BlackRock SDE Interview Experience 2024 - VIT | On-Campus
Question Details
Round-1: Online AssessmentThe online assessment was conducted on the eLitmus platform and consisted of three sections:Aptitude Number of Questions: 39Time Limit: 47 minute...
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Round-1: Online Assessment The online assessment was conducted on the eLitmus platform and consisted of three sections: Aptitude Number of Questions: 39 Time Limit: 47 minutes Coding Skills Number of Questions: 10 Time Limit: 20 minutes SQL Programming Number of Questions: 20 Time Limit: 20 minutes The difficulty level of the questions ranged from easy to medium. The coding section included flow graph questions, requiring quick analysis and problem-solving. A total of about 400-500 students were shortlisted, including those on the waitlist. I was among 81 shortlisted students for the Data Science and Engineering role. Round-2: Technical Interview Rounds: The interview process had two panels, covering various topics: Operating Systems (OS): Questions on deadlocks, RAID, and general OS concepts. Database Management Systems (DBMS): Discussion on SQL vs NoSQL, foreign key, primary vs unique key. Specific questions like finding the second-highest record and JOIN types. MongoDB-related queries including data formatting and usage. Handling data in Mongo db as mentioned MERN full stack in my resume. Data Structures & Algorithms (DSA): Coding Questions: (Explanation No live coding required) Graph algorithms: Shortest path problem,
explanation of the algorithm. Strings: Printing in reverse order without using built-in functions, in-place swapping, counting ASCII values, and replacing them with the largest value. Hash functions: Counting occurrences of characters, finding the second-largest element. HR Interview The HR interview was brief, around 5-10 minutes. Questions included: How was your day? Introduce yourself. Have you attended any other campus drives? What are your interests? I asked about the internship details and whether we would receive training or be directly placed on projects. The HR also shared his experience at BlackRock, creating a positive interaction. Interview Tips Aptitude Preparation: Even if you're strong in coding, maintain your aptitude skills. Take STS courses seriously and practice regularly using platforms like InterviewBit (free) and STS courses provided by VIT. Coding Practice: Use platforms like Codeforces (for Slot-1 companies), LeetCode, and GeeksforGeeks for quick recaps and practice. Follow resources like Striver's SDE Sheet for beginners to quickly grasp and understand core concepts. Core Computer Science Subjects: Focus on top 50 questions from GeeksforGeeks and detailed topic explanations. Speaking Skills: Participate in clubs and hackathons. Even if you don’t win, you’ll gain exposure to advanced technologies and networking opportunities with seniors. Maintain a Good CGPA: Aim for a CGPA well above 9. Being a top coder makes you eligible for most campus placements. Interview Conduct: Stay calm and composed. Interviewers are assessing your fit for the company. Even if your approach is incorrect, a strong conceptual understanding can be sufficient. HR Interaction: Engage in a positive conversation. The HR is evaluating your communication skills and whether your choices align with the company’s values. General Advice: Keep faith in your goals and stay dedicated. Take breaks to reduce stress, plan for future options, and focus on one goal at a time. Don’t compare your first step with someone else’s last step. Please share your interviews with GFG and share your experience with juniors so they can understand the situation of placements and prepare accordingly. Have a good day! Remember: "Don't overthink, Just do it."
About This Question
This is a reported interview question from a blackrock interview for a data science role (intern level) during the oa round reported in 2024.
It covers the following topics: Strings, Sql, Graph, Stack Queue, Os, Graphs, Stack .
Difficulty rating: Easy
More BlackRock Interview Questions
About BlackRock Interview Reports
This question was reported by a candidate who interviewed at BlackRock. LeakCode aggregates interview reports from 10+ sources, including 1Point3Acres, Glassdoor, LeetCode Discuss, Blind, Reddit, Indeed, and Nowcoder. Each report is translated where necessary, deduplicated against existing entries, and tagged by company, role, round type, and reporting date.
Use this question as one calibration data point, not a memorization target. Companies typically rotate their question pools every 2-4 months; the exact wording of a 2024 question may differ from what you encounter today. The underlying pattern, difficulty level, and follow-up depth at BlackRock are the higher-signal extractions to take from this report.
For broader preparation context, the BlackRock interview process typically includes a recruiter screen, one or two technical phone screens, and a 4-5 round on-site loop covering coding, system design (at L4+ levels), and behavioral. Reports tagged on LeakCode show the round-by-round distribution and typical difficulty calibration. To browse questions filtered by round type and seniority, use the company hub linked above.
How To Practice This Type of Question
Solve similar problems on LeetCode under timed conditions (25-35 minutes per medium difficulty). The goal is pattern recognition: recognize the underlying technique (sliding window, two-pointer, BFS, memoized recursion, etc.) within 60-90 seconds of reading. Strong candidates verbalize their hypothesis out loud before coding, then iterate based on feedback. Weak candidates dive into implementation immediately, lose time on the wrong approach, and run out of time for follow-ups.
Companies update their question pools every 2-4 months. The exact wording of any given question may have been retired by the time you interview. Focus your prep on the pattern, not the specific problem. The patterns that appear in BlackRock reports consistently are the ones worth investing in; one-off niche problems are not.
During Your BlackRock Round
Apply the standard interview round template: clarify requirements (2-3 minutes), state your approach out loud and confirm direction with the interviewer (3-5 minutes), code with narration (15-25 minutes), test with concrete examples including edge cases (5 minutes), discuss optimization or trade-offs if time permits (5 minutes). This template is universally accepted across FAANG and adjacent companies; deviating from it produces weaker interviewer feedback signal.
The single most predictive failure mode in BlackRock reports tagged "no hire": not asking clarifying questions. Interviewers are explicitly trained to weight this. Strong candidates ask 3-5 clarifying questions even on problems that look obvious; weak candidates dive into code immediately. The clarifying-question check is often the first signal recorded in the interviewer's written notes.