208 questions from 21 interviews · updated from reports 2016-2024
About
Societe Generale is a French bank that offers retail banking, corporate and investment banking, asset management, and financial services. In India, it often hires Software Engineers, SDEs, and Senior Software Developers for banking platforms, risk systems, data tools, and internal applications.
The roles that come up most are Software Engineer, SDE and Senior Software Developer. This covers 21 candidate interviews reported from 2016 to 2024. Most sat it at entry level (19 of 21 that recorded a level), with 1 internship interviews alongside. Among the 19 that recorded either route, arrivals split between campus drives (17, 89%) and off-campus applications (2, 11%). Most questions fall under CS fundamentals and DSA.
Ans. Cyber security is the practice of protecting systems, networks, data, and users from unauthorised access, damage, theft, or disruption. Its basics are confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Key controls include strong authentication, access control, encryption, patching, backups, monitoring, and user awareness to reduce risk from malware, phishing, and other attacks.
Ans. A web application works by a browser sending HTTP requests to a server, which processes them and returns responses such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript or JSON. DNS first maps the domain to an IP address. The server may run business logic, query a database, authenticate the user, then send data back for the browser to render.
Ans. Merge the trees with a recursive DFS: if one node is null, return the other; if both exist, combine their values and merge their children by position. Use each node’s children list, extending it with any unmatched children from the longer list. Time is O(n + m), with O(h) recursion space.
Ans. An operating system manages hardware resources and provides services so applications can run safely and conveniently. It controls CPU scheduling, memory allocation, file storage, device access, and networking. The key detail is isolation: the kernel mediates access to hardware and memory so processes cannot directly interfere with each other or the system.
Ans. Kruskal’s algorithm finds a minimum spanning tree of a weighted, undirected graph by choosing the cheapest edges that do not form a cycle. Sort all edges by weight, then use a disjoint set union structure to add safe edges efficiently. It is used for minimum-cost network design and runs in O(E log E).
Ans. Yes, JavaScript is object-based, and more precisely it is a prototype-based object-oriented language. Almost everything is an object or can behave like one, and objects inherit directly from other objects through prototypes. Modern class syntax exists, but it is mainly syntactic sugar over the prototype model.
Ans. Computer networks connect devices so they can exchange data using agreed protocols such as TCP/IP. The most important fundamentals are addressing, routing, switching, DNS, ports, latency, bandwidth, and reliable versus unreliable transport. In interviews, explain concepts through the path of a request from browser to server and back.
Ans. Pick a real situation where you improved team performance without blaming people. Emphasise diagnosing the cause, such as unclear goals, poor process, skills gaps or low morale. Show how you involved the team, set priorities, improved communication and measured progress. Interviewers listen for ownership, tact, collaboration and practical problem solving.
Ans. An operating system manages hardware resources and provides services for programs. It controls CPU scheduling, memory management, file systems, device I/O, security and process isolation. The key idea is abstraction: applications do not talk directly to hardware, but use OS interfaces such as system calls to run safely and efficiently.
Ans. Computer networks connect devices so they can exchange data using agreed protocols. The key idea is layering: each layer handles one responsibility, such as physical transmission, routing, reliable delivery or application behaviour. Important concepts include IP addressing, TCP versus UDP, DNS, routing, latency, bandwidth, congestion, packet loss and security.
Ans. An operating system manages hardware resources and provides services for programs, such as process scheduling, memory management, file systems, device access and security. The key idea is abstraction: it hides hardware details behind interfaces, while coordinating safe and efficient sharing of CPU, memory, storage and input or output devices.
Ans. Focus on core DBMS concepts such as keys, normalisation, SQL joins, indexing, transactions, ACID properties and concurrency control. For basic programs, practise arrays, strings, recursion, sorting, searching and linked lists. Explain the approach, chosen data structure and time complexity clearly, because interviewers usually value reasoning over memorised code.
Ans. I implement front end security by reducing exposed risk and never trusting the client as the source of truth. The most important point is that real authorisation and data validation must be enforced on the server. In the UI, I escape output, use HTTPS, avoid storing secrets, protect tokens, apply CSP, and guard against XSS and CSRF.
