Interview Experience – Altizon | Software Engineer Intern 🚀

1. Company and Role

• Company: Altizon

• Role: Software Engineer (SDE) Intern

• College: Pune Institute of Computer Technology (PICT)

• Batch: 2027

• Mode: On-campus

• Total Rounds: 5 (1 OA, 1 GD, 3 Interviews)

• Verdict: Selected ✅

2. Application Process

The recruitment process started with an application form shared through PICT.

Initial eligibility criteria:

• CGPA: 8.5+

• 10th: 60%+

• 12th: 60%+

• All undergraduate branches eligible

The company recruited for two roles: Software Engineer and Site Reliability Engineer.

Timeline:

• 12 October: Online Assessment

• 13 October: GD and interviews

3. Round-by-Round Breakdown 📋

Round 1: Online Assessment (OA) 💻

Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes

Format: 30 MCQs + 2 DSA questions

MCQ topics:

• React.js

• Git and Linux commands

• Core CS fundamentals

• Aptitude

DSA questions:

1. Tree-based problem — relatively difficult.

2. Array-based problem — easy to medium.

Preparation tip: Practise DSA and revise React, Git, Linux commands, aptitude, and core CS subjects.

Round 2: Group Discussion (GD) 🗣️

Candidates were divided into groups of around 10–12 students and asked to discuss given topics.

Important: This was a non-elimination round.

Tip: Communicate clearly, listen to others, and present your points logically.

Round 3: Technical Interview – DSA and Projects 👨‍💻

Duration: Approximately 1 hour
Difficulty: Medium to Hard

DSA Questions

1. Next Greater Element

• Started with brute force: (O(n^2)).

• Optimized the solution using a stack.

• Follow-up: Next Greater Element in a circular array.

Practice:

• Next Greater Element I – LeetCode 496

• Next Greater Element II – LeetCode 503

2. Longest Consecutive Sequence

• Explained the brute-force approach.

• Optimized it using an

  code

  1unordered_set

  after receiving hints.

Practice:

• Longest Consecutive Sequence – LeetCode 128

Project and Technical Discussion

Questions were based on my projects and internship experience.

Topics included:

• Razorpay payment integration and payment flow

• Hashing, hash collisions, and SHA-256

• SQL vs NoSQL and ACID properties

• MongoDB

  code

  12dsphere

  indexing

• React.js concepts

Tip: Be prepared to explain how your projects work internally, not just the technologies used.

Round 4: System Design – HLD, Database Design and SQL 🏗️

Duration: Approximately 1 hour 30 minutes
Difficulty: Medium to Hard

This round focused mainly on system design and my internship experience.

System Design Problem: Design an application similar to Blinkit or Zomato where users can find nearby shops, view products, add items to their cart, place orders, and make payments.

Key discussion topics:

• High-level system architecture

• Database selection and schema design

• Primary keys, foreign keys, and table constraints

• Relationships between tables

• Product availability and data consistency

• Payment integration

• Kafka vs message queues

• Cron jobs and background processing

• SQL queries

The interviewers asked several follow-up questions about why I chose particular database structures, keys, and design approaches.

Tip: Practise HLD and database design. Be ready to justify your decisions and explain how you would handle concurrent orders when stock is limited.

Round 5: Technical + HR – LLD and OOP 🧠

Duration: Approximately 1 hour
Difficulty: Medium to Hard

Low-Level Design: Elevator System

I was asked to design an elevator system and explain its working using classes, pseudocode, or code.

Prepare:

• Class and object design

• Elevator movement and states

• Floor requests and scheduling

• Handling multiple requests

OOP Questions

• Compile-time vs runtime polymorphism

• Function overloading and why return type alone is insufficient

• Constructor overloading and inheritance

• Virtual destructors and why they are needed

• Why constructors cannot be virtual

The interviewers focused heavily on why concepts work the way they do, rather than just asking for definitions.

The final 15–20 minutes included basic HR questions.

Tip: Understand OOP concepts deeply and practise explaining the reasoning behind each answer.

4. Overall Interview Experience 😊

The process was challenging but valuable. The main focus was on DSA, project knowledge, system design, database design, and OOP.

The interviewers frequently asked follow-up questions to test whether I understood the reasoning behind my technical decisions.

Final Outcome: Selected ✅

For the Software Engineer role, 23 candidates were shortlisted, and 1 candidate was selected. One candidate was also selected for the separate SRE role.

5. Preparation Tips for Juniors 🎯

1. DSA: Practise arrays, stacks, hashing, trees, and common problem-solving patterns.

2. Projects: Understand your implementation, architecture, and technology choices.

3. System Design: Prepare both HLD and LLD, including database schema design.

4. OOP: Study polymorphism, constructors, inheritance, virtual functions, and destructors.

5. Core CS: Revise databases, SQL, React, and other technologies mentioned on your resume.

6. Communication: Explain your approach clearly and justify your decisions.

7. Honesty: If you do not know an answer, be honest instead of guessing. Think through the problem and use interviewer hints constructively.

6. Mistakes to Avoid 🚫

• Preparing only DSA and ignoring system design.

• Memorizing definitions without understanding them.

• Being unable to explain your own projects.

• Ignoring database consistency and design decisions.

• Guessing when you do not know an answer.

Final Advice: Focus on strong fundamentals, practise problem-solving, understand your projects deeply, and always be ready to explain why you chose a particular approach.

All the best to everyone preparing for Altizon and other software engineering opportunities! 🚀