Cognizant GenC Off-Campus Interview Preparation Guide
Prepared by Aniruddh Joshi
On request of Diksha Bargali
1. DSA THEORY (Conceptual + Basic Coding)
Topics to Cover:
- Arrays: Operations, Two Pointer
- Strings: Manipulations, ASCII
- Linked Lists: Singly and Doubly Linked List
- Stack and Queue: Concepts and Applications
- Recursion: Theory and Simple Programs
- Searching: Linear and Binary Search
- Sorting: Bubble, Selection, QuickSort (Basics)
- Trees: Basics and Traversals (Inorder, Preorder)
- Hashing: Hash Tables and Maps (Concept Only)
- Time Complexity: Big O Basics
Sample Questions:
- How to reverse an array?
- How to detect a cycle in a linked list?
- What is the time complexity of binary search?
- How hashing improves performance?
2. Web Development (HTML, CSS, JS Basics)
Topics to Cover:
- HTML Basics: Tags, Forms, Attributes
- CSS Basics: Selectors, Flexbox, Grid
- JavaScript Basics: Variables, Functions, Events
Cognizant GenC Off-Campus Interview Preparation Guide
Prepared by Aniruddh Joshi
On request of Diksha Bargali
- DOM Manipulation: Basics
- API Calls: Fetch, Conceptual Only
- Web Storage: LocalStorage vs SessionStorage
- Responsive Design: Media Queries
Sample Questions:
- What is semantic HTML?
- How does Flexbox work?
- Difference between var, let, const?
- How to fetch data from an API?
3. C# Core Concepts (OOPS and Practical Coding)
Topics to Cover:
- C# Syntax Basics: Data Types, Variables
- OOPS in C#: Inheritance, Polymorphism, Encapsulation, Abstraction
- Constructors and Destructors
- Interfaces vs Abstract Classes
- Collections: List, Dictionary
- Exception Handling: Try-Catch
- Delegates and Events (Basics)
- Async/Await (Conceptual)
Sample Questions:
- What is a nullable type?
- Interface vs Abstract class?
- How does exception handling work?
Cognizant GenC Off-Campus Interview Preparation Guide
Prepared by Aniruddh Joshi
On request of Diksha Bargali
- Real life use of Delegates?
4. SQL Queries (Practical Focus)
Topics to Cover:
- CRUD Operations: SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE
- Joins: INNER, LEFT, RIGHT, FULL
- GROUP BY and HAVING
- Subqueries
- Aggregate Functions: COUNT, SUM, AVG
- Constraints: Primary Key, Foreign Key
- Normalization: 1NF, 2NF, 3NF Concepts
Sample Questions:
- Write a query joining two tables.
- Find employees earning more than average salary.
- Difference between INNER JOIN and LEFT JOIN.
- What is normalization?
5. Common Behavioural / Logical Questions
Topics:
- Teamwork experiences
- Understanding of SDLC and Agile
- Handling delays in tasks
- Project explanation
Cognizant GenC Off-Campus Interview Preparation Guide
Prepared by Aniruddh Joshi
On request of Diksha Bargali
Sample Questions:
- Tell me about a time you worked in a team.
- What is SDLC?
- How would you handle task delays?
- Explain your final year project.
6. Insights from Recent Experiences (2023-24)
- Explain DSA basics with examples.
- Dry run simple codes (e.g., palindrome check).
- Write basic SQL queries (Join, Group By).
- Explain OOPS concepts practically.
- Understand REST API vs SOAP basics.
Trends:
- 80% questions are basic but practical.
- Communication and structured answers are crucial.
- Be ready for simple Git questions if mentioned in your resume.
Summary Plan:
DSA Theory: Arrays, Strings, Linked List, Stack-Queue, Searching, Sorting, Trees basics
Web Dev: HTML, CSS, JS basics + API Call concept
C#: OOPS full, List-Dictionary, Exception Handling
SQL: Joins, GroupBy, Subquery, CRUD queries
Cognizant GenC Off-Campus Interview Preparation Guide
Prepared by Aniruddh Joshi
On request of Diksha Bargali
Extra: SDLC, Agile, Simple Behavioral Questions
