NatWest SDE | Interview Experience | On-Campus
Summary
I attended the NatWest SDE on‑campus interview process, cleared two rounds, and was offered the SDE role.
Full Experience
I appeared for the NatWest SDE On-Campus hiring process and wanted to share my experience in case it helps future aspirants.
The selection process consisted of 2 rounds.
Round 1: Online Assessment
The Online Assessment was well-balanced and evaluated multiple aspects beyond coding.
Aptitude
The aptitude section included topics such as:
- Interval Scheduling
- Sequence Mapping
- Pattern Prediction
- Graph Plotting
- Pie Chart-based reasoning
The interface was quite interactive, with drag-and-drop style questions involving graphs, patterns, and charts.
SQL & Databases
This section tested fundamental SQL concepts, database schemas, and query writing. A good understanding of joins, filtering, and basic database concepts was sufficient.
English & Comprehension
The English section consisted of grammar, vocabulary, sentence correction, and reading comprehension questions.
Coding
There were 2 coding questions:
-
Find the sum of elements present at even indices of an array.
- A straightforward implementation problem requiring careful handling of indexing.
-
Remove duplicate characters from a string.
- A string manipulation problem focusing on maintaining the desired order while eliminating duplicates.
Both questions were manageable with a solid understanding of basic data structures and strings.
Round 2: Technical + HR Interview
The interview started with a brief introduction followed by an in-depth discussion of my resume.
A significant portion of the interview revolved around my projects. The interviewers were particularly interested in understanding why I chose to work on projects across different domains and what motivated me to build them. They also asked about the future scope of these projects and the practical problems they aimed to solve.
Most of the discussion centered around my AI/ML projects. Some of the questions included:
- Why did you choose this particular model?
- Why was this dataset selected?
- How was the dataset collected and preprocessed?
- What challenges did you face during development?
- How can the project be improved or scaled further?
The HR portion was conversational and included questions such as:
- Tell me about your strengths.
- What is your biggest weakness.
- A situation-based question to understand my approach towards problem-solving and teamwork.
The interview panel was friendly and encouraging throughout the process, making it a comfortable discussion rather than a rapid-fire session.
Final Result
After the interviews, the results were announced, and I was delighted to be selected for the SDE role at NatWest.
Preparation Tips
- Be thorough with every project mentioned on your resume. Interviewers may explore your design choices, datasets, and future improvements in detail.
- Revise SQL fundamentals and basic database concepts.
- Practice DSA problems and make your basics strong.
- Prepare common HR questions and answer them with examples from your own experiences.
- Most importantly, understand the reasoning behind what you've built instead of just memorizing implementations.
Overall, the process was well-structured and tested a balanced mix of problem-solving ability, technical fundamentals, project understanding, and communication skills.
I hope this helps future candidates preparing for the NatWest recruitment process. Wishing everyone the very best!
Interview Questions (2)
Sum of Elements at Even Indices
Given an array of integers, find the sum of elements that are located at even indices (0‑based indexing). The implementation should correctly handle indexing to ensure only elements at positions 0, 2, 4, ... are summed.
Remove Duplicate Characters from a String
Given a string, return a new string that contains the characters of the original string in the same order but without any duplicate occurrences. The first occurrence of each character should be kept, and subsequent duplicates removed.
Preparation Tips
I focused on deeply understanding each project on my resume, reviewed SQL fundamentals and basic database concepts, and practiced core DSA problems to strengthen my basics. I also prepared for typical HR questions by framing answers around personal experiences and ensured I could explain the reasoning behind my design and implementation choices.