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Paytm

Paytm's reported process is an online coding test followed by one or two DSA-and-fundamentals technical interviews, with a design round added for SDE-2 and above, then a manager and HR conversation. One guide says the number of rounds depends on seniority and team.

  • 6 rounds
  • 2-4
  • 1 design answer
  • 2 coding answers
  • 8 more reported prompts
  • 1 well-reported rounds
Start with round 1 Browse every question
  1. OA
  2. DSA
  3. Machine coding
  4. System design
  5. Manager
  6. HR
  7. People rounds

The process, round by round

Reported by candidates and, where we found one, the company itself. Each round shows how well it is reported. Processes change by team, level and year.

  1. Online assessment

    Online assessment70 min (2021 campus); 90-120 min (2026 guide)

    One report

    Timed coding test, three DSA problems in the 2021 campus drives; a 2026 guide adds SQL and Java MCQs on HackerRank or CoCubes.

    • array and linked-list problems
    • DP and number theory
    • DFS on grids
    • speed under time limit

    Varies: Campus drives had 3 coding questions; senior referral report mentions an online test on HackerRank.

    What can be asked in a online assessment round

    A timed test on a coding platform, taken alone. Usually two or three coding problems, sometimes with multiple-choice questions on CS basics, aptitude or SQL.

    • Array and string problems that need a hash map, two pointers or a sliding window

      Read the constraints first, because they point to the technique. If n is 100,000, an O(n^2) scan will time out, so look for a hash map, two pointers on a sorted array, or a window that moves forward only. Sketch the brute force, find the repeated work, then remove it. For two-sum style pairs you might say: I store each value's index as I scan, so the complement lookup is O(1) and the whole pass is O(n).

      DSA course →
    • Greedy and sorting problems with a catch in the constraints

      Greedy problems hide behind a sort. Ask what ordering makes the locally best choice safe, then try to argue why swapping two adjacent choices never helps. Interval scheduling is the classic case: sort by end time and take every interval that starts after the last chosen one. Check the catch in the constraints, such as overflow, ties or equal values, and test a tiny case by hand before submitting.

      DSA course →
    • A medium dynamic programming or graph-on-a-grid problem

      Decide whether the problem is a graph walk or a recurrence. On a grid, a shortest path with equal step cost is breadth-first search from the start, with a visited set so each cell is processed once, giving O(rows x cols). For dynamic programming, define the state in one sentence, write the transition, set the base cases, then see if only the previous row is needed to save space.

      DSA course →
    • SQL queries with joins and group by

      Start from the table that holds the thing being counted, join the others on their keys, filter rows with WHERE, group, then filter groups with HAVING. Remember that WHERE runs before grouping and HAVING after. Use LEFT JOIN when rows with no match must still appear, and COUNT of a column rather than star when nulls matter. Example: customers with more than three orders is GROUP BY customer_id HAVING COUNT(*) > 3.

      Databases →
    • Multiple-choice questions on OOP, operating systems, databases and networks

      These reward quick, accurate recall rather than long reasoning, so revise the short list of definitions that recur. Know the difference between a process and a thread, the four ACID properties, what an index trades for faster reads, TCP against UDP, and the four pillars of OOP. Eliminate two wrong options first, then choose. Do not spend more than a minute on any single question, and flag it to return to if time remains.

      Mock interviews →

    Prepare with: Book · Online assessmentDSA course

    3 sources for this round

  2. Technical round 1: DSA and fundamentals

    Data structures and algorithmsabout 60 min

    Several reports

    Live coding of one or two algorithm problems in a shared editor or doc, plus core CS (Java, OS, DBMS, OOP) and resume discussion.

    • linked lists, trees, arrays
    • brute force to optimised reasoning
    • OS and DBMS fundamentals
    • language basics

    Varies: Campus reports differ: one adds SQL questions, another combines technical and HR questions over about two hours.

    Practise for this round

    • ReportedLRU cache with O(1) get and put In one campus coding test; a 2026 guide lists it for the first technical round and a 2025 summary lists it among a fresher's coding questions.Candidate write-up ↗
    • ReportedCount islands in a grid Online coding round in one campus report.Candidate write-up ↗
    • ReportedDelete a node given only a pointer to that node Technical round 1; interviewer asked variations.Candidate write-up ↗
    • ReportedDetect a loop in a linked list (and remove it) Loop detection in two campus reports; one asks for removal, the other for converting a circular list to a singly linked one. One is titled 2021, the other is undated.Candidate write-up ↗

    Reported prompts have no written answer yet. Read the linked page for context.

    What can be asked in a data structures and algorithms round

    A live coding round of 45 to 60 minutes with one or two problems. You are judged on how you clarify, reason, code, test and state the complexity, not on the answer alone.

    • Arrays, strings and hashing: pairs, windows, frequency counts, prefix sums

      Name the pattern from the shape of the question. Pairs with a target use a hash map of seen values. A contiguous range with a condition uses a sliding window that grows on the right and shrinks on the left, so each element enters and leaves once, giving O(n). Range sums over many queries use a prefix sum array so each query is O(1) after O(n) setup. Count characters with a fixed-size array or map.

      DSA course →
    • Linked lists, stacks and queues, including design-a-structure problems such as an LRU cache

      For an LRU cache, combine a hash map from key to node with a doubly linked list ordered by recency. Get moves the node to the front, put inserts at the front, and when over capacity you remove the tail node and its map entry. Both operations are O(1), and you say why: the map finds the node, the list reorders it without a scan. For stacks, mention a monotonic stack for next greater element.

