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

Junior Associate Technology

Unthinkable Solutions
upvote
share-icon
4 rounds | 11 Coding problems

Interview preparation journey

expand-icon
Preparation
Duration: 2 months
Topics: Data Structures, Algorithms, OOPS, DBMS, Operating System, Computer network
Tip
Tip

Tip 1 : Have the fundamental knowledge of OS, CN and DBMS concepts.
For OS: Memory(caching, memory hierarchy, etc), synchronization(semaphores, threads, etc)
For DBMS: Normalization and SQL Queries(especially join and sub-queries).
Tip 2 : Practice writing code in C, C++ or Java(some interviewers don't prefer Python).
Tip 3 : Practice the questions of some basic data structures and algorithms:
Data structures: Arrays, Binary Tree, Hashmap, Linked list were asked during my interviews.
Algorithms: Sorting, Dynamic programming(medium level), DFS and BFS, Pattern printing(* patterns).
Tip 4 : The technical interview 2 was mostly around logical thinking and projects, so prepare some standard riddles and 
brain teasers. Having some good projects is also a great advantage because you'll just have to explain the steps 
you did and will also help you during the HR round.

Application process
Where: Campus
Resume Tip
Resume tip

Tip 1 : A simple resume will work but it should contain only the topics/skills that you have a good knowledge of else it 
might cause a bad impression. 
Tip 2 : In the HR round, I was asked the project I did from my resume(because it had an eye-catching name), so have 
some interesting projects on your resume as well.

Interview rounds

01
Round
Medium
Online Coding Interview
Duration60 minutes
Interview date20 Aug 2020
Coding problem3

It was a 60 minutes coding round with 3 problems of different topics. It took place on hackerearth so the environment was good and the time was also enough for the questions. Two of the problems were standard but the first problem was ambiguous(we had to print a pattern but just one test case was given so in the end I had to hit and try different approaches for the same).

1. Number Pattern

Easy
0/40
Asked in companies
PayPalHexaview TechJosh Technology Group

Pattern for N = 4

The dots represent spaces.



Problem approach

Step 1 : In the first try it looked like fibonacci numbers, so wrote a code to print first i fibonacci starting from 1 in 
each ith row. It didn't work and passed only 1 case.
Step 2 : Tried using a similar approach but this time printed first n primes including 1, and this passed all test 
cases.

Try solving now

2. Longest Palindromic Substring

Moderate
20m average time
80% success
0/80
Asked in companies
SAP LabsGoldman SachsAcko

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


Your task is to return the longest palindromic substring. If there are multiple strings, return any.


A substring is a contiguous segment of a string.


For example :
str = "ababc"

The longest palindromic substring of "ababc" is "aba", since "aba" is a palindrome and it is the longest substring of length 3 which is a palindrome. 

There is another palindromic substring of length 3 is "bab". Since starting index of "aba" is less than "bab", so "aba" is the answer.
Problem approach

I used the similar dynamic programming approach.

Try solving now

3. First non repeating character

Easy
15m average time
80% success
0/40
Asked in companies
Thought WorksCIS - Cyber InfrastructureMicrosoft

Ninja is now bored with numbers and is now playing with characters but hates when he gets repeated characters. Ninja is provided a string, and he wants to return the first unique character in the string.The string will contain characters only from the English alphabet set, i.e., ('A' - 'Z') and ('a' - 'z'). If there is no non-repeating character, print the first character of the string. If there is no non-repeating character, return the first character of the string.

Problem approach

Used hashmap approach

Try solving now
02
Round
Medium
Video Call
Duration60 minutes
Interview date27 Aug 2020
Coding problem4

It was a one hour interview. It included several topics from ranging from DBMS , Data structures, OOPS and Riddles.

1. Character Pattern

Easy
0/40
Asked in companies
CIS - Cyber InfrastructureUnthinkable Solutions
Pattern for N = 4
A
BC
CDE
DEFG
Problem approach

It was a basic implementation problem in which I just had to print the alphabets in sequence with i alphabets in each ith row.

