Cognizant Interviews

On August 26, 2025, I attended an interview with Cognizant for the Programmer Analyst Trainee / .NET Developer position. The process was well-structured, combining theoretical knowledge with practical coding and system design challenges. I felt confident discussing object-oriented programming, demonstrating coding skills for standard problems, explaining database concepts, and detailing the architecture and scalability of my personal project. The interviewer's engagement and positive feedback on my clarity and problem-solving approach made it a truly valuable experience.

Honestly, this round was one of the calmest and most respectful interviews I’ve had so far. A female interviewer conducted my round, and she was extremely polite, patient, and understanding. Midway through the interview, I actually got disconnected, and she waited for me to rejoin without a hint of frustration. When I couldn’t hear a few questions properly, she repeated them kindly every time, which really helped me stay relaxed and confident throughout.

My interview flow began with a self-introduction, followed by an explanation of my projects, where I discussed my role, the tech stack I used, and the challenges I faced. She then asked me about the programming languages I knew.

For the coding part, I was asked two straightforward questions live on a compiler. She focused on understanding my thought process more than just the final code. After the coding, we delved into core Java concepts like OOPs (with real-world examples), constructors (and if they can be overloaded), an overview and use cases of the Collections Framework, the basic working of HashMap and when to use it, performance differences between ArrayList and LinkedList, what Wrapper Classes are and their utility, and Exception Handling (try, catch, finally, checked vs unchecked). We also touched upon JavaScript basics, specifically the difference between let and var, and what NaN is and when it occurs.

Finally, we had a brief HR-type discussion involving basic yes/no questions about shifts, relocation, and tech stack flexibility, without any situational or behavioral questions. The interview lasted around 30 minutes and felt more like a conversation than an interrogation. The interviewer genuinely valued clear explanations and patience over speed or perfection.

My overall interview experience with Cognizant was positive, though the technical round required a bit more focus. The interviewer was polite and guided me well, making the environment comfortable. All interview calls were arranged randomly via Superset.

Round 1 – Aptitude + Communication Assessment

This round was relatively easy. The aptitude section covered basic quantitative and logical questions, while the communication section focused on grammar, sentence correction, and listening comprehension. My advice for this round is simply to stay calm and focused.

Round 2 – Technical Assessment

This round was of moderate difficulty and included several sections:

• SQL (2 Questions): Both were easy and related to Date functions.
• Java (2 Coding Questions):
  • Find Max Consecutive Ones
  • Find Sum of Same Consecutive Numbers that occur k times
• HTML / CSS / JS (3 Small Questions): These were basic, mostly covering syntax or output-based concepts.

Round 3 – Technical Interview (30 mins)

This interview was conducted online via Superset. The interviewer was very polite and created a comfortable atmosphere. The round started with my self-introduction.

Coding Question:

I was asked to solve a coding question on the compiler:

• Find the length of the longest word in a string and print all the words with the same length.
• (Follow-up: Handle spaces and full stops in the string)

Theory Questions:

We then moved on to several theory questions, predominantly in Java and SQL:

• Java:
  • OOPs Pillars (I had to explain all of them)
  • Polymorphism (in detail)
  • final, finally, finalize keywords
  • Abstract Classes & Interfaces
  • Try-Catch & Exception Handling
  • Time complexity of various sorting algorithms
• SQL:
  • Normalization
  • All types of Joins
  • Difference between Left and Left Outer Join
  • Query to find the 2nd Highest Salary

HR Segment

This segment involved friendly interaction and straightforward Yes/No questions regarding job location, shift flexibility, and familiarity with tech stacks. There were no tricky HR questions.

I received an interim offer shortly after completing the interview. Overall, the experience was smooth and fair. The interviewer seemed genuinely interested in understanding my logic rather than just the final answer.

I recently underwent an interview process for an IT role at Cognizant. My preparation included an 8-week structured training program that delved into Data Structures and Algorithms (DSA), Object-Oriented Programming (OOPs), Database Management Systems (DBMS), Operating Systems (OS), Java, and general problem-solving. This training was followed by a final assessment.

