Intel Corporation interview experience Real time questions & tips from candidates to crack your interview

SDE - 1

Intel Corporation

3 rounds | 7 Coding problems

Anonymous

Experienced | Oct 2022

Selected

Interview preparation journey

Journey

From the first semester of my B.Tech, I started doing competitive programming (CP) because my college has a great coding environment. I began coding on online platforms until the end of the first semester, then I started using other platforms after one of my friends suggested them. From there, I started enjoying CP. My third semester focused on web development and problem-solving, and from the fourth semester onward, I began using other platforms for interview preparation and improving problem-solving skills, as the internship season was approaching. I completed this in the fourth semester, but unfortunately, I didn’t get an internship. From that point, I started coding seriously until the sixth semester and finally received an offer.

Application story

This company visits our campus, which is why every student is eligible to take the online assessment (coding round) test. After this round, all those who qualify will be eligible for interviews.

Why selected/rejected for the role?

I was selected because I had skills such as DSA, problem-solving, web development, and logical thinking ability. I also prepared for the HR round because I was already familiar with all the questions asked in the HR round due to my extracurricular activities, which is why I was able to answer them correctly.

Preparation

Duration: 6 months

Topics: Dynamic programming, Graph, Tree, OOPS, DBMS, Operating System, Computer Network, DSA

Tip

Tip 1: Focus on the concept, not on the number of questions (quality matters a lot).

Tip 2: Make sure to do the most asked and most liked questions.

Tip 3: Make sure to do development; even a simple HTML, CSS, and JavaScript project can work.

Application process

Where: Campus

Eligibility: above 7 CGPA

Resume tip

Tip 1: Know everything on your resume (don’t include false information).
Tip 2: Your resume should not be longer than one page.
Tip 3: Highlight your job-related achievements and experience (make sure they are visible).

Interview rounds

Round

Medium

Online Coding Test

Duration60 mins

Interview date13 Oct 2022

Coding problem2

Firstly, the interviewer asked me to introduce myself, and then he started asking questions related to my project and discussed it for around 15 minutes. After that, he began asking DSA questions and asked me 2 DSA questions.

1. Flatten 2D array

Easy

20m average time

80% success

0/40

Asked in companies

You have to implement an iterator for ‘FLATTEN_2D’ to flatten a two-dimensional array ‘ARR_2D’ into a one-dimensional array ‘ARR_1D’. The iterator should support the following two operations:
‘NEXT’: The first call to ‘NEXT’ should return the first element of ‘ARR_2D’. Each subsequent call should return the next element in the row-wise traversal of ‘ARR_2D’.
‘HAS_NEXT’: It should return ‘true’ if the iteration has more elements to traverse; otherwise, if ‘NEXT’ has traversed the entire ‘ARR_2D’, return ‘false’.

Try to code this using only iterators in C++ or iterators in Java.

The ‘FLATTEN_2D’ object will be instantiated and called as follow:
FLATTEN_2D it = new FLATTEN_2D(ARR_2d);
while (it.hasNext()) {
arr1d.append(it.next());
}

Example:

ARR_2D = [ 
          [0, 1],
          [2, 3, 4],
          [],
          [5] 
        ]
The computed ‘ARR_1D’ should be as follows:
ARR_1D = [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
So, the printed output will be: 0 1 2 3 4 5

Try solving now

2. Delete Node In A Linked List

Easy

15m average time

80% success

0/40

Asked in companies

You are given a Singly Linked List of integers and a reference to the node to be deleted. Every node of the Linked List has a unique value written on it. Your task is to delete that node from the linked list.

A singly linked list is a linear data structure in which we can traverse only in one direction i.e. from Head to Tail. It consists of several nodes where each node contains some data and a reference to the next node.

Note:

• The reference to the head of the linked list is not given.
• The node to be deleted is not a tail node.
• The value of each node in the Linked List is unique.
• It is guaranteed that the node to be deleted is present in the linked list.

A sample Linked List-

Problem approach

Copy the next value to the current node and delete the node.

Try solving now

Round

Medium

Online Coding Test

Duration60 mins

Interview date14 Oct 2022

Coding problem2

Timing was around 2 PM. I was alone in the room. The interviewer was very supportive and humble.

1. Combination Sum

Easy

15m average time

85% success

0/40

Asked in companies

You are given an array 'ARR' of 'N' distinct positive integers. You are also given a non-negative integer 'B'.

Your task is to return all unique combinations in the array whose sum equals 'B'. A number can be chosen any number of times from the array 'ARR'.

Elements in each combination must be in non-decreasing order.

For example:

Let the array 'ARR' be [1, 2, 3] and 'B' = 5. Then all possible valid combinations are-

(1, 1, 1, 1, 1)
(1, 1, 1, 2)
(1, 1, 3)
(1, 2, 2)
(2, 3)

Problem approach

If the sum of the current combination is greater than the target, then even if we move forward with this combination, the sum will only increase. Therefore, there is no point in moving further with such a combination, as we can never achieve the target sum from this. So, backtrack from here.

If the sum of the current combination is equal to the target, then we have found a solution, so store this combination in the answers. Moving forward with this combination will only increase the sum, and we can't achieve the target sum again from this. So, backtrack from here.

