Company: Columbia Sportswear
Education: B.Tech from one of best college in Bengaluru
Years of Experience: Fresher
Title/Level: Software Engineer Trainee
Date: December 2024
**Tier :**2
Cutoff : 7

Total Number of Rounds 3 :

•     Online Assesement 

•     Technical Interview

•      HR interview

Round 1:Online Assesement
Level : Medium
Type of question : MCQ and Coding

After the first Round they shortlisted the 36 students for F2F Interview

Technical Interview :
The interview was a great experience, and the interviewer was very kind and supportive. She started by making me feel comfortable and then asked me to introduce myself. After my introduction, she took a moment to review my resume and asked me about my project. She appreciated my work, which boosted my confidence.

Next, she moved on to coding questions. The topics included arrays, strings, and linked lists. I was able to answer all of them confidently. After that, she gave me two aptitude questions. I solved one completely, but I made a small mistake in the second one. She provided a hint, and with her guidance, I was able to solve it fully.

The interview then transitioned to questions on Object-Oriented Programming (OOP). She asked around 8-9 questions on OOP concepts, followed by a few questions on networking and operating systems. She also asked if I was familiar with SQL, to which I replied "yes."

One of the highlights of the interview was a puzzle she presented. I solved it immediately within 10 seconds, which made her happy. She followed up with another question related to the puzzle, but I couldn’t solve it. However, she reassured me that it was okay.

Towards the end, she asked some general questions about my hobbies and interests. The technical part of the interview lasted around 30 minutes. Before concluding, she asked if I had any questions for her. I asked what skills I should focus on if I get selected, so I can prepare myself better. She gave me some valuable suggestions and answered in a very encouraging way.

Finally, she said, “You answered most of the questions well. I’ll forward your name to HR. All the best!”

HR Round:
The HR round began with a very warm welcome, which set a positive tone for the conversation. The interviewer asked me to introduce myself, mentioning details about my college, background, curricular and non-curricular activities, achievements, and projects. I gave a brief yet comprehensive introduction, covering all the points he asked for.

This was followed by a deep discussion about my major college projects. He asked several detailed questions, which I answered confidently. I believe he was also assessing my communication skills, as he kept asking follow-up questions one after another. I managed to answer most of them effectively.

Next, he moved on to typical HR questions. One of the key questions he asked was about my ambition and the kind of environment I would like to work in. I responded by saying that while my personal growth is important, I also believe in contributing to society, friends, and colleagues whenever I can.

He then asked if I could share an incident where I helped someone, such as a friend. Fortunately, I had prepared for such questions during my Amazon interview preparation, so I shared one of my experiences. He seemed happy with my response and encouraged me to continue helping others selflessly, saying, "One day, the fruit will come."

Although his statement left me a bit unsure about the outcome, I stayed hopeful.

Finally, after three days, the results were announced. Out of 36 candidates, only 5 were selected—and I was one of them!

Key: Be confident even if you don’t know the answer. But don’t waste the interviewer’s time.

This experience has strengthened my confidence and serves as a stepping stone as I continue preparing for opportunities in Tier 1 companies, where I aim to contribute meaningfully and grow professionally.

Thanks for reading.
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