The interview itself took place at KL University. I reported at 8:00 AM and finally received my interview call at 4:00 PM, with the session lasting approximately one hour. The panel comprised two interviewers, one conducting virtually and the other in-person.

The interview began with my self-introduction, after which the panel transitioned into core technical areas. We discussed topics such as the differences between Method Overloading and Overriding, Exception Handling in Java, the distinction between Checked and Unchecked exceptions, what a Null Pointer Exception is and how to handle it, and the different usages of 'final', 'finally', and 'finalize'. We also covered the FIFO principle, basics of Multithreading, the internal implementation of HashMap, and the differences between List and Set data structures. My language preference (C++ vs. Java) was explored, along with questions about data types in C++ and the memory size of 'int' in both C++ and Java. Finally, API concepts, including what an API is and its usage, and specifically what a REST API is, were also part of the technical discussion.

For the coding section, I was given two problems to solve on the spot: "Reverse a String" and "Merge Two Maps".

The HR round focused on behavioral aspects, asking about my hometown, my willingness to relocate, comfort with working in shifts, and my adaptability to learning new programming languages in the future.

Overall, I found the interview panel to be friendly. They thoroughly assessed my technical depth across OOPs, Java, C++ concepts, APIs, collections, and multithreading, along with my basic but sometimes tricky coding ability. The HR questions primarily checked for flexibility and adaptability. It was a valuable learning experience that tested my conceptual clarity, problem-solving skills, and communication, all within an hour.

GenC is for freshers -> 4.5lpa and the freshers who perform well in all the assessments are selected for GenC Next(6.75 lpa) I suppose.

ROUND 1 : COMMUNICATION ASSESSMENT I received a mail for Communication Assessment on June 18, 2025 It has 4 segments

• You need to repeat after them
• Fill the blanks
• Active-Passive Voice
• Listen to the story provided and answer accordingly

ROUND 2 : APTITUDE ASSESSMENTS I received a mail for Aptitude Assessment on June 19, 2025.

• Basic apti test.
• The next section consisted of 4 types of pattern segments having time limits for each.

ROUND 3 : TECHNICAL ASSESSMENT Mail was received on 20th June, 2025.

• It consisted of 2 coding questions (you can select the programming lang you prefer).
• Second, it consisted of 2 SQL questions : one was basic select and the other was on JOIN.

ROUND 4 : TECHNICAL INTERVIEW My Technical Interview was scheduled on 26th June, 2025 from 1pm - 2:30pm. However, the actual interview started from 2:15. (Be sure to dress up formal with effecient light in your bg and carry your College ID card with you)

• The Interviewer asked me to show my college proof, I did not have it at that time, so he asked if I had a soft copy on my phone, I did. Showed it to him in the camera, he took a screenshot.
• Introduce yourself : While introducing myself, I mentioned my proficiency in Java, so he began questioning in Java.(Be sure of what you speak).
• What do you mean by polymorphism?
• Wdym by Abstraction and Encapsulation? Where is it used?
• Gave me a program to write : From an array, print the numbers which have duplicate values.
• What else lang do you prefer apart from Java - I said SQL.
• What would you rate yourself on a scale of 1-5 on your SQL skills?
• Would you be able to relocate?
• If in future, you are given to work on any other lang except for Java, are you open to it?
• Can you work in shifts that are not basic?
• What do you mean by error handling?
• What is the use of finally?
• What does static keyword do?
• Any questions for me?

After 10-15 min exiting the interview, I received a call from the HR, I guess he was South Indian and was wearing headphones, I couldn't clearly get what he was saying, but I understood 2 things : Rejoin the interview and feedback, I somewhat merged them and thought he told me to rejoin the interview because feedback was not given. I asked him if I needed to on my camera as I changed my formal clothes and was in casual, he said no no, or it sounded like that, then he hung up. I joined the interview and the same interviewer was there, SHIT, I blocked the camera(I was in my casuals without light), he asked me to ON my camera, SHIIIIIIIIIITTTTTT, I cannot change as I was blocking the camera with my hands as THERE WAS NO OPTION TO BLOCK THE CAMERA. I asked nervously(hahaa), is the interview not finished yet. He was good, he calmly said that this was the next Technical Interview((gaspp)I was not expecting that). So I had to remove my hand. He went on.

