My ADP Internship Interview Experience | On-Campus | 3 Rounds | Not Selected 😔

Recently, I had the opportunity to participate in the ADP Campus Hiring Drive 2025 for their Software Development Internship. As a final-year B.Tech CSE student, this was a challenging process.

Although I didn’t make it to the final offer stage, I walked away with valuable insights and a better understanding of what top companies like ADP expect.

Let me take you through my experience.

Job Details Role: Campus Intern — Software Development Duration: 3 Months Stipend: ₹30,000/month Location: Hyderabad (Internship) Eligibility: 60%+ across academics, 6.0 CGPA minimum, no backlogs Skills Expected: Java, Python, Node.js, SQL, Problem-Solving

Selection Process ADP’s hiring process was both competitive and rigorous.

~990 candidates were shortlisted for the online assessment held virtually. ✅ I cleared the online test. ~29 students were shortlisted for in-person interviews conducted at our campus (VIT-AP).

Round 1 — Technical Interview (In-Person) The first round kicked off around 9:30 AM after a short Pre-Placement Talk.

The interview began with no self-introduction, just my name and where do I belong then straight to coding.

Questions I was asked:

1. Write and explain Quick Sort with an example? Others were asked Palindrome checks, Merge Sort, Selection Sort etc.

2. When I got stuck, I was asked to write any sorting algorithm → I wrote Bubble Sort and optimized it.

Follow-ups:

• Which sorting algorithm is best?

• Why is Quick Sort better than Merge Sort?

• Time complexities of both?

• Quick Sort being in-place, unlike Merge Sort?

3. What are the two searching methods? Explain how binary search is applied to an array? Time complexities and why?

Resume-Based Questions:

4. Details of my internships — especially my intern at EY (using SAP) despite having an AI & ML background?

5. Why I chose AI & ML specialization? (as many of us have AI & ML as our specialization and similar projects).

6. Questions on problem-solving platforms? → I mentioned LeetCode(Solved over 600) and CodeChef.

7. Recently solved problem: Detect start of a cycle in a linked list?

8. Implement insert node in middle of a linked list?

9. Explain types of polymorphism with code?

10. What is inheritance and example?

11. Write a data augmentation technique used in a past internship — couldn’t recall it fully as it was 2 years back.

12. What is PyTorch? (skill mentioned on my resume), reading a CSV using Pandas, and filtering data with conditions — missed syntax under pressure.

13. Have you done any projects or built something using Agentic AI?

Overall, the interviewer observed my confidence, communication, and even my outfit. He remained neutral throughout — no expression even when I answered correctly. The round lasted ~30 mins.

I was put on hold for Round 2 but wasn’t called later.

Round 2 — Technical Interview (For Shortlisted Only) Only 9 students were called for the second technical round.

What I heard from friends:

• Deep dive into projects and internships.

• Some were asked to bring their laptops and run their code live and explain code snippets.

• More DSA based on the performance of 1st round — What are Collections?

• Few were asked Mapping from ER Model to Relational Model(one-to-one, one-to-many etc), Write an SQL query and Networking(OSI model layers and their significance).

Round 3 — HR Interview All 8 students who cleared the 2nd round also cleared HR. Questions asked were basic HR questions from any interview.

Key Takeaways

• Learn all sorting algorithms — They are no longer optional! Interviewers use them to filter candidates quickly.
• Master your resume — If it’s on your resume, they will ask about it. Be ready to explain and even code your project techniques.
• Stay calm when you get stuck — It’s okay to not know everything. Show your thought process.
• Practice basic pandas, SQL, and DSA regularly — It really pays off in tech interviews.

Final Thoughts Although I didn’t make it past Round 1, this experience taught me what top-tier companies like ADP expect. It pushed me to revise core DSA, brush up on resume-based knowledge, and reflect on how to present myself under pressure.

If you’re preparing for internships, make sure your DSA, projects, and communication are all on point. You never know what they might ask — but one thing is certain: they’ll test depth, not just keywords.