🚀 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.
🏢 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
📅 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)
- Computer Virus
- 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
💬 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)
🧩 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
📊 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
