The offer came via on-campus hiring at Thapar Institute, Patiala. Navi came to our campus in September 2021 to hire Fresh Graduates for SDE-1 roles.
Company 💪🏻
At Navi, our mission is to build financial services that are simple, accessible, and affordable.
Navi is founded by Sachin Bansal (Co-Founder, Flipkart) & Ankit Agarwal to build consumer-centric and technology-driven businesses in the BFSI (Banking, Financial Services & Insurance) space.
Company Profiles: Website | LinkedIn | Crunchbase | Instagram
Opening ⛳️
- Profile Offered: Software Development Engineer - 1
- Role Type: Full-Time Employment
- Eligible Batch: 2022 Graduating
- Eligible Degree: Bachelor of Engineering
- Eligible Branch: Computer Science
- CGPA Cut-off: None
- Minimum 10th/12th %: 60%
Job Description 📑
Responsibilities:
- Work on the development backend systems of large product
- Build reliable, secure, and performant backend systems
- Drive test coverage and continuous delivery automation within the team
- Mentor and provide feedback to teammates
Requirements:
- Strong computer science fundamentals
- Good knowledge of the Java ecosystem
- Can write code that is readable, maintainable, and performant
- Know the importance of tests and how to approach writing different types of tests
- Good understanding of relational databases, transactions, entity-relationship modeling
- Comfortable writing multi-threaded programs
Bonus:
- Understanding of domain-driven design concepts like ubiquitous language, bounded contexts, aggregates, and domain events
- Know how to use test-driven development as a design tool
- Good intuition for the principles underlying object orientation, particularly encapsulation
- Understand the importance of immutability and of reducing the state-space of objects
- Seek to identify key underlying ideas and use those as building blocks before reaching for shiny new tools
Timeline ⏰
- September 21 - Applications Open
- September 22 - Applications Closed
- September 28 - Company Presentation & Online Assessment
- September 30 - Interviews & Verbal Offer
- May 10 - Written Offer Letter
- May 23 - Day 1 at Navi
Recruitment Process 📈
Let’s dive straight into the process step by step
- Application Submission
- Company Presentation
- Online Assessment
- Resume Review & Shortlisting
- 3 x Virtual Interviews
- Offer Review & Extend
Application Submission 📃
We were provided with a Google Form from the Placement Cell to submit our resumes that can be forwarded to the organization alongside some basic identification and eligibility verification details.
Company Presentation 📽
Navi organized an hour-long WebEx meeting for the participating candidates to explain and present the details of the role.
Presenters included people from Human Resources, Engineering, & People Management. They majorly focused on describing the company and different businesses that Navi deals in, followed by details on the role, hiring process, and compensation.
A well-structured compensation breakup was also shown as part of the presentation.
Online Assessment 🧪
Navi used DoSelect to conduct an initial online assessment to filter out candidates based on their scores and answering patterns.
The total time for the assessment was 120 minutes and had ~50 questions. These questions were divided into 4 sections.
- Section 1: Aptitude MCQs (20 Questions) (20 minutes)
- Section 2: Maths MCQs (25 Questions) (20 minutes)
- Section 3: Coding Level A (2 Questions) (50 minutes)
- Section 4: Coding Level B (1 Question) (30 minutes)
The time limit for the first 2 sections is very limited, so be quick while attempting those. For coding questions, the time was pretty enough and the level was LC Easy/Medium.
I was able to solve all coding questions and almost 95% of MCQs correctly.
Resume Review & Shortlisting ♻️
Based on the scores in Online Assessment & the Resume submitted, they shortlisted 20 candidates out of 400 applications. I was part of this shortlisted batch.
These shortlisted candidates were scheduled for a Technical Interview on the next day.
3 x Virtual Interviews 👔
Navi interviewed candidates virtually via Google Meet. All the candidates were interviewed on the same day.
Round 1 - Technical
My first interview was scheduled for 10 am in the morning with an SDE-3 from the hiring team. The agenda of this interview was around Problem Solving and Data Structures.
This round lasted 60 minutes and I was supposed to solve an algorithmic question on a Google Doc. The difficulty level was LC Medium.
Out of 20, only 3 people were shortlisted for Round 2.
Round 2 - Technical
The second interview was scheduled one hour after the first round with the Engineering Manager of the hiring team. The agenda of this interview was around Low-Level System Design, discussions about previous projects/internships, and miscellaneous technologies listed on my resume.
This round also lasted 60 minutes. For the LLD question, I was given Software Requirement over a Google Doc and I was supposed to write class definitions and describe what data structures to use to optimize the software while showcasing Low-Level Design knowledge.
Out of 3, only I was shortlisted for Round 3.
Round 3 - Behavioural
The third interview was scheduled for around 3 pm in the afternoon with a Senior Group Manager. The agenda of this interview was around culture fitment to single out candidates whose values, beliefs, and behavior fit in with Navi's culture.
This round lasted 30 minutes. The interview asked 5-6 behavioral questions around my previous work experience and my expectations from Navi.
Offer! — the YaY moment! 🥳
Within a couple of hours, the recruiter notified the placement cell that I've cleared the hiring process and they would like to extend an offer to me.
Are you interviewing? Here’re some tips.
Before Interviews
- Go through all the resources provided by hiring teams.
- Research about the company. Make sure you know their values.
- Prepare answers to general questions beforehand.
- Go through your resume. Make sure you know, what they know about you.
During Interviews
- Be on time. Join the call 5 minutes before the scheduled time.
- Dress formally. Just because it’s virtual, doesn't mean it's casual.
- Let the interviewer know your thought process. Keep talking.
- Ask clarifying questions, and make use of what the interviewer gives you.
After Interviews
- Ask follow-up questions relevant to the job.
- Ask the interviewer for honest feedback.
- Give closing greetings to the interviewer.