Interview dare of the century

Tomorrow i will attempt the interview dare of this century. Okay, maybe that's exaggerated a bit, but I will be attending three interviews back to back on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. All of them in very well reputed firms. The catch is that i am not intending to join any of them.

1. Ebix solutions: Or should i say, some Ebix Solutions. Must be a small firm with couple of employees and even lesser projects running on support. As usual, they will ask the finest of the finest details of Java and J2EE. Stuff that you never use in development, with the sole purpose of proving that interviewer is the most awesome dude in documented universe. The interview is scheduled from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. I am planning to visit around 3:00 pm. The location is some God-forsaken place in Noida extension.
2. Amazon: Here it gets interesting. Its AMAZON guys. Yes, that one firm for which honest, good to earth engineers will slit throats and dance nude. Its simply the best that India has to offer, apart from Microsft, Google, Adobe, Google and Facebook. And if you clear this one then you are licensed to get selected in all of them. However, its not exactly an easy-peesy task. Amazon (and the likes) are obsessed with algorithms and data structures beyond your wildest imaginations. They want you to create a double link list out of a red-brown tree that satisfies AVL by using stacks that are implemented through queues for a data that is arranged in a sparse matrix in O(1). Yes O(1), O(n) is not enough O(log n) is not enough and even though the question might ask you to sort entire libraries the answer HAS to be in O(1). Still, there are tips and tricks. Decent amount of time on GeeksForGeeks and similar websites can provide you with some ammo. How lethal it is can only be confirmed in the interview. By the way, how do i know all this? Well, because i have attended the interview before as well. Though i have told the HR that i have never been through one. This interview is on Saturday in some 5-star hotel. Sounds promising.
3. HCL: Good old HCL. The Flying Dutchman must always have a captain. Any job seeker must always go to HCL. I already have an entire post on my previous experience. What happens on coming Sunday, must not be very different. Again, i lied to the HR guy about never attending an interview there.

All in all, its gonna be hectic as hell. I can only wish that they are not releasing any must-watch movie this weekend and i am really glad about catching 'Interstellar' last week. Also, pardon me for any silly mistake in the article. The bloke sitting in front is watching a scantily clad Gauhar Khan and it isn't exactly serving as a booster to my concentration. And, they say i am the only one does not do any work in the company. Anyway guys keep watching this space for more. Long live interview tourism.

HCL Interview Walk In

Date : 26 July 2014
Venue : HCL TECHNOLOGIES, SEC-125, MAPLE TOWER, NOIDA.
             It's right behind Amity University. Hire an auto from Sec-37 or get one from Kalindi Kunj (if you are coming from Delhi). It's strange how both of them charge you the same amount.

Pre-Interview:
    The event being a walk-in, was swarmed by job seekers from nook and corners of Delhi-NCR. A long line awaited entry in the much-desired HCL building. The guard provides an entry slip (make sure to keep it carefully). You will be asked to return it on exit. Also, an id for verification would be required (PAN, Passport, Voter ID or Driver Licence). Its pathetic how grown ass bastards (mostly girls), don't bring an i-card and start whining before the guard. Bhaiyaaaaa...plzzzzzzz......Also, they will keep your bags before they move you for interview. So, make sure that you do not bring anything valuable. Then i was moved for the interview. And this is where i got judgmental. The seating arrangement was made in the basement cafeteria which boasted of an abominable stink. With the HR, busy, having her larger than life phone call, petty issues like collecting resumes, sorting them and then calling the candidates for interview were left to the guards. They created two groups according to the experience level, candidates with 3+ years of experience and candidates with less than 3 years of experience. Finally the concerned HR guy showed up. Took a few resumes and called the guys to first floor. Here, i was asked to wait for some time. This hall however did appear to be the waiting room of India's premier IT firm. Much to my relief. There were sofas, paintings and a terrace garden. Really what were they thinking when they zeroed in on the basement. Also, a few HR's were also running around looking busy. I had expected a long wait before my name is called upon as the hall was jam packed. Instead i was called pretty early. 

Round I:

No conference room again. I was simply sent to some guys desk. 
Q.1 Comparator vs Comparable?
Q.2 What are Collections?
Q.3 How many objects are there in a JSP?
Ans. 9
Overview: I totally failed to get this one. While i replied with session, application and config, i failed to put down the entire list. JSP also has a special object by the name of pageContext. The interviewer was pretty satisfied though. 
 This was followed by basic discussion of who i am and what i do (in corporate sense). All through the interview i observed a sulking demeanor in my esteemed interviewers attitude. Clearly, he did not like his job. Then he got personal and started asking why i want to switch and why i want to switch to a firm like HCL (no positive vibe was observed in his statement). Then came the grand confession. He was a former employee in my current firm. And though he moved to HCL he does acknowledges that HCL does not pay very well. To my horror he straightaway jumped to the discussion regarding package. I was expecting a package of 7, (my current package being 4.5). And for some strange reason i got real comfortable around him. Now i realize how funny it was, but right there i lifted my leg and crossed it over the other while sulking back in the chair. The guy did give me a disapproving nod but i just did not cared. Getting even more candid he came to the point. HCL does not gives 7 to a guy with less than 3 years of experience. At max i can get 6 but that's it and even that's highly unlikely. Then he took his feedback form. Wrote my skills over there and randomly scored me 2 and 2.5 in all of them. The marking was perhaps on a scale of 5.

Round II:

Finally some professionalism and a conference room.