been well presented by SAP Labs.
So since I personally felt like I wasn’t doing well, when I got an email saying I was selected for the next round of work, I felt like I was eliminated and almost started to get over it. As a result, a total of 26 students made it to the third round.
Round 3 (Technique 2): This round takes place on Google Meet and lasts for 1 hour. In the final round, I got very nervous again because very few students were going on to the next round and I hadn’t played the third round yet.
So, the interviewer came, and he introduced himself and told me about the work he did in the SAP lab. Then I introduced myself to him. At the same time as the introduction, since I mentioned my internship in cloud computing and distributed systems, he began to discuss my technical skills and general work during my internship. It lasted about 15 to 20 minutes, and he also shared his experience when he first used Cloud.
Then, two coding issues with the GDB compiler are solved:
- Given an array of zero and non-zero values, perform an in-place operation so that all zeros in the array are on the right, and not zeros on the right.
- Given a linked list, check if there are any loops. If so, the node from which the loop originated is returned.
Both are easy problems to solve, and I ran the code the first time.
Finally, he asked how the COVID protocol has affected our college’s rankings. Finally, I asked the interviewer questions about cloud and distributed systems.
Due to the large number of students, the rest of the process will resume the next day, with 20 students moving on to the next round. I’m one of them.
Round 4 (Administrative): This round takes about 30 minutes on the second day in Microsoft Teams. It was the toughest round of all the interviews because the interviewer was very strict and he checked our critical thinking and the way we presented ourselves under pressure. Therefore, it is very important to be specific and tell what is required.
At first, he asked me to introduce myself. Then he asked the following questions-
- Given a database called Insurance, it contains fields such as Policy Holder ID, Policy Holder Name, DOB, and Date of Death. Write an SQL query to find the number of active policy users on January 1, 2020.
- Given an amount, the amount will be incremented by 10% and then decremented by 10% in the following year. And the operation was carried out for 10 years. Will the amount remain the same, increase, or decrease? Explain your answer.
- Given a 6cm cube, how many 1cm cubes will be available?
He then asked about my family, hobbies and strengths, and weaknesses. (Just answer the interviewer’s request and don’t try to answer the question according to your situation.) judgment).
Now he asked about the situation that is prevalent in the company and wants us to provide a practical way to solve the problem.
- Let’s say you have a team of you and your friends. The day before the deadline, your friend tells you that he won’t be able to complete the job. Even if you’re done, you won’t be able to complete all of it by the deadline. So what would you do in such a situation?
- Let’s say you’re part of a team, and the company is going to release a product that your team has been working on. A few days before the release, you’ll know that there are some defects in the product, and you know that there is no one on the team who is responsible for the work. So, how will you respond? How will you do it?
I asked some questions at the end. In this round, try not to ask vague questions. After that, the interviewer indirectly hinted to me that I had made it to the next round, so please stay open until the end. After that, 11 students were shortlisted for the next round of the competition.
Round 5 (HR): This round also includes a 20-minute MS group stage. The interviewer said to me that it was more of an informal round.
The interviewer first introduces himself and then introduces himself. People are often asked about my family and background, and my thoughts on COVID-19, and how it has affected me socially, mentally, and emotionally. I was also asked about the internships I’ve done, the work I’ve done, the location of the company (because it’s a startup), the clubs I’ve been involved in and how I’ve been involved in those clubs.
So, in the end, all 11 students were finally selected and received a full-time offer, and I was one of them. So don’t lose hope even if you feel like you can’t do it the way you want in the interview. So stay calm and confident. And I wish the people who are about to come all the best.
