Even though I wasn’t shortlisted for the Technical Round (TR), I want to share my experience. Hopefully, it helps others who will attend Athena Health’s process in the future.
Procedure
Assessment (Hackerrank):
2 coding questions
1 SQL query
4 Choose the correct answers
2. Rounds:
Shortlisting → Technical Round (TR) → Managerial Round (MR) → HR.
Although I wasn’t shortlisted for TR, I learned the types of questions asked.
Assessment Questions
1. Coding
Equal String
Given two strings str1 and str2, check if str1 can be made equal to str2 using operations to remove the first character of str1 and insert at any position.
If possible, return the minimum number of operations; else return -1. (I implemented this in Java.)
Word Matching
Two strings a and b are considered matching if a can be converted to b using: Swap adjacent characters. Select substring of length k>1 with identical characters and increment all to next alphabet
Given two arrays of strings, determine for each pair whether they are matching (return 1 or 0).
Given a binary min heap 5,7,6,10,9,12,11,13 what is level order after 2 exact-min operations
SQL
Daily Wages Calculation
Tables: laborers (id, name, previous_balance) and daily_hours (labor_id, entry_time, exit_time)
Pay = $30 * total_hours_worked + previous_balance
Write query to return all active employees (worked some hours), with total amount owed, sorted by name.
Entry and exit times were given as VARCHAR in format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS, so had to cast to DATETIME and use TIMESTAMPDIFF(HOUR, entry_time, exit_time).
Choose the Correct Answers
- A doubly linked list is a (a) linear or circular (b) same space as singly linked lists. (c) Needs a header and asked to choose like 1) a, b 2)b, c
- They gave the merge sort code and asked about the time complexity.
- The employee has 10 columns and 1 million rows. The size of the table is 50 mb. If a view has 5 columns and 1 million rows. What is the size of the view?
- It is related to a SQL query.
TR Questions Asked:
Introduction
Depth details of the project
Coding questions like Valid Parentheses
Palindrome number with optimised approach
Internship experience(if mentioned)
Scenario-based questions
SQL joins
Given tables and asked me to join based on some condition
Why and what is the tech used in projects
What are you proud of doing in the entire 4 years
2 coding, resume and project-based questions
Sorting, OOPS, scenario-based questions
Debugging code
JavaScript code (if full-stack projects are in the resume)
Node.js, React — how to use, why use them
Strings, arrays, customised array
MERN stack flow project explanation
SQL question written in the Assessment test is checked
CRUD operations explain
ACID properties
Authorization explanation
Scenario given → use sort
Sorting pseudocode
Longest Substring with unique characters
OS and array concepts
An array of strings is given → check if these strings are present in a long string
Dry run codes
Find the target in the array
Java array questions
SQL inner join
Logical question: 3 boxes are labelled incorrectly → how to find the correctly labelled box
Estimation: How many coffee shops are in an area (based on preference data)
OOPS applied to a scenario (coffee machine example)
Call by reference and call by value
List methods like list.remove()
Interfaces and multiple inheritance example
Rotated sorted list → return index of key
Explain polymorphism and encapsulation
Move all zeroes to the end of the array
Time and space complexities
Database group by + count
Cache memory in database (with update example)
Coding: difference between dates
Project-related questions
Syntax-based questions (dates)
Tree traversals, height, balanced trees
Follow-up questions on arrays & strings
API related questions
MR Questions Asked:
Asked about the template of the resume
Why did you choose CSE over all allied branches
Puzzle: 8 balls, one heavier, find using only 2 weighings
SQL joins
Internship experience and details of each line in the resume
Club activities and roles
Leadership role in the club and how you earned it(if any clubs mentioned)
Introduction not present in the resume
Real-world problem solved in 4 years of college
Why only that particular tech stack in projects
NLP questions
Chatbot creation
LLMs discussion
SQL query related to joins
One thing you would change in the curriculum
Why theoretical knowledge is important
Should a student be aware of practical OR theoretical knowledge (not both)
ML and DL basics
HR Questions Asked:
Self introduction
Strengths & weaknesses
Why Athena Health?
Relocation and flexibility
Teamwork and leadership
Career goals
Reflection
Although I wasn’t shortlisted for TR, attempting for Athena Health gave me valuable insights into coding, SQL, projects, puzzles, and interview scenarios. I’m happy about the experience, and I’m confident this preparation will help me in upcoming opportunities. I hope this helped you.
