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Interview Experience for ConsultAdd | Fresher | Information Technology
College: Final Year B.Tech in Information Technology, SGSITS Indore
Batch: 2024
Prior Experience: 0

Interview Process

ConsultAdd visited our campus for CS/IT students, and the selection process consisted of multiple rounds. The overall process was highly competitive, with only 12 students making it to the final round from over 100 candidates.

Round 1: Online Assessment (Coding Test)

Format: Online test (pen and paper style, no compiler). They only wanted to see the approach.
Duration: 30 minutes for coding + 5 minutes for dry run per question
Questions:
- Two coding questions (Easy-Medium level)
- No syntax evaluation - only the approach mattered

I cleared the assessment, and 54 students advanced to the interview rounds.

Technical Interview - Round 1

Format: In-Person
Duration: ~30 minutes
Selection Rate: Out of 54, only 12 students progressed to the next stage
Interview Panels: 4 panels, conducting interviews simultaneously

Questions Asked

1. Introduction & Project Discussion

Briefly introduced myself.
Asked about the projects mentioned in my resume, especially my role in a group project:
- How many members were there?
- Did you face conflicts? How did you handle them?
- Since I worked on the frontend, was it dependent on the backend? What challenges did I face?

2. DSA Questions

2.1 Finding the Largest Square of 1s in a Binary Matrix

Given: n x n matrix of 0s and 1s
Task: Find the largest square consisting of only 1s (without 0s inside).
Approach:
- First approach: Checking max 1s in rows & columns, defining boundaries
- Second approach: Using spiral traversal
Feedback: The interviewer was satisfied and mentioned I was close to the solution.

2.2 Sorting an Array of 1s, 2s, and 3s in O(n) Time Complexity (Dutch National Flag Problem)

Constraints:
- Single pass
- No extra array allowed
- No hash maps or frequency count
Approach:
- Tried 4 approaches:
  1. Hash map (not allowed)
  2. Cyclic sort (finite items)
  3. Counting sort (not allowed)
  4. Three Pointers (p1 < p2 < p3) --> Almost correct
- Final Hint: Solve using Two Pointers

Technical Interview - Round 2

Format: In-Person
Duration: ~1 hour
Focus Areas: DBMS, SQL, OOPS, OS

SQL Questions

Removing Duplicate Entries from an Employee Table

Given Table:
```
Employee(ID, Name, Salary)  
```
- ID is Primary Key
- Duplicate Name & Salary values exist
Task: Remove duplicates without creating a new table or changing the Primary Key.
My Approach:
- Used GROUP BY with COUNT() --> Partially correct
- Interviewer wanted a more precise aggregate function
- I suggested VIEW, but it was not allowed
- Struggled to write the full query

Conceptual Questions on SQL

Difference between DISTINCT and UNIQUE keywords
Can we create a table without a Primary Key?
Difference between Primary Key and Unique Key

OOPS Questions

Conceptual & Coding-Based Questions

What is Inheritance? How many types exist in Java?
- Explained all types, and also included that multi-level inheritance requires interfaces in Java
- Follow-up: Why can't we directly achieve multi-level inheritance in Java?
Method Overloading vs. Method Overriding
- Given a function with the same name but different parameters, identified it as method overloading
- Asked to write implementation code
- Cross-questioned on method overriding behaviour when called in:
  - Parent Class
  - Child Class
  - Main Method
Final Discussion on Constraints in Overriding
- What if method parameters change?
- Does it still count as overriding?

Final HR Discussion

General behavioral questions
Asked for feedback
- Interviewer appreciated my confidence, knowledge, and communication skills
- Advised me to focus on providing complete solutions rather than thinking out loud