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Online assessments interview questions

Interview questions on online assessments: short warm-ups, then what each harder question tests, the first step of a good answer and its follow-ups.

8 questions: 3 warm-ups and 5 with model answers · Levels: Fresher to mid

Warm-up questions

Short questions with short answers, each answered in full.

Fresher to mid

What do you do when a test's rules are unclear, for example on whether you may use documentation?

Answered in the lesson Online assessments: formats, rules, proctoring
Fresher to mid

Which language will you use in the online assessment, and why?

Answered in the lesson Online assessments: formats, rules, proctoring
Fresher to mid

You have 70 minutes for four problems. How do you decide where to start?

Answered in the lesson Scoring well in a timed online assessment

Questions with model answers

What each question tests, the first step of a good answer and the follow-ups to expect.

Fresher to mid

Your assessment score was good, but your solution to the second problem timed out on large inputs. Walk us through what you would change.
What it tests

Whether you can analyse your own code's complexity, find the bottleneck and describe a faster approach honestly, without blaming the test.

First step

State the complexity of what you submitted and the input size that broke it, as a number of operations. Then name the step that dominates and the change that removes it, with the new complexity.
Follow-ups
- How would you have caught this before submitting?
- What would you do with five minutes left?
- Is there a simpler fix that is good enough?
From the lesson Online assessments: formats, rules, proctoring
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In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes
Fresher to mid

Suppose your connection drops for five minutes in the middle of a proctored assessment. What do you do, and what do you tell the recruiter?
What it tests

Calm handling of a failure, knowing the platform's published recovery steps, and honest, prompt communication.

First step

Follow the platform's own recovery steps first: rejoin through the same link and do not refresh again and again. Then note when it happened and for how long, and tell the recruiter or the platform's support the same day, with those facts.
Follow-ups
- What if the timer kept running while you were offline?
- Would you ask for a new attempt?
- How would you prevent it next time?
From the lesson Online assessments: formats, rules, proctoring
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes
Fresher to mid

Your O(n²) solution passes 9 of 15 tests, and 25 minutes remain on a four-question test with one question untouched. Do you optimise or move on? Show your reasoning with numbers.
What it tests

Deciding by expected points per minute under a clock, knowing what partial credit and banked submissions change, and avoiding the pull of time already spent.

First step

Make sure the 9 passing tests are submitted, since the best submission is kept. Then estimate both options in points per minute: what the remaining 6 tests are worth and how long the faster version takes, against what the untouched question can earn in 25 minutes.
Follow-ups
- The untouched question is worth twice as much. Does that change your answer?
- How do you estimate the time an optimisation will take?
- What if the test gives no partial credit at all?
From the lesson Scoring well in a timed online assessment
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes
Fresher to mid

Your solution passes every sample test but fails hidden tests. Which inputs do you try first, and why?
What it tests

Systematic thinking about edge cases, knowing which slips each input exposes, and checking a fast solution against a slow, trusted one.

First step

List the extremes the limits allow, the smallest input, the largest, repeated or equal values and the largest values, and say which slip each would expose. Then test them, comparing the answers with a brute force on the small ones.
Follow-ups
- The failing tests are all large. What does that suggest?
- How would you test the largest input without typing it?
- Your answer is wrong only when values repeat. Where do you look?
From the lesson Scoring well in a timed online assessment
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes
Fresher to mid

A section gives +1 for a right answer and −1/4 for a wrong one, with five options, and you must clear its cut-off. You are two marks above the cut-off with four questions you are unsure of. Do you guess?
What it tests

Computing the expected value of a guess exactly, and weighing the risk of falling below a cut-off against the average gain.

First step

Work out what a blind guess is worth with five options and a quarter-mark penalty, then what it is worth with one option ruled out. Then check the worst case: what happens to your two-mark margin if every guess is wrong.
Follow-ups
- What if you can rule out one option on each question?
- What if you were one mark below the cut-off instead?
- How does the answer change if the section has no cut-off?
From the lesson Scoring well in a timed online assessment
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes

All Tech Interview Preparation interview questions · The Tech Interview Preparation track

Warm-up questions

What do you do when a test's rules are unclear, for example on whether you may use documentation?

Which language will you use in the online assessment, and why?

You have 70 minutes for four problems. How do you decide where to start?

Questions with model answers

Your assessment score was good, but your solution to the second problem timed out on large inputs. Walk us through what you would change.

Suppose your connection drops for five minutes in the middle of a proctored assessment. What do you do, and what do you tell the recruiter?

Your O(n²) solution passes 9 of 15 tests, and 25 minutes remain on a four-question test with one question untouched. Do you optimise or move on? Show your reasoning with numbers.

Your solution passes every sample test but fails hidden tests. Which inputs do you try first, and why?

A section gives +1 for a right answer and −1/4 for a wrong one, with five options, and you must clear its cut-off. You are two marks above the cut-off with four questions you are unsure of. Do you guess?