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

Software Engineer Intern

Paytm
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3 rounds | 6 Coding problems

Interview preparation journey

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Journey
I was in my fourth year and started applying for SDE intern roles at various companies. I primarily used LinkedIn, focused on improving my resume, practiced DSA regularly, and, in the end, everything fell into place, and I finally received an offer from Paytm.
Application story
I applied through LinkedIn as soon as the Software Engineering Intern role appeared in my job feed. Within a few minutes, the application window was closed, and approximately 5,000 people had already applied.
Why selected/rejected for the role?
Because my problem-solving skills were good, I completed all the DSA questions and SQL queries on time and was very confident about my projects, technical skills, and core subjects.
Preparation
Duration: 4 months
Topics: DSA, JavaScript, OOPS, DBMS, Development
Tip
Tip

Tip 1: Maintain consistency in DSA.

Tip 2: Master development skills.

Tip 3: Gain strong theoretical knowledge.

Application process
Where: Linkedin
Eligibility: No criteria (Salary: 25000 Stipend per month)
Resume Tip
Resume tip

Tip 1: Include relevant projects and internship experience, along with a description of your role in those particular projects or internships.
Tip 2: Highlight relevant technical skills and problem-solving abilities.

Interview rounds

01
Round
Medium
Online Coding Test
Duration90 mins
Interview date21 Sep 2024
Coding problem3

Three SQL-related queries and two DSA questions.

1. Longest Substring Without Repeating Characters

Moderate
30m average time
65% success
0/80
Asked in companies
SliceCognizantCisco

Given a string input of length n, find the length of the longest substring without repeating characters i.e return a substring that does not have any repeating characters.

Substring is the continuous sub-part of the string formed by removing zero or more characters from both ends.

Problem approach

I used the Sliding Window technique and a HashMap to solve this.

Try solving now

2. SQL Query

Write an SQL query to find the third-largest salary in a company.

Problem approach

Tip 1: Use a subquery.

Tip 2: Use it three times to find the third-largest salary.

Tip 3: You can also use LIMIT and OFFSET.

3. SQL Query

Write an SQL query to retrieve common records from two tables.

Problem approach

Tip 1: Clearly understand the problem.
Tip 2: Use intersection to solve it.
Tip 3: If you know about intersection, it can be completed in 2 minutes. Otherwise, it may take a bit longer to think through.

02
Round
Medium
Video Call
Duration90 mins
Interview date28 Sep 2024
Coding problem1

This was the interview round where the first 5 minutes were focused on my introduction. Then, the interviewer evaluated my problem-solving skills by giving me one dynamic programming (DP) question. I initially applied recursion, then moved on to memoization, and finally to tabulation, as that was what the interviewer expected from me.

1. Coin Change(Finite Supply)

Hard
0/120
Asked in companies
Disney + HotstarIBMWalmart

You are given an array of integers ‘coins’ denoting the denomination of coins and another array of integers ‘freq’ denoting the number of coins of each denomination.

You have to find the number of ways to make the sum ‘V’ by selecting some(or all) coins from the array.

The answer can be very large. So, return the answer modulo 1000000007.

For Example :
‘N’ = 3, ‘coins’ = {1, 2, 3}, ‘freq’ = {1, 1, 3}, ‘V’ = 6

For the given example, we can make six by using the following coins:
{1, 2, 3}
{3. 3}
Hence, the answer is 2.
Problem approach

Tip 1: Apply recursion.
Tip 2: Use memoization.
Tip 3: Implement tabulation to make it more optimal.

Try solving now
03
Round
Easy
HR Round
Duration20 mins
Interview date28 Sep 2024
Coding problem2

Standard background and communication check

1. HR Question

  • Can you share your experience as a Backend Intern? 
  • What was your role, and what impactful work did you accomplish during that time? 
  • How did you approach answering questions or handling challenges in a calm and confident manner?
Problem approach

Tip 1: Talked about my experience as a Backend Intern.

Tip 2: Described my role and the impactful work I accomplished there.

Tip 3: Answered all the questions calmly and confidently.

2. HR Question

How soon can I join?

Problem approach

Tip 1: I was in my 7th semester, so going to the office regularly was difficult for me because of my strict attendance rules.

Tip 2: However, since there were some great teachers and I had a good reputation among them, I could take leaves and continue my internship.

Tip 3: I said, "Yes, I am available for an on-site internship."

Here's your problem of the day

Solving this problem will increase your chance to get selected in this company

Skill covered: Programming

Which SQL keyword removes duplicate records from a result set?

Choose another skill to practice
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