My Journey from Bosch to Blackhawk Network: A Crio Success Story
Before joining Crio, I was working at Bosch, but wasn't fulfilled by my role. My primary goal was to grow my career in software development. I found an opportunity to interview at Blackhawk Network through LinkedIn, and I believe my Crio portfolio played a crucial role in getting my resume shortlisted.
The interview process consisted of four rounds spread over a week. Before each round, I prepared extensively by reviewing interview questions on Glassdoor and practicing related topics. Crio's project-focused preparation also proved invaluable.
Round 1: Online Assessment
This involved MCQs on REST API and SQL, followed by two coding tasks:
- Q1: I had to read data from a public API and perform basic calculations.
- Q2: Using Javascript and jQuery, I created an email validator.
Round 2: Technical Personal Interview
I met with a Senior Engineer from Blackhawk, who asked a medium-level programming question from LeetCode.
Following that, he delved into my projects, covering areas like:
- Databases: Indexing, keys
- Spring Boot: Dependency injection, Bean Scope
I was able to confidently answer these questions as Crio's sessions covered these topics thoroughly.
Round 3: Hiring Manager Interview
Here, I spoke with the Senior Engineering Manager I would report to if hired. We started with a medium-level hashing problem from LeetCode, followed by discussions on Java fundamentals, multithreading, and caching. My Crio projects provided a strong foundation for these topics.
Round 4: Senior Director Interview
After successfully navigating the first three rounds, I faced a final interview with a Senior Director. This round involved more database design questions and another medium-level programming problem from LeetCode. Crio's sessions on load balancing and system design helped me immensely.
Final Round: HR Round
This was more of a confirmation round, focusing on my reasons for switching to Blackhawk Network and my expectations from the new job.
The Outcome
I received a job offer from Blackhawk Network, and I'm incredibly grateful for the role Crio played in this success.
Key Interview Takeaways
- Solid Fundamentals: Ensure you have a strong grasp of the tech stack you mention in your resume.
- Practice Makes Perfect: Practice medium-to-hard level programming questions focusing on topics like two pointers, recursion, sliding window, stacks, linked lists, etc.
- Stay Calm: Approach every round with a calm and confident demeanor.
Topics to Focus On
- Java
- Multithreading
- Spring Boot
- REST API Basics
- Hashing
- Stacks & Queues
- Linked Lists
- Binary Search
-Two Pointers
Crio played a pivotal role in my career journey. The program helped me build the skills, knowledge, and confidence to excel in my interview and secure my dream job at Blackhawk Network.
