I recently participated in the recruitment drive for the Associate Software Engineer role at Tech Mahindra. The procedure was quite structured, and here is a detailed breakdown of the rounds that were conducted.
Round 1: Aptitude/English Essay Test
This round comprised two key components. First, the aptitude section included questions on logical ability, quantitative ability, and English. The difficulty level was manageable for someone with a basic understanding of these topics. Following the aptitude section, there was an essay writing task where I was given a topic to write on. I had 15-20 minutes to write around 200-250 words. My essay topic was "Is Uniform Necessary in College or Not?"
For anyone preparing, I recommend practicing aptitude questions regularly, as they are a common part of many recruitment processes.
Round 2: Technical & Psychometric Test
The second round was divided into three stages:
- A basic programming question asking to convert decimal numbers to binary.
- A string-based question asking to find the longest palindromic substring.The first question was relatively easy, while the second required a bit more effort. I had to ensure that my solutions passed both public and hidden test cases.
After a week, I was informed that I had passed and was selected for the next round.
Round 3: Conversational Assessment Test
This round was an AI-based assessment designed to evaluate pronunciation, grammar, speaking skills, and reading ability. The test was 20 minutes long, and I managed to clear it successfully.
Round 4: Technical Interview
The technical interview lasted around 15-20 minutes. Here are the questions I was asked:
- Introduce yourself: I gave a brief introduction about my academic background, my strengths, weaknesses, programming languages I am proficient in, and my short- and long-term goals.
- Discuss your project: I explained the details of my academic project.
- What was your role in the project? Did you face any challenges? I mentioned that my role was front-end development and shared some of the challenges I faced.
- What are HTML Forms, CSS Links, and JS Validation? I gave detailed explanations of each of these concepts.
- Explain the four pillars of OOPs: I discussed Encapsulation, Abstraction, Polymorphism, and Inheritance, using real-life examples to make the concepts clearer.
- Difference between Abstraction and Encapsulation? I explained the distinction between the two concepts.
- How to achieve compile-time polymorphism? I mentioned that compile-time polymorphism can be achieved through function overloading and operator overloading.
- Write a program to print something without using the main function.
- Write a program to check if a string is a valid anagram or not.
At the end of the interview, the interviewer asked if I had any questions. I asked for feedback on my performance and areas where I could improve, and the interviewer provided some useful insights.
Round 5: HR Interview
The HR interview lasted around 5-10 minutes. The HR asked me the following questions:
- Do you know about the company and the position you're applying for?
- Tell me about your project and the skills you learned aside from technical skills.
- What are your short-term and long-term goals?
- What do you like to do in your free time?
- Which location would you prefer to join?
After answering these questions, the interview concluded.
Final Result
After 10 days, the final selection list was released, and I was excited to see my name on the list.
