Cognizant interview experience Real time questions & tips from candidates to crack your interview
Programmer Analyst
Cognizant
3 rounds | 3 Coding
problems
Selected Interview preparation journey
Journey
Cognizant was the second company to visit our campus. The recruitment process involved Resume Shortlisting, Online assessment, Technical Interview and HR round. First I applied with resume on superset platform, then I got link for online assessment after few days. On the day I was giving online assessment there was issue with servers So I could not complete the test successfully. I was worried about that, but I again got chance to reappear for the test due to the issue.
Second time I cleared the test for Genc Next. I attended technical interview which lasted for around 45 minutes. I cleared both Technical interview and HR interview and got Letter of Intent from Cognizant.
Application story
I applied to Cognizant through on campus drive. I was shortlisted based on resume. I gave online assessment and cleared it.
Why selected/rejected for the role?
My resume matches the requirements of the job. My resume was neatly organized and has good skills and projects
Preparation
Duration: 4 months
Topics: Data structures and Algorithms, C++, C, SQL, Javascript
Tip 1 : Pick a technology and do one or two projects on that technology
Tip 2 : Practice DSA questions topic wise
Tip 3 : Prepare accordingly to the company you are applying.
Application process
Where: Campus
Eligibility: 60% in Graduation
Tip 1 : Mention only skills that you are well aware of.
Tip 2 : Organize the resume with fields such as projects, internships, skills, achievements etc
Interview rounds
01
Round
Medium
Online Coding Interview
Duration150 minutes
Interview date5 Sep 2021
Coding problem1
Online Assessment Round consists of four sections.
First section is of MCQs based on basic concepts such as oops etc.
Second section was on coding problems of easy to medium level.
Third section was on coding problems of medium to hard level.
Last section was based on two SQL questions.
1. Next Greater Element
Easy
10m average time
90% success
0/40
Asked in companies
You are given an array 'a' of size 'n'.
Print the Next Greater Element(NGE) for every element.
The Next Greater Element for an element 'x' is the first element on the right side of 'x' in the array, which is greater than 'x'.
If no greater elements exist to the right of 'x', consider the next greater element as -1.
For example:
Input: 'a' = [7, 12, 1, 20]
Output: NGE = [12, 20, 20, -1]
Explanation: For the given array,
- The next greater element for 7 is 12.
- The next greater element for 12 is 20.
- The next greater element for 1 is 20.
- There is no greater element for 20 on the right side. So we consider NGE as -1.
Problem approach
Step1 : Used stack concept to solve the problem. created an empty stack
Step 2 : From the last element, started traversing to the begining of array, and for every element looked on top of stack. If there is an element on top of stack and it is greater than the current element then print it and push current element to stack
Step 3 : else pop the elements until greater element is not found. If greater element is not found print -1 and push current element to stack.
02
Round
Medium
Face to Face
Duration45 minutes
Interview date30 Sep 2021
Coding problem1
The interviewer was very friendly. The interview happened on an video calling platform. He first introduced himself and asked to introduce myself. The interview happened at around 11:00 Am and the interviewer was on time.
1. Two Sum
Easy
10m average time
90% success
0/40
Asked in companies
You are given an array of integers 'ARR' of length 'N' and an integer Target. Your task is to return all pairs of elements such that they add up to Target.
Note:
We cannot use the element at a given index twice.
Follow Up:
Try to do this problem in O(N) time complexity.
Problem approach
Step 1 : I checked the sum of every two elements of the array by running and outer loop from first element to last but element and inner loop based on next of outer loop element
Step 2 : Interviewer was satisfied but asked to optimise the code
Step 3 : Sorted the array and used two pointer approach and moved put one pointer on first element and second pointer on last element, based on the sum of values at both these pointers, moved them ahead and behind until they meet, or a pair is found with sum.
Step 4 : Interviewer was satisfied.
03
Round
Easy
HR Round
Duration15 minutes
Interview date5 Oct 2022
Coding problem1
The interviewer was nice. She was strict about the documents that need to be provided.
1. Basic HR Questions
Are you ready for relocation?
What are your strengths?
Are you ready for any shift?
How will you manage a team of 10 members?
Problem approach
Tip 1 : Do not panic during the interview, and speak your heart
Tip 2 : Prepare for the most common questions
Here's your problem of the day 
Solving this problem will increase your chance to get selected in this company
Skill covered: Programming
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