• Told me create a table with the attributes he gave me.
• An Update Query
• A delete Query
• Asked me about JOINS, Left Join, Right Join
• Told me to write a sorting(whichever method I want) on an array.
• DROP and TRUNCATE
• Do you know about clouds? -NO -It's okay
• Which JAVA version do you use?-17 Do you know JAVA 8? -No -Streams? -No.
• What new feature does Java 17 have? Done. I received the interview completion mail. It was long but fun.

Cognizant came to our campus.
I applied the drive on superset portal. (Fill the form properly otherwise your application will not be shortlisted )
Total student applied :- Around 170 student
After shortlisting :- Around 120 student

Round 1 : - Communication round (4-Feb-2025)
Mcq , Speaking , Reading

Round 2 :-Aptitude ( 8-Feb-2025)
Around 30 question were asked followed by gamified round. Gamified round is very important ,prepare in advance (Technicalhub.io this website will help you for the preparation of gamified round)

Round 3 :- Technical (11-Feb-2025)
Total 5 question
- 2 Sql
- 2 Dsa (I was not good at java but I learned some syntax and collection to solve the problem )
- 1 Frontend
I was able to solve 2 sql , 2 dsa and Frontend question was partially solve (I don't know why frontend question was giving some error even though my code was right )

After this round 9 student were selected for interview (All of them for Gen C role)
Some of those who solved all the question were not shortlisted for interview and some of them solved only 3 question was proceeded for interview so all depends on luck Or (might be there is system for plagiarism check ) .

Round 4 :- Interview (5-March-2025)
As It was oncampus so interview was offline and also there was a video call on superset with same person.
To write code they have there code editor with multiple language supported(C++,C,Python,Java,etc) on superset.

Introduction
I was not good at java so he asked me why not java
Your proficient language . I told c++
He told me to rate out of 10 . I told 9
He said I will be happy if you solve this question. He gave me total 3 question and it was very easy question
- 1. Transpose the matrix
- 2-3 . I am not able to recall
I solved all three question
What did you hate most?
Family background
What do you think about toppers of your class ?
Relocation and some common question

At end 6 student were selected. I was one of them.
Interview Result date :- 19-March-2025

They Asked me 2 Questions Related to trees

Q - 1 -> There is teacher in a school who have it's 2 favourite childrens. Both her students made a binary tree from same numbers but in diffrent format. The task for teacher is to view 1st student's tree from behind moving from left - right and noted down the numbers she sees. For 2nd student she moved from right - left and noted down the sequence. Now return true if both sequences are same otherwise false.

INTUTION ->

When someone looks a tree from bottom he / she can only sees the leaf nodes only.Soo we have to simply store the leaf nodes of both the trees from left - right direction, reverses the values for 2nd student nodes and then check if both the vectors are different or not.

CODE

class Solution {
    private:
        void func(TreeNode* root, vector<int>& vis) {
            if (!root)
                return;
            if (!root->left and !root->right)
                vis.push_back(root->val);
            func(root->left, vis);
            func(root->right, vis);
        }
    public:
        bool isEqual(TreeNode* root1, TreeNode* root2) {
            vector<int> first, second;
            func(root1, first);
            func(root2, second);
            reverse(second.begin(), second.end());
            for (int i = 0; i < first.size(); i++) {
                if (first[i] != second[i])
                    return false;
            }

            return true;
        }
}

Q - 2 -> Given the root of a binary tree and an integer targetSum, return all root-to-leaf paths where the sum of the node values in the path equals targetSum. Each path should be returned as a list of the node values, not node references. A root-to-leaf path is a path starting from the root and ending at any leaf node. A leaf is a node with no children.

