I applied through university. The process took 2 days. I interviewed at Barclays (Vellore) in Aug 2019
Interview
The interview process consisted of 3 rounds. The first round was technical where 2 coding questions and 20 technical MCQs based on DSA, OS, DBMS was asked. The coding was of easy to moderate level.
Second round was technical interviews round where they asked about projects. Make sure you explain the projects mentioned in your resume well. Mostly questions on SQL was asked. They were of moderate to difficult level. Questions on Software Development process was also asked.
Last was HR round. It was like any normal HR round. They asked about projects. Do read about the pillars of Barclays before going for interview.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Explain Agile model, waterfall model.
Questions on SQL.
The interview felt less like an assessment of Java engineering ability and more like a pub quiz for obscure syntax trivia. Instead of exploring problem-solving, design decisions, debugging skills, or real-world development experience, the focus seemed to be on recalling exact language details that most professional developers would simply look up in seconds.
It's a curious hiring strategy: rejecting people who know how to build software because they can't instantly recite syntax that modern IDEs autocomplete for them anyway
Overall, the process felt outdated, disconnected from how software is actually written, and more reflective of academic memorisation than professional engineering competence.
Initial CGPA based screening.
Three rounds in total post that.
First eliminatory round consisted of DSA and sql round for screening.
Difficulty Leet Code Medium.Strings question.
Pen paper DSA in person. Leet Code Easy. A sorting variant.
HR or behavioural round.
Final verdict: Selected
I arrived at the Barclays Munich office on Leopoldstraße. A friendly recruiter named Katharina welcomed me. We discussed Java microservices, Kubernetes deployments, and team culture. The atmosphere felt professional yet relaxed. Overall, a positive experience.
