Paytm (One97 Communications Limited) interview experience Real time questions & tips from candidates to crack your interview

Senior Software Engineer

Paytm (One97 Communications Limited)
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3 rounds | 4 Coding problems

Interview preparation journey

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Journey
When I interviewed at Paytm with three years of experience as a Java Backend Engineer, I realized that companies like theirs focus on strong Data Structures and Algorithms (DSA) skills. I started preparing for DSA just 3-4 months before the interview, feeling a bit unsure at the beginning. However, after a week or two, I found myself getting more interested in solving DSA problems. I covered basic questions on Trees, Singly Linked Lists, and Arrays on platforms like LeetCode. During the middle of my preparation, I took a break for a month. When I started attending interviews, I felt like I forgot what I had learned in the past few months. That's when I realized the importance of continuous practice. I went back and practiced the same set of questions again. While I faced rejections in some initial rounds, after 4-5 interviews, I gained confidence and understood what companies were looking for. For system design, I studied a few use cases online, and my previous exposure in my organization helped me understand essential considerations when developing an application from scratch. This comprehensive preparation paid off in the end.
Application story
Applied via instahyre, then I got a call from HR for online test, and then in parallel HR scheduled Technical Interview. After Technical round I got the call from HR for salary negotiations
Why selected/rejected for the role?
In the interview they asked some questions from DB, like internal data structure Mysql is using, how it search a record etc. and some in-depth question from DB. But I was unable to answer them, and explained basic indexing and normalization. Then they asked a easy array question. And then a question from Tree (top view of tree). I took time to solve top view of tree, as I never came across such type of questions, and it was ranking medium over leetcode. But the approach to solve that question was fine, and interviewer gave me 10 more minutes, and finally I did it.
Preparation
Duration: 5 months
Topics: Arrays,Linked Lists,Tree,Dynamic Programming, Recursion, Java Basics
Tip
Tip

Tip 1 :Don't loose confidence,, if you are unable to solve some DSA question, don't loose confidence, and try it again
Tip 2 : Be regular in practising the DSA, and make notes of theory question, which maybe asked in some companies 
Tip 3 : You can try easy level DSA questions and then start attending interviews, it will open up your mind and you will get know what type of questions are being asked.

Application process
Where: Campus
Eligibility: NA
Resume Tip
Resume tip

Tip 1: Keep the skills section clearly on the top, and mention the skills in first place for which organization is looking for, like, Java8,Microservices,SpringBoot
Tip 2: mention your total exp. contatc details, don't let the HR to count your experience from your time period you spend with your previous organizations

Interview rounds

01
Round
Medium
Online Coding Interview
Duration90
Interview date21 Apr 2023
Coding problem1

I got a test link from HR which has expiry of 2 days. But I had to complete that in 90 minutes in single sitting. It contained 20 MCQ's and 3 coding rounds. MCQ's were from OOPS and Java+ spring. 
In coding there were 3 questions which is of avg to mid level. I did 1 question fully and 1 questions has satisfied 90% of their test cases.

1. Reverse Words In A String

Easy
10m average time
90% success
0/40
Asked in companies
FacebookAmerican ExpressJP Morgan

You are given a string 'str' of length 'N'.


Your task is to reverse the original string word by word.


There can be multiple spaces between two words and there can be leading or trailing spaces but in the output reversed string you need to put a single space between two words, and your reversed string should not contain leading or trailing spaces.


Example :
If the given input string is "Welcome to Coding Ninjas", then you should return "Ninjas Coding to Welcome" as the reversed string has only a single space between two words and there is no leading or trailing space.
Problem approach

I solved it in O(N) with swapping

Try solving now
02
Round
Medium
Video Call
Duration60
Interview date3 May 2023
Coding problem3

It happened in evening, and it was 60-70 minutes long.
In this interviewer asked some questions from database , like internal data structure and locking in DB, indexing. But I was able to answer few questions like indexing only. Then they asked a question from array and one from Tree.

1. DBMS Questions

Indexing in DB(Learn)
Locking in DB(Learn)
Internal DS used in Mysql

Problem approach

Tip 1:I answered only indexing
Tip 2: I explained join queries, to let the interview know that know how to query the DB.
 

2. Rearrange The Array

Easy
0/40
Asked in companies
AmazonAdobePaytm (One97 Communications Limited)

You are given an array/list NUM of integers. You are supposed to rearrange the elements of NUM such that no two adjacent elements will be the same or find out if it not possible.

For example:
Input: arr[] = {1,1,1,2,2,2} 
Output: {1,2,1,2,1,2}

Note: {2,1,2,1,2,1} is also valid because there are no two adjacent elements which are the same.
Try solving now

3. Top view of Tree

Easy
0/40
Asked in companies
Thought WorksWalmartSAP Labs

You have been given a Binary Tree of integers. You are supposed to return the top view of the given binary tree.

Top view of the binary tree is the set of nodes which are visible when we see the tree from the top.

For example:
For the given binary tree

Example

The top view of the tree will be {10, 4, 2, 1, 3, 6}.
Problem approach

In this I got stuck and consumed the time. But I was discussing the approach with interviewer continuously. So he knows I am in the right direction and he gave me 10 more minutes and finally I did it.

Try solving now
03
Round
Easy
HR Round
Duration10
Interview date9 May 2023
Coding problem0

HR told me I cleared the round and talked about compensation part.

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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Choose another skill to practice
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