If we are here, it means the sum of the combination is still less than the target sum, and there is still a possibility of finding a combination whose sum can be equal to the target.

i) Now, consider all possible options for this combination, one at a time.

ii) Check if considering the current option can give us the solution.

iii) When this option backtracks to this point again, remove it and try the next option. For example, at [2, 2, _], we have 3 options to fill the 3rd place: [2, 3, 5]. First, we will go with [2, 2, 2]. Then, when this backtracks to this point again, remove the last 2 and try the next option, which is 3, resulting in [2, 2, 3]. When this also backtracks, remove 3 and try 5, resulting in [2, 2, 5].

Now, after all options are exhausted for [2, 2, _], backtrack to its previous state, which is [2, 2], and so on...

Try solving now

2. All Unique Permutations

Easy

15m average time

85% success

0/40

Asked in companies

You are given an array Arr consisting of N integers. Your task is to find all the unique permutations of the given array. For e.g if the array is {1, 1, 2}, the unique permutations of this array are {1, 1, 2}, {1, 2, 1}, {2, 1, 1}. Note that the total number of permutations of {1,1,2} is equal to 6 but out of those {1,1,2} and {1,2,1} occur twice.

Note:

1. There might be duplicates present in the array.
2. The order of the permutations in the output does not matter.
3. Do not use any kind of in-built library functions to find the answer.

Problem approach

We created a vector of vectors, 'v', for our answer.
We created a vector, 'a', to push into the answer.
We created a vector, 'b', to check if a number has been taken or not.
We traversed through all possibilities using backtracking and finally returned the answer.

Try solving now

Round

Medium

HR Round

Duration30 minutes

Interview date15 Oct 2022

Coding problem3

Firstly, he asked me to introduce myself. Later, he started asking about my hobbies, background, extracurricular activities, and also focused on my situation-based skills.

1. Basic HR Question

Tell me about yourself.

Problem approach

Tip 1: Do not ask the interviewer what they want to know about you. You may be asking genuinely, but it sounds rude.
Tip 2: Do not repeat what is already in the resume. The interviewer wants to know what they have not seen there. Also, avoid speaking about anything personal.
Tip 3: Introduce yourself by including adjectives like problem-solving, innovative, tech-savvy, creative, quick learner, etc., that best describe you in your professional life to boost your chances.

2. Basic HR Question

What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?

Problem approach

Tip 1: Be honest.
Tip 2: Start by stating the strongest skills and qualities that would be a great match for the job role.
Tip 3: Be ready with a backup claim for each of the strengths you mention. Therefore, avoid speaking about strengths you do not possess.
Tip 4: Do not mention any weaknesses that could potentially jeopardize your candidacy.

3. Basic HR Question

Why should we hire you?

Problem approach

Tip 1: How well you would perform the job and how you would be a great addition to the team.
Tip 2: How you possess the right talent that makes you stand apart.
Tip 3: Everything should boil down to how you can add great value to the organization.

Skill covered: Programming

How do you select an element by class name in CSS?

.className

#className

class.className

select.className

Choose another skill to practice

Similar interview experiences

SDE - 1

2 rounds | 4 problems

Interviewed by Intel Corporation

Oct 2021

Fresher

Rejected

1722 views

1 comments

0 upvotes

SDE - 1

2 rounds | 3 problems

Interviewed by Intel Corporation

Mar 2021

Experienced

Rejected

1368 views

0 comments

0 upvotes

SDE - 1

2 rounds | 4 problems

Interviewed by Intel Corporation

Mar 2023

Fresher

Rejected

1119 views

0 comments

0 upvotes

Software Engineer

3 rounds | 5 problems

Interviewed by Intel Corporation

Jan 2022

Experienced

Selected

1154 views

0 comments

0 upvotes

Companies with similar interview experiences

SDE - 1

5 rounds | 12 problems

Interviewed by Amazon

Jan 2019

Fresher

Selected

109755 views

24 comments

0 upvotes

SDE - 1

4 rounds | 5 problems

Interviewed by Microsoft

Feb 2021

Fresher

Selected

53700 views

5 comments

0 upvotes

SDE - 1

3 rounds | 7 problems

Interviewed by Amazon

Aug 2019

Fresher

Selected

32964 views

6 comments

0 upvotes

SDE - 1

Interview preparation journey

Interview rounds

1. Flatten 2D array

Try to code this using only iterators in C++ or iterators in Java.

The ‘FLATTEN_2D’ object will be instantiated and called as follow: FLATTEN_2D it = new FLATTEN_2D(ARR_2d); while (it.hasNext()) { arr1d.append(it.next()); }

Example:

2. Delete Node In A Linked List

You are given a Singly Linked List of integers and a reference to the node to be deleted. Every node of the Linked List has a unique value written on it. Your task is to delete that node from the linked list.

A singly linked list is a linear data structure in which we can traverse only in one direction i.e. from Head to Tail. It consists of several nodes where each node contains some data and a reference to the next node.

Note:

A sample Linked List-

1. Combination Sum

You are given an array 'ARR' of 'N' distinct positive integers. You are also given a non-negative integer 'B'.

Your task is to return all unique combinations in the array whose sum equals 'B'. A number can be chosen any number of times from the array 'ARR'.

Elements in each combination must be in non-decreasing order.

For example:

2. All Unique Permutations

Note:

1. Basic HR Question

2. Basic HR Question

3. Basic HR Question

The ‘FLATTEN_2D’ object will be instantiated and called as follow:
FLATTEN_2D it = new FLATTEN_2D(ARR_2d);
while (it.hasNext()) {
arr1d.append(it.next());
}