Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) interview experience Real time questions & tips from candidates to crack your interview

System Engineer

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
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4 rounds | 10 Coding problems

Interview preparation journey

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Journey
So my journey started in my 4th year, belonging to a tier-3 college situated at a remote location, so the exposure to companies was quite limited. I started doing lots of internships through Internshala (4 internships); although some were not related to IT, they gave me complete knowledge of how business works. I started preparing for service-based MNCs with Core Java as a primary skill and kept my focus only on one language. Getting core concepts was more than enough to crack interviews.
Application story
I applied for the TCS NQT test, which is for the ninja position. After ranking in the top 5%, I was offered a test link for Digital [System Engineer].
Why selected/rejected for the role?
My confidence and knowledge in Core Java, and staying up-to-date with the latest technologies in the market such as AI, ML, Big Data, Cloud Computing, and IoT, were some of the key factors that helped me land a job in TCS.
Preparation
Duration: 5 months
Topics: Core Java, Data Structure, OOPS, Linux (Basic), Aptitude, Machine-Learning
Tip
Tip

Tip 1: Hands-on experience in related OOPS concepts is a must. 

Tip 2: A fundamental and deep understanding of core languages (Python, Java, C, C++). 

Tip 3: If you have a live project that is running, it will be great and will undoubtedly add an advantage, but it is not necessary (should have at least 1-2 projects). 

Tip 4: Understanding computer fundamentals is necessary. 

Tip 5: Some good internships or certification courses will add an advantage.

Application process
Where: Company Website
Eligibility: 60% throughout
Resume Tip
Resume tip

Tip 1: Your resume should be minimalistic, not too fancy. 

Tip 2: You must include some projects and internships on your resume. 

Tip 3: The skills section should consist of things you are confident about. My suggestion is to include only what you are genuinely confident in and avoid putting any false information on your resume.

Interview rounds

01
Round
Easy
Online Coding Interview
Duration90 minutes
Interview date3 Nov 2021
Coding problem2

1st section of the round was filled with aptitude, quants, and logical reasoning, and the 2nd round had two coding questions based on OOPS and string manipulation.

1. Binary to Decimal

Easy
15m average time
80% success
0/40
Asked in companies
OptumMathworksTata Consultancy Services (TCS)

Ninja is given a binary number as a string ‘S’ of size ‘N’, he is asked to convert it into its decimal equivalent (as an Integer) and print it.

Note:

A binary string is a string in which all characters are either ‘1’ or ‘0’.
Try solving now

2. Minimum insertions to make a string palindrome

Moderate
30m average time
70% success
0/80
Asked in companies
FacebookApplePaytm (One97 Communications Limited)

A palindrome string is one that reads the same backward as well as forward.


You are given a string 'str'.


Find the minimum number of characters needed to insert in 'str' to make it a palindromic string.


Example :
Input: 'str' = "abca"

Output: 1

Explanation:
If we insert the character ‘b’ after ‘c’, we get the string "abcba", which is a palindromic string. Please note that there are also other ways possible.


Problem approach

Step 1: Take two indexes first as ‘i’ and last as a ‘j’
Step 2: Compare the character at the index ‘i’ and ‘j’
Step 3: If characters are equal, then 
Recursively call the function by incrementing ‘i’ by ‘1’ and decrementing ‘j’ by ‘1’
Step 4: Recursively call the two functions, the first increment ‘i’ by ‘1’ keeping ‘j’ constant, second decrement ‘j’ by ‘1’ keeping ‘i’ constant.
Take a minimum of both and return by adding ‘1’

Try solving now
02
Round
Medium
Online Coding Test
Duration60 minutes
Interview date4 Nov 2021
Coding problem2

There were 2 coding questions, it held at morning

1. Possible Words From A Phone Number

Hard
55m average time
45% success
0/120
Asked in companies
Tata 1mgSnapdealAmazon

After years of research, Ninja is finally able to invent the time machine, and now he is back to the good old days when T9 keypads were being used in mobile phones.

Being a curious person, Ninja wants to find out all possible strings that can be formed by pressing the keys of the phone.

Formally, you are given a string S, that consists of digits from 2-9 (both inclusive), your task is to find out all the possible strings that can be formed from the input string by mapping the digits to the letters as in a T9 keypad. Then, print the strings in a lexicographically sorted order.

T9_Keypad

For Example:
If S = “34”, then all the possible letters that can be formed from string S are {“dg”, “dh”, “di”, “eg”, “eh”, “ei”, “fg”, “fh”, “fi”}.
Try solving now

2. Median In Matrix

Moderate
25m average time
75% success
0/80
Asked in companies
AdobeTata Consultancy Services (TCS)Thought Works

Given a row-wise sorted matrix having N number of rows and M number of columns. Your task is to find the median of the given matrix.

Note :

Assume that the size of the matrix N*M is always odd.
Try solving now
03
Round
Easy
Face to Face
Duration60 minutes
Interview date17 Nov 2021
Coding problem5

It was at 1 pm approx the round consisted of Technical Interview question related to JAVA and also was asked to write a palindrome number and to prove it's concept JVM, SQL,OOPS and machine learning question were asked questions were also asked on the latest technology

1. Check If The String Is A Palindrome

Easy
10m average time
90% success
0/40
Asked in companies
SamsungSterlite Technologies LimitedGrab

You are given a string 'S'. Your task is to check whether the string is palindrome or not. For checking palindrome, consider alphabets and numbers only and ignore the symbols and whitespaces.

Note :

String 'S' is NOT case sensitive.

Example :

Let S = “c1 O$d@eeD o1c”.
If we ignore the special characters, whitespaces and convert all uppercase letters to lowercase, we get S = “c1odeedo1c”, which is a palindrome. Hence, the given string is also a palindrome.
Try solving now

2. Java

Why is Java a platform independent language? (Learn)

Problem approach

Java language was developed in such a way that it does not depend on any hardware or software due to the fact that the compiler compiles the code and then converts it to platform-independent byte code which can be run on multiple systems.

3. Java

Can you tell the difference between equals() method and equality operator (==) in Java? (Learn)

Problem approach

In case of String == compares the addresses and equals compares the value of the strings

4.

What is a Foreign Key? (Learn)

Problem approach

A FOREIGN KEY comprises of single or collection of fields in a table that essentially refers to the PRIMARY KEY in another table. Foreign key constraint ensures referential integrity in the relation between two tables.

5. DBMS

What is Normalization? (Learn)

Problem approach

Normalization represents the way of organizing structured data in the database efficiently. It includes the creation of tables, establishing relationships between them, and defining rules for those relationships. Inconsistency and redundancy can be kept in check based on these rules, hence, adding flexibility to the database.

04
Round
Easy
HR Round
Duration30 minutes
Interview date26 Nov 2021
Coding problem1

The interview took place at 4 pm in the evening. Basic questions related to personality and behavior were asked. Questions related to relocation and situation-based scenarios were also asked.

1. Basic HR Questions

What are your strengths and weaknesses?

Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?

Tell me about an experience when you faced difficulty at work while working on a project?

Here's your problem of the day

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

Skill covered: Programming

To make an AI less repetitive in a long paragraph, you should increase:

Choose another skill to practice
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