Tech round 1 :
Initially I had a technical round which lasted for more than an hour or so. I was asked questions on C and C++ initially then she moved on to OS and a few questions from Networks. OS questions were pretty core and she drilled me with some pretty hard questions. She asked me about System calls, OS structure, process scheduling, shared memory, synchronization schemes, Multi-threading concepts, Multiprocessing, Mapping of threads, Benefits of Multi-threading, Semaphores, Monitors, Virtual Memory, Paging with page table diagram, Memory allocation techniques, Page replacement, Thrashing and how it occurs. Even C and C++ were pretty much tough. She asked me about Preprocessor directives and specifically #PRAGMA directive, Extern keyword, what are far pointers and near pointers, concepts about pointer to constant data and constant pointer to data, what is an inline function and what is the difference between inline function and macro, linker errors, difference between global and static variables, difference between global and static functions, how to allocate memory to 2-D arrays, typecasting, virtual constructors and virtual destructors, virtual functions, abstract classes, how to handle errors that terminate a process ( I told her we can use exception handling ). She also asked me to write the syntax to declare an array of pointers to functions that take an integer pointer and a void pointer as parameters and returns a pointer to integer. I was also asked how timers work in the system. Networking she asked me about OSI model, explain all the functions of Data Link Layer including its sub layers, difference between IP address and Physical address, why do we need a physical address, told me explain practically how we connect to a LAN, DNS client server mechanism, types of DNS resolution, differences between UDP and TCP, domains and DNS server distribution, TCP sliding window mechanism. I somehow managed to impress her enough to clear this round. DS she asked me only two basic questions - code to find loop in linked list and code to delete a node given pointer to a node. After this she got a call and she said I was done. Then she asked me whether I had any questions and I asked her a few standard questions. The round was pretty cool and I learned quite a few concepts from her itself. The key to impressing an interviewer lies in showing that you are eager to learn the answer even if you don’t know it.
HR round :
After I cleared the first round I had an HR round which was by me not much of any effect to the chances of me getting selected. First he asked me about myself I told him everything he had to know. He also asked me whether I had another offer and I told him the truth that I already had an offer from NDS. He asked me the CTC and after I told him 4.2 lpa I thought he did not bother about it anymore. It’s always better to tell the truth in HR, they can always find out if you are lying from the placement office. He also asked me whether I was interested in studying further. I told the obvious answer ‘NO’ and told him I had asked my seniors and they told me you can always learn by being a part of the company and working there, also I told him I was eager to get hands on experience in the company. Then he asked me to write 200 words about myself on a sheet of paper. After I wrote and gave him the sheet he did not even read it. Simply threw it away and asked me couple of irritating questions. Basically he was trying to see how I would react, I was calm and answered whatever he asked. After that the HR told me to go home and I was done for the day. I thought maybe I was rejected or something.
Tech round 2 :
Later on I got a call and they called me back for another tech interview. That time it was evening and I was really tired, since I had sat there empty stomach since morning. I thought if it was another tech interview I might not give my best. All the same I went in and this time I had a managerial interview and the guy said he saw me as a prospect and I might be the first one to be offered a job on Citrix. This made me more confident and I pulled myself together. But then he told me he would test me first. This round was the toughest of all. He drilled me on C and C++ initially with weird questions on virtual inheritance, constructors, destructors. Also one question which I was asked twice was - What is the difference between a macro and an inline function. He was never convinced with what I was telling him. He also asked me how the system would know how much memory to de-allocate when u call free or delete function on a pointer allocated memory using malloc or new function . I had no clue about this but after a few guesses somehow he got the answer out of me. He then asked me again the same question on linked list for deleting a node given pointer to it. He also asked me to create a class such that only 1 instance of the class could be instantiated. He also asked me byte-padding in structures. He wrote and told me to identify pointers to constants and constant pointers to variables. Then he asked me about functions calls, stack trace and activation records. He also asked me few other questions that I don’t remember now and somehow I managed to answer all his questions very well. Again the guy was pretty cool and we had a few light moments. After the interview he told me I was almost in and it all depended on the HR.
Tech round 3 :
While I was waiting for the results to come out, I thought I was done with all the rounds when suddenly they called me for another tech round. Since the Director of Engineering at Citrix was there he wanted to test me before offering me a job. This time it was a pretty easy interview. It started with a discussion between us on virtual memory and physical memory. He asked me few questions like which of the memory is bigger. What is virtual memory ? He told me he would give me a certain amount of RAM and Disk space and asked me how much virtual memory I could allocate. He kept on changing the conditions and asked me to adjust my answers accordingly. And we had a small discussion regarding the same. Then he asked me suppose he gives me a project how will I complete it. So I basically told him the waterfall model with a few alterations. Then he asked me the search time of BST and search time of linear unsorted array. Then he asked me whether I was interested in dev or testing and I told him dev. Then he asked me why. I told him I was interested in OS and wanted to learn about virtualization which was the latest trend. So he asked me what was virtualization and a few questions on it. Then he explained me about what Citrix does and a few things about the job. I asked him a few questions and that was all about my last tech interview.
After this interview I had to wait for some 4 hours after which they finally announced my name in the job offer list.
Personal Experience :
Coming to my personal experience I had tried for about 8 companies and I did get placed in NDS before this. However I could clear only 3 written rounds out of the 9 companies I wrote so I would like to stress that you may find it tough to clear written rounds initially so it’s better you are completely prepared for the interviews incase u clear a written test. Try to convert every written cleared to a job. I believe if you are really confident about yourself then try to plan your placement process a bit. Do not take the first company that comes just because you are insecure and the pay is high. Try to find a company that has a good balance of your personal interests and pay. Patience is the key here. Remember ‘The Early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese!‘. So keep trying. Failures will come along the way but you will eventually end up with a good job if u keep trying. Also be willing to sacrifice a few small things. Like I never went home in 7th semester till I got placed. I always used to use my holidays to prepare for placements. You can always enjoy more than enough once you are placed. Set your priorities accordingly. That’s about it from me I guess. All the best for your placements and hope my experience was of any help to you.