Ans. Choose the data structure based on the operations you need most often, such as fast lookup, ordered traversal, insertion, deletion, or priority access. Arrays give indexed access, hash tables give average constant-time lookup, stacks and queues manage order, heaps handle priorities, and trees or graphs model hierarchy and relationships.
Ans. C++ handles exceptions with throw, try, and catch: code throws an object, control transfers to a matching handler, and the stack is unwound. During unwinding, destructors run, so RAII is essential for safe cleanup. Recoverable errors may also be reported with return values or std::error_code where exceptions are inappropriate.
Ans. Yes, chats can be used to train Large Language Models, usually as examples for supervised fine-tuning or preference training. The key issue is permission and privacy: chat data should be collected with consent, filtered for sensitive information, anonymised where possible, and handled according to data protection rules.
Ans. A DBMS is software that stores, organises, secures and retrieves data efficiently. The key fundamentals are schemas, tables, keys, relationships, SQL, transactions, indexes and normalisation. The most important detail is ACID transactions, which ensure database changes are atomic, consistent, isolated and durable, even when failures or concurrent users occur.
Ans. Use Floyd’s slow and fast pointer method to detect the loop, then remove it by finding the node where the cycle starts and setting the previous node’s next pointer to null. After slow and fast meet, move one pointer to head and advance both one step at a time. Time is O(n), space is O(1).
Ans. Secure it with defence in depth: HTTPS everywhere, strong authentication, server-side authorisation, safe session handling, input validation, output encoding, CSRF protection, secure headers, dependency patching, logging and monitoring. The most important detail is to enforce authorisation on every server-side action, because client-side checks can be bypassed and most serious breaches exploit missing access controls.
Ans. Scan every cell and start a DFS or BFS whenever you find an unvisited 1, incrementing the island count once for that traversal. Mark all connected 1s as visited, usually using four directions unless diagonal connectivity is specified. The time complexity is O(rows × columns), with O(rows × columns) worst-case space.
Ans. I would model the main real-world entities as classes, put shared behaviour in abstractions, and keep each class responsible for one clear job. The key detail is to favour composition over inheritance unless there is a true “is a” relationship, because it keeps the design easier to change and test.
Ans. A strong answer should use a real example where AI affected people, not just technology. Pick a situation involving fairness, jobs, privacy, access, or safety. Emphasise both benefits and risks, your responsibility, and any safeguards. Interviewers listen for balanced judgement, ethical awareness, stakeholder thinking, and evidence that you consider wider consequences.
Ans. Quicksort sorts by choosing a pivot, partitioning the array into values smaller and larger than the pivot, then recursively sorting those parts. For example, in [5, 2, 8, 1, 3], choose 3: left is [2, 1], right is [5, 8]. Sort them to get [1, 2, 3, 5, 8]. Average time is O(n log n).
Ans. SOLID is a set of object-oriented design principles: single responsibility, open closed, Liskov substitution, interface segregation, and dependency inversion. They help make code easier to change, test, and extend. Common supporting patterns include Strategy for interchangeable behaviour, Factory for object creation, Adapter for interface compatibility, and Dependency Injection for loose coupling.
Ans. Inheritance is an OOP mechanism where a class derives properties and behaviour from another class, enabling reuse and an “is a” relationship. Multiple inheritance means a class inherits from more than one parent class. Its main issue is ambiguity, such as the diamond problem, where the same member may come from multiple paths.
Ans. A clustered index defines the physical or logical order of rows in the table, while a non-clustered index is a separate structure that points to the rows. A table can usually have only one clustered index, but many non-clustered indexes. Clustered indexes are efficient for range scans; non-clustered indexes are useful for selective lookups.
Ans. Use a SCAN-style algorithm: each lift keeps moving in its current direction, serving all requested floors on the way, then reverses only when there are no more requests ahead. Store up and down requests in ordered sets or priority queues. For multiple lifts, dispatch a new call to the lift with the lowest estimated pickup cost.
Ans. A strong answer distinguishes mentoring as longer term guidance based on experience, and coaching as structured support to improve specific skills or performance. Pick an example where you used one deliberately. Emphasise listening, asking questions, setting goals, and adapting your approach. Interviewers listen for self-awareness, development focus, and respect for ownership.
Ans. Choose a situation where you influenced others to reach a clear result, especially without relying only on authority. Emphasise how you set direction, made decisions, handled conflict, supported the team and took responsibility. Interviewers listen for initiative, judgement, communication, accountability and evidence that your leadership improved the outcome.
