Kotak | SDE2 | India | June 2024
Summary
I experienced a protracted and negative interview process at Kotak for an SDE2 role, where the interviewer asked unexpected tech-stack questions and abruptly ended the coding portion.
Full Experience
I'd like to share my frustrating interview experience with Kotak for an SDE2 position in June 2024. The entire process dragged on for over two months, which was already a bit much, but the final round was particularly problematic.
When the interviewer joined, he just said, 'I am in tech.' After I introduced myself, he immediately started with questions about technology choices: 'Why are you guys using Java instead of Node.js?', 'Why is your company using this version of Java instead of another one?', and 'Tell me the latest updates in this Java version since you are a developer you should be aware about this.' It felt less like an interview and more like an interrogation about my current company's tech stack. Then he asked a linked list question. As I started to code in C++, he interrupted me, asking why I was using C++ since he hadn't specified a language. Without any further discussion, he simply said 'Thanks' and ended the call. It felt incredibly unprofessional and a complete waste of my time. If they weren't interested, a simple rejection email would have been much more respectful.
Interview Questions (3)
The interviewer asked why my current company was using Java instead of Node.js for their projects.
The interviewer inquired why my company was using a particular version of Java instead of an alternative one.
I was asked to describe the latest updates in the current Java version my company uses, with the expectation that I, as a developer, should be aware of them.