SDE Intern at Barclays
- Difficulty
- Process took
- 0-1 Weeks
- Rounds
- 3
- Format
- On site
- Applied via
- Other
How it went
- Be yourself and you are good to go!!
What they would tell you
- Be yourself and you are good to go!!
How to prepare
- Revise SQL thoroughly – Focus on JOINs, GROUP BY, aggregate functions, subqueries, and problems like finding the 2nd/3rd highest salary. Practice writing queries in multiple ways.
- Brush up on OOPs concepts – Make sure you're clear with real-life examples of inheritance, polymorphism, encapsulation, and abstraction. Scenario-based understanding helps a lot.
- Practice DSA problems – Focus on strings, arrays, and basic problem-solving. Try to solve each problem using at least two approaches (brute force + optimized).
- Know your projects inside out – Be prepared to explain your tech stack, architecture, your specific contribution, and how you handled challenges or conflicts in a team setting.
- Be honest and confident during HR rounds – Interviewers often look for clarity, teamwork, and communication. Don't hesitate to talk about your learnings from mistakes.
- Mock interviews help – Practice explaining your projects and solving coding problems out loud. It builds confidence and fluency.
Their background
An AI & DS undergrad passionate about Software Development, Problem-Solving and building innovative solutions.
Round by round
- 1
Online Assessment45 min
In the first round, I was asked around 25 MCQs based on SQL and OOPs concepts like joins, inheritance, encapsulation, etc. Along with that, I had to write 5 SQL queries based on different scenarios involving joins, group by, nested queries, etc. The questions were a mix of theory and application. Overall, it was a good test of basics and hands-on SQL practice really helped.
- 2
Technical Round49 min
In the second round, I was asked to write 2 SQL queries – one involving a JOIN, and the other to fetch the 2nd highest salary. I had to solve both using two different approaches. Then came a DSA question – Valid Palindrome, which I also had to solve using 2 approaches.
After that, the interviewer went deep into my projects – asking about the tech stack, how I implemented them, how I structured the solution, and various real-world scenarios. We discussed my projects for around 30 minutes. At the end, I asked the interviewer for feedback on my performance, which made the conversation more interactive.
- 3
HR Round40 min
The interviewer was really friendly and made me feel comfortable right from the beginning. He started with a casual question about how my day had been and then asked about my previous semester subjects. The main focus of the conversation was one of my group projects. He asked me to explain the project and then went on to discuss various aspects related to teamwork—like collaboration, handling conflicts, and how we dealt with differences in ideas. He also asked about any mistakes I made during the project and how I responded to them. Overall, the round felt more like a genuine conversation than a typical interview, which helped me open up and share my experiences more freely.
What came up
A candidate-reported account, lightly edited. Interview processes change by team and date.