Nobody tells freshers what the room actually feels like. Here is the play-by-play.
The structure (45–60 min)
- 5 min: intro + "tell me about yourself" (prepare 90 seconds)
- 10 min: resume/project questions — know every line of your own projects
- 25 min: 1–2 coding problems, usually shared editor or paper
- 10 min: CS basics (OOP, DBMS, OS) + your questions
The secret: they grade your process
- Restate the problem + ask about edge cases ("empty array? duplicates?") — instant points
- Say the brute force first: "Nested loops work at O(n²); let me see if a hashmap gets O(n)" — that sentence alone beats silent perfection
- Narrate while coding. Silence reads as confusion even when you're fine
- Test aloud with a tiny input before declaring done
When stuck (everyone gets stuck)
Say what you know, what you're missing, and try a smaller example. Interviewers drop hints to candidates who communicate — the ones who freeze get nothing.
Ask back
"What does a typical week look like for freshers?" "What stack does the team use?" — curiosity is a hire signal. Drill with 240+ questions and the judge.