Ans. Delete the row whose primary key is returned by a subquery that orders the table and selects exactly the 5th record using an offset of 4 and a limit of 1. The key detail is that SQL tables have no natural row order, so “5th row” only makes sense with an explicit ORDER BY.
Ans. A deadlock in a DBMS occurs when two or more transactions wait forever for locks held by each other, so none can proceed. It is handled by preventing cycles with lock ordering or timestamps, detecting cycles in a wait-for graph, then aborting or rolling back one victim transaction.
Ans. Implement an LRU Cache using a hash map plus a doubly linked list. The hash map gives O(1) access from key to node, while the list keeps usage order. On get or update, move the node to the front. On insert beyond capacity, remove the tail node, which is least recently used.
Ans. SQL JOINs combine rows from related tables. INNER JOIN returns only matching rows, useful for required relationships. LEFT JOIN returns all left rows plus matches, useful for optional data. RIGHT JOIN is the reverse, less commonly needed. FULL OUTER JOIN returns all rows from both sides. CROSS JOIN creates every pair, often for combinations.
Ans. IPC lets processes exchange data, RPC makes a function call execute in another process or machine, a zombie process has exited but still has an entry in the process table, and threads are lightweight execution paths inside a process. The key detail is isolation: processes need IPC, while threads share memory and require synchronisation.
Ans. Training a machine learning model happens by showing it data, comparing its predictions with the expected outputs, and adjusting its internal parameters to reduce the error. The key detail is optimisation: an algorithm such as gradient descent repeatedly updates the model using a loss function until performance stops improving enough.
Ans. Use two stacks for a queue and one queue for a stack. For the queue, push into the input stack and pop from the output stack, moving items only when output is empty, giving amortised O(1) operations. For the stack, push to the queue then rotate previous items behind it, so pop is O(1) and push is O(n).
Ans. An interface can define a common contract, for example a PaymentMethod interface with a pay amount operation used by CardPayment, UpiPayment, and WalletPayment classes. The checkout code depends only on the interface, not concrete classes, so new payment types can be added without changing checkout logic. Runtime cost is constant per call.
Ans. Angular is a TypeScript, component-based framework that builds single-page web apps by combining templates, components, services and dependency injection. Templates bind data to the DOM, while change detection updates views when state changes. Routing, forms and HTTP are built in. The latest major version is Angular 22, with Angular 21 also recent.
Ans. Apply the rule in one left to right pass, building the target string as you read the source string. Use a StringBuilder or character array so repeated concatenation does not become costly. If the rule needs lookup, store it in a hash map. The usual time complexity is O(n), with O(n) output space.
Ans. Large Language Models are AI models trained on very large text datasets to understand and generate natural language. They learn statistical patterns in language using neural networks, usually transformer architectures. The key point is that they predict the next token from context, which enables tasks like answering questions, summarising, translating and writing code.
Ans. Use DENSE_RANK over salaries descending and select rows where the rank equals N; alternatively, select distinct salaries ordered descending and use OFFSET N minus 1 with FETCH or LIMIT 1. The key detail is handling duplicates: DENSE_RANK returns the Nth distinct salary, while ROW_NUMBER would treat equal salaries separately.
Ans. A SQL transaction groups related statements so they either all succeed with COMMIT or are undone with ROLLBACK. Start the transaction, run the changes, and commit only if every check passes. Use SAVEPOINT to mark a safe intermediate point, then ROLLBACK TO SAVEPOINT to undo only later work without cancelling the whole transaction.
Ans. Database normalization organises tables to reduce duplication and avoid update anomalies, usually by splitting data into related tables using keys. Common forms are 1NF for atomic values, 2NF for full key dependency, and 3NF for no transitive dependency. Joins combine tables: inner, left, right, full outer, and cross joins.
Ans. Compare their sizes first, then read both files sequentially in fixed-size blocks and compare each block byte for byte. This uses constant memory, works for files larger than RAM, and stops at the first difference. Hashes can be useful for a quick check, but byte comparison is required for absolute certainty.
Ans. Joins combine rows from tables based on related columns. Inner join returns only matching rows. Left join returns all left-table rows and matching right rows. Right join is the reverse. Full outer join returns all rows from both sides. Cross join gives every combination. Self join joins a table to itself.