Try solving now

2. Cycle Detection in a Singly Linked List

Moderate
15m average time
80% success
0/80
Asked in companies
ProtiumMicrosoftFreshworks

You are given a Singly Linked List of integers. Return true if it has a cycle, else return false.


A cycle occurs when a node's next points back to a previous node in the list.


Example:
In the given linked list, there is a cycle, hence we return true.

Sample Example 1

Problem approach

I knew the approach to this one so I just coded it up using slow and fast pointer approach.

Try solving now

3. Puzzle

In 3 cuts, What is the maximum number of pieces we can cut a cake into?

Problem approach

Tip 1 : Six was the most obvious wrong answer so I gave it another thought and provided 2 approaches for the answer which was eight.
1. Make 2 diameter cuts and then slice the cake from the middle(curved surface).
2. Cut the cake in half and after each cut stack the pieces overlapping on top of each other then make another cut.

4. DBMS

Write an SQL procedure for kth maximum salary in a table.

Problem approach

I was not able to answer this one.

03
Round
Medium
Video Call
Duration60 minutes
Interview date27 Aug 2020
Coding problem3

It was also an hour long round and was mostly focused around behavioral questions, riddles and projects.

1. Behavioural question

What would you do/ How will you react if you've not received your salary since the last two months?

Problem approach

I just said that instead of taking this aggressively, I'll discuss the potential cause and solution of the problem with my manager.

2. Puzzle

You want to send a secret message to your friend Alex in the mail.
But Sam, who you don't trust, has access to all your mail.
So you put your message in a box with a lock.
But you can't send a key, because Sam could use or copy it!
How can you get your message through securely?

Problem approach

Tip 1 : Initially I had no thought how to solve this one but I did think out loud of whatever was coming to my 
mind at that time. Got a hint from the interviewer after a while - what if we can send the box multiple 
times?
After that tip, the solution instantly clicked.

3. Puzzle

There is a lightbulb inside a closet. The door is closed, and you cannot see if the light is on or off through the door. However, you know the light is off to start. 

Outside of the closet, there are three light switches.

One of the door light switches controls the lightbulb in the closet. You can flip the switches however you want, but once you open the door, you can no longer touch the switches. 

How do you figure out without a doubt which of the three light switches controls the light? 

Problem approach

I knew the solution to this so I just told the solution to the interviewer.

04
Round
Easy
HR Round
Duration60 minutes
Interview date27 Aug 2020
Coding problem1

I was asked questions about my projects:
At last, In the same call. I received the offer and the compensation structure was discussed.

1. Basic HR Questions

  • Tell me about yourself
  • Explain your projects
  • Whether they were team or individual projects?
  • Do you like to work as a team or alone?
  • Which project do you like the most and why?
  • Why Unthinkable solutions?
  • Where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?
     
Problem approach

Just stay calm and reply honestly to the questions asked

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 clause is used to specify the conditions in a query?

Choose another skill to practice
Similar interview experiences
company logo
Junior Associate Technology
4 rounds | 6 problems
Interviewed by Unthinkable Solutions
1278 views
0 comments
0 upvotes
company logo
Junior Associate Technology
2 rounds | 4 problems
Interviewed by Unthinkable Solutions
705 views
0 comments
0 upvotes
company logo
Associate Software Engineer
4 rounds | 8 problems
Interviewed by Unthinkable Solutions
475 views
0 comments
0 upvotes
company logo
Junior Associate
3 rounds | 4 problems
Interviewed by Unthinkable Solutions
586 views
0 comments
0 upvotes
Companies with similar interview experiences
company logo
Junior Associate Technology
2 rounds | 5 problems
Interviewed by CIS - Cyber Infrastructure
1394 views
0 comments
0 upvotes
company logo
Junior Associate Technology
3 rounds | 5 problems
Interviewed by CIS - Cyber Infrastructure
1031 views
0 comments
0 upvotes
company logo
Junior Associate Technology
2 rounds | 2 problems
Interviewed by CIS - Cyber Infrastructure
867 views
0 comments
0 upvotes