INTUTION

Basic Intution is to follow some kind of traversal tpe dfs (post order, inorder, preorder) and whenever a leaf node is encountered then only we know that path till now is completed and we have to back track now to previous nodes and when we are backtracking remove the last node so to avoid the conflictions between different paths

CODE

/**
 * Definition for a binary tree node.
 * struct TreeNode {
 *     int val;
 *     TreeNode *left;
 *     TreeNode *right;
 *     TreeNode() : val(0), left(nullptr), right(nullptr) {}
 *     TreeNode(int x) : val(x), left(nullptr), right(nullptr) {}
 *     TreeNode(int x, TreeNode *left, TreeNode *right) : val(x), left(left),
 * right(nullptr) {}
 * };
 */
class Solution {
    using pii = pair<int, int>;
    using vi = vector<int>;

private:
    void func(TreeNode* root, vector<vi>& ans, vi& path, int sum, int target) {
        if (!root)
            return;

        path.push_back(root->val);
        sum += root->val;
        if (!root->left and !root->right and sum == target)
            ans.push_back(path);

        func(root->left, ans, path, sum, target);
        func(root->right, ans, path, sum, target);
        path.pop_back();
    }

public:
    vector<vector<int>> pathSum(TreeNode* root, int targetSum) {
        vector<vi> ans;
        vi path;
        func(root, ans, path, 0, targetSum);
        return ans;
    }
};

The path vector is passed by reference because of the fact to avoid multiple cpoies made in every function call.

Securing the Cognizant GenC role was an exciting and rewarding journey that tested my skills, determination, and preparation. The process began with an engaging pre-placement talk, where Cognizant representatives outlined the company’s culture, values, and the structure of the hiring process. Their emphasis on innovation and growth resonated deeply with me, fueling my motivation to excel in every round.

The first round evaluated my communication skills, focusing on fluency, grammar, and articulation. This test, consisting of speaking and listening tasks, required precision and clarity. I stayed composed and confident, drawing on previous practice with verbal reasoning exercises to clear this round successfully.

The next round assessed my problem-solving and analytical abilities through quantitative aptitude and logical reasoning questions. I relied on consistent practice from platforms like HackerRank and LeetCode to tackle time-sensitive questions effectively. Strong fundamentals in mathematics and logical reasoning played a pivotal role in clearing this stage.

The technical assessment was the most challenging yet enriching part. It consisted of SQL questions, Data Structures and Algorithms problems, and a web development scenario-based question. I prepared by revisiting key concepts, solving coding challenges, and reflecting on my hands-on project work to demonstrate practical understanding.

The final round was a 50-minute interview, divided into three key segments: Java & DSA, and AWS. The technical panel explored my proficiency in object-oriented programming concepts like inheritance, polymorphism, and encapsulation. They also posed challenges around sorting algorithms and problem-solving strategies, where I showcased clarity in thought and code optimization. The discussion then shifted to my cloud computing knowledge, where I elaborated on my experience with AWS services like EC2, S3, and Lambda in past projects. Throughout the interview, I emphasized my approach to problem-solving, adaptability, and team collaboration. Being calm under pressure and articulating my thoughts clearly were key contributors to a successful outcome.

Round 1: Online Test

My Cognizant GenC assessment began with an online test conducted on the AMCAT platform, which lasted 100 minutes. This test was structured into three sections:

• Aptitude
• Verbal Ability
• Logical Reasoning

After successfully completing this round, I was shortlisted for the subsequent communication round.

Round 2: Communication Round

The communication round was not an elimination stage but focused on evaluating my reading, listening, and comprehension skills. I found this round to be of easy to moderate difficulty. Upon its completion, I received a shortlist notification for the main interview stage.

Round 3: Technical Interview

My technical interview was scheduled for August 23rd, 2023. During this round, the interviewer asked me a series of questions:

• "Tell me something about yourself."
• "Explain about your projects and internship experience."
• "How will you code and design the Tic-Tac-Toe game?"
• "What is your preferred programming language?"
• "What are your preferred technologies?"

After discussing these technical aspects, the interview transitioned into HR-related questions.

Round 4: HR Interview

The HR interviewer posed the following questions to me:

• "Would you like to work in night shifts?"
• "Would you be willing to join the Chennai Office of Cognizant?"
• "On which domain/technology would you like to work within Cognizant?"
• "What are your general location preferences?"

Once these questions were addressed, my interview process concluded. Overall, I found the interview experience with Cognizant to be very good, and the interviewer was highly cooperative throughout the process.