Ans. Use a subquery with EXISTS to return rows from the first table where a matching row exists in the second table, comparing all columns that define equality. To find duplicates, group the result by those columns and use HAVING count greater than one. This uses grouping, with cost mainly driven by table scans and matching indexes.
Ans. Choose a real situation with pressure, conflict, or uncertainty, but not a crisis caused by your own poor planning. Emphasise staying calm, prioritising, communicating early, and taking practical action. Interviewers listen for self-awareness, emotional control, accountability, and proof that stress does not damage your judgement, teamwork, or delivery.
Ans. Searching in a Binary Search Tree compares the target with the current node, then goes left if it is smaller or right if it is larger, repeating until found or null. This follows one path, so DFS-style search is natural. BFS checks level by level using a queue, but ignores the BST ordering and is less efficient for search.
Ans. Iterate through the given range, apply the specified condition to each value, and generate a key only when the value satisfies it. Store the resulting keys in a list, or a set if uniqueness is required. The time complexity is O(n), where n is the size of the range.
Ans. The main types are singly, doubly, circular singly, and circular doubly linked lists. Each list is stored as separate nodes in heap memory, not necessarily contiguous. A node contains data and one or more links: next for singly, previous and next for doubly. Circular lists have the last node linking back to the first.
Ans. Use two stacks to implement a queue: one stack for incoming elements and one for outgoing elements. Enqueue pushes onto the incoming stack. Dequeue pops from the outgoing stack; if it is empty, move all items from incoming to outgoing first. Enqueue is O(1), dequeue is amortised O(1), with O(n) space.
Ans. Read each string from the file one at a time and store its frequency in a hash map, where the string is the key and the count is the value. For each string, increment its count if present, otherwise insert it with count one. Time complexity is O(n) on average, with O(k) space.
Ans. Select the distinct salaries, sort them in descending order, skip the first row, and return the next one. This gives the second highest unique salary. The key detail is using distinct, otherwise duplicate top salaries can give the wrong result. The database typically uses sorting, so the time cost is about O(n log n).
Ans. Choose a real example where data changed a decision, such as forecasting demand, reducing churn, improving operations, or analysing customer behaviour. Emphasise the problem, data used, methods applied, business impact, and your specific role. Interviewers listen for practical judgement, clear reasoning, measurable results, and awareness of limitations, not just technical terminology.
Ans. Start by identifying what is being asked, then list the given information and choose the right method, such as ratios, percentages, equations, patterns or elimination. Work step by step, avoid assumptions, and check units and logic. For multiple choice questions, estimate first, remove impossible options, then verify the closest answer.
Ans. Identify the pattern or rule, apply it consistently, and check for exceptions. For sequences, compare differences, ratios, positions, or alternating patterns. For arrangements, list the facts, mark what is fixed, and eliminate impossible options. For syllogisms, use only the given statements, not real-world assumptions, then choose the option that must be true.
Ans. Convert the problem into a clear formula first. For work, use rate: work equals efficiency times time. For distance, use speed equals distance divided by time, keeping units consistent. For permutations and combinations, decide whether order matters, then use nPr or nCr. Define variables, substitute carefully, and check reasonableness.
Ans. Place red signals at least one full braking distance before every conflict point, such as junctions, crossings, merges, and occupied track blocks. Model the railway as a graph, track train position, speed, direction, and route, then reserve blocks ahead. The key detail is using worst-case stopping distance plus signalling and reaction margin.
Ans. They should land wherever best meets their goal; for peaceful contact, a clear, controlled site near international authorities is best, such as a major spaceport. The reasoning is to minimise harm, be visible to radar and officials, avoid cities, and choose a politically neutral communication channel.
Ans. This is possible if today is 1 January and your birthday is 31 December. The day before yesterday was 30 December, when you were still 21. Yesterday, on 31 December, you turned 22. Later this year you will turn 23, and next year you will turn 24.
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Candidate interviews most often cover CS fundamentals (52%) and DSA (31%).
Candidate interviews show an average of 4.4 rounds per experience, with a typical sequence of Online test → Technical → Managerial → HR. Individual interview paths can vary.
Among questions with a recorded difficulty, the mix is easy 51%, medium 45%, hard 4%.
