Deutsche Bank visited our campus for Summer Interns, for the role of tech-analysts.

Basic shortlist criteria : CGPA : >= 4/10

Step 1: Coding Round

Duration : 2:30 hours

Number of coding questions : 2
Q1. A slightly modified implementation of Trapping Rainwater problem. If you had solved the problem before, it was very easy. If not, medium category.
Q2. Easy mathematical problem based on Binary search. Could be easily solved through Brute force too.
Easy category.

Number of Multiple Choice Questions : 20
Categories:

1. Database Management Systems
2. Computer Networks
3. Time complexities
4. Graphs
   Question category : Medium - Hard
   Total students appeared : 200

Number of students shortlisted for Round 2 : 40

Round 2 - Tech interview

Alright, so here is where the irony starts. Students who interviewed before me were asked questions of very low difficulty from:

1. BST
2. Linked List
3. Arrays
4. Some math puzzles

When I went in, the first question asked to me was on Backtracking.
Question : Find all subsets of array
Another question on finding the Inorder successor in a Binary Tree, which I answered correctly.

Questions on OOPS:

1. Types of inheritance
2. Explain each of those in brief
3. Why is inheritance useful?

Finally, one mathematical puzzle. I could give a satisfactory enough solution to the same, although not the best possible one.

After this round, I was kind of low, because all the others could solve all questions put forth. However, I got a call saying that I was the first person to be shortlisted into the next round (HR).

Round 3 : HR

The interviewers were some of the best I had come across in all my interviews, and I did my best to impress them too.

I was two minutes late than the scheduled time, so I apologized, waited for their permission before sitting down.

The interviewer was very friendly. Her first statement was, "Your resume was one of the most unique that I have come across in my career." And I said to myself, "Finally!!", because indeed, it was. I had included on my resume, a mix of projects on Android, Front End Development, internships with startups that I had done, as well as positions of responsibility in the E-Cell at my institute, which contrasted with another role as a member of the Dance club.
As I was to find out later, it was through my already submitted resume, that I was shortlised for the HR round, in spite of my less-than-awesome performance in the tech interview.

The interviewer asked me about my projects, why did I do them, how they were different. And I did my best to explain them in as simple a manner.

She asked me as to why I chose Kotlin over Java for Android Development, a question I had prepared for, for three days!! I enumerated the points as succintly as I could, without sounding over-worked, which I was!!

She then asked me about my bonding with people from different culture, wherein I mentioned that since I looked at people's knowledge, and not their background before interacting with them, it was not a point of concern. Some points that built up my statement were some of the challenges that I had worked on, that involved developers from across the world.

Finally, she gave me a situation based question: "What would you choose from? Protecting the security of your company, or leaving it and saving the life of someone?". I knew, after reading exhaustive interview experiences, that this was a question that did not seek the answer, but the composure, attitude, and critical-thinking of the candidate. My first response was, "I would call/shout for someone to look into either of those. Also, I would make it a point to install a system that would save my work and encrypt it at a button's click. " She seemed satisfied with my response.

Finally, she asked if there was anything that I wanted to ask, and I asked if there was something about my profile that I needed to work on more? She laughed and said "The comments will keep coming. You are just getting started!". I came out all smiles from the interview, and after 4 hours of intense pressure, the results were declared.

Out of 16 finalists, 8 of us were offered a Summer Internship at Deutsche Bank, India.

Finally, what I would strongly suggest to interviewees is, always keep your cool, do not lose hope, whatever happens. I was rejected from 4 interviews before this. Keep your DSA concepts clear, and write on the resume only what you can clearly explain.

And, keep doing Leetcode!!