🚀 Uptiq — Software Engineer Role

Here’s my detailed experience with Uptiq (Uptiq.ai) hiring process for the Software Engineer role.

Uptiq is a fast-paced FinTech startup, founded in 2022, focusing on AI-driven solutions for financial services.

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🏢 Company & Role

• Company: Uptiq (Uptiq.ai)
• Domain: FinTech / AI solutions
• Role: Software Engineer (Internship + Full-Time opportunity)
• Job Location: Pune
• Eligibility / Criteria:
  • Branches: All UG
  • CGPA ≥ 8
  • No AMCAT required

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📅 Application & Online Assessment

• Number of Participants: ~600 students

• Round 1: MCQ (General Aptitude + CS Fundamentals)

  • 50 MCQs
  • Duration: 1 hour
  • Level: Easy to Moderate
  • Completed all questions in ~15 minutes
  • Not an elimination round

• Round 2: DSA / Coding (HackerRank Contest)

  • Immediately after Round 1, hosted as a regular contest by an Uptiq employee
  • 2 Hard-level DSA problems (2 hours total)
    1. Computer Virus
    2. Sherlock's Array Merging Algorithm
  • Managed to solve all test cases along with ~60–70 other students

• Shortlisting & Interview Stage:

  • Shortlisted candidates (~77 students) notified next day at 2 AM
  • Interviews held the same day

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💬 Interview Rounds

🧩 Round 1: Virtual Technical Interview (Campus)

• Type: Technical & Project Discussion
• Duration: ~45 minutes
• Platform: Google Meet (on campus)
• Panel: Senior Software Engineer (~3 years experience)

📝 Description:

• Self-introduction and project overview from resume
• Discussed online assessment DSA problems: approach and challenges
• Asked ML-based questions
• Solved a DSA problem (Related to Next Greater Element) — brute-force + partial optimization explained (Not able to solve using Monotonic Stack)
• Solved 2 puzzles — interviewer gave hints; explained approach and thought process
• Debugged simple pseudocode
• Asked questions about the company and role

💡 Experience & Learnings:

• Interviewer was friendly and interactive
• Puzzle tip: explain your approach even if you cannot solve fully
• Thought process and communication is crucial

Note: Panels varied — some asked subject-related questions, others asked high-level system design questions

Outcome: Shortlisted for Round 2 (~40 students)

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🧩 Round 2: System Design

• Type: System Design & Technical Discussion
• Duration: ~90 minutes
• Panel Focus: System design, SQL, and Projects

📝 Description:

• Introduced myself, then discussed projects in detail
• Asked to design a GenAI App — vague requirements; explained partial design and approach
• Asked to draw and explain schema for authentication & authorization service
• Asked to write SQL query joining multiple tables to fetch user details
• Interview included detailed discussion of system design concepts

💡 Experience & Learnings:

• Toughest interview faced; focused on design thinking and problem-solving under ambiguity
• Learned importance of:
  • Understanding entire project, not just your own part
  • Clear communication and explaining thought process
  • Preparing for unexpected questions like system design, even for freshers
• Tip: System design is becoming a standard question even for freshers, like DSA

Outcome: Not shortlisted for Round 3 (CTO Round)
Final Selections: 9 students selected for Internship + Full-Time role

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📊 Overall Experience & Tips

Overall Experience:
Fast-paced, challenging, and engaging. Panelists were interactive and helpful, but interviews were tough and required thorough preparation.

Key Preparation Topics:

• DSA (arrays, strings, stacks, etc.)
• HackerRank problem-solving
• System Design
• SQL query writing
• ML basics (if mentioned in resume)
• Communication & problem explanation

Tips for Aspirants:

• Be ready for unexpected technical questions beyond your resume
• Understand complete projects, not just your contributions
• Explain your thought process clearly in puzzles and DSA problems
• Prepare for system design questions, even as a fresher
• If you mention multiple technologies or languages, be ready to solve questions in any of them

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