      DSA course →
    • Trees and BSTs, graphs (BFS, DFS, topological sort, shortest paths) and grids

      Decide the traversal from what is asked. Level by level or shortest path in an unweighted graph is BFS with a queue. Exploring all paths, components or cycles is DFS. A dependency order is topological sort: Kahn's algorithm repeatedly removes nodes with in-degree zero, and leftover nodes mean a cycle. Weighted shortest path with non-negative edges is Dijkstra with a heap, O((V + E) log V). On a BST, an in-order walk is sorted.

      DSA course →
    • Heaps and top-K, intervals, binary search on the answer

      For the K largest items keep a min-heap of size K: push each element and pop the smallest when the heap exceeds K, so the cost is O(n log K) and memory is O(K). For intervals, sort by start, then merge by comparing the next start with the current end. For binary search on the answer, define a yes or no check that is monotonic, such as can ship within D days, and search the capacity range.

      DSA course →
    • Dynamic programming from one dimension up to knapsack and string DP

      Define the state in a sentence, write the recurrence, fix the base cases, and decide the order of filling. Start with the recursive version with memoisation, then convert to a table. For 0/1 knapsack, dp[w] is the best value at capacity w, and in the one dimensional form you loop capacity downward so each item is used once. For string problems such as edit distance, the state is a pair of prefix lengths.

      DSA course →
    • Follow-ups: optimise space, handle streaming input, make it thread-safe

      Treat follow-ups as a chance to show depth, and answer in the same calm order each time. To save space, ask which previous rows or values the recurrence actually reads and keep only those. For streaming input, say what summary you can keep, such as a heap of size K or a running count. For thread safety, name the shared state, guard it with a lock, and keep the critical section short.

    Prepare with: Book · DSA roundDSA course

    3 sources for this round

  3. Technical round 2: advanced stack, coding or LLD

    Machine codingabout 45 min (2021 campus)

    Prep guides

    Further coding plus stack depth (Java/Spring for backend) or a machine coding exercise; a 2025 senior report ended with a low-level design and projects round.

    • coding and optimisation
    • backend stack depth (Java, Spring Boot, JVM, Kafka)
    • machine coding
    • low-level design
    • project depth

    Varies: Campus: coding and CS. A 2025 frontend senior referral report (summarised by a guide) ended with a low-level design and projects round and was rejected, with feedback to work on design patterns and optimisation.

    Practise for this round

    • ReportedDesign a digital wallet with transaction integrity Wallet system with transaction integrity, named as a low-level-design example by one guide.Prep guide ↗
    • ReportedDesign a hotel booking system Single prep-guide listing.Prep guide ↗

    Reported prompts have no written answer yet. Read the linked page for context.

    What can be asked in a machine coding round

    You build a small working system in your own editor in 60 to 120 minutes, then walk through it. Clean entities, extensibility, a runnable demo and tests matter more than clever algorithms.

    • Parking lot, library or inventory system with several entity types

      Spend the first ten minutes on requirements and entities, not code. For a parking lot you might list Vehicle, Slot, Ticket and Lot, with slot types as an enum and the allocation rule hidden behind an interface so a nearest-slot strategy can be swapped. Keep the code runnable early, write a small demo in main, and add a few tests. Say what you would add with more time, such as pricing rules.

      Whiteboard →
    • Splitwise-style expense sharing, a wallet or a ledger

      The core of expense sharing is a balance ledger: for each pair or each user, store the net amount owed. An expense has a payer, an amount and a split type such as equal, exact or percent, handled by a split strategy per type. Validate that exact splits sum to the total and handle rounding explicitly. To simplify debts, compute each person's net balance and match the largest creditor with the largest debtor.

    • Snake and ladder, tic-tac-toe, chess or another game engine

      Model the board, players, dice or moves, and a game controller that owns the turn loop, with rules kept out of the board class. For tic-tac-toe, keep counters per row, column and both diagonals, so a win check is O(1) per move instead of scanning the grid. For snake and ladder, store jumps in a map from square to destination. Make board size and number of players configurable rather than hard coded.

    • An in-memory cache, key-value store, rate limiter or job scheduler

      Start with the public interface and the invariants. For a rate limiter, a token bucket stores tokens and a last refill time per key, refills lazily on each call and allows the request if a token remains. For an LRU or key-value store, say the data structure and the complexity. For a scheduler, a priority queue ordered by run time with a worker that waits for the earliest job.

    • Elevator, vending machine or ATM as a state machine

      Draw the states and transitions before coding. An elevator is idle, moving up, moving down or doors open, and each event such as a button press or arrival is handled by the current state. A vending machine moves through idle, has money, dispensing and out of stock. Implement it with a state interface or an enum and a transition table, so invalid actions are rejected in one place instead of with scattered if statements.

    • Follow-ups: add a new rule without rewriting, make it concurrent, add persistence

      Show that your design bends without a rewrite. For a new rule, say you add a new class that implements the existing interface and register it, leaving old code unchanged. For concurrency, name the shared state and protect it with a lock per resource, or atomic operations, keeping check-and-update in one critical section. For persistence, put a repository interface in front of storage so an in-memory version can be replaced by a database.

      Mock interviews →
    3 sources for this round

  4. System design round

    System design

    Prep guides

    More common for SDE-2 and senior roles: fintech architecture such as a UPI payment flow or fraud detection. One guide files wallet design and hotel booking under a separate low-level-design round. Idempotency and consistency are stressed.

    • payment flow design
    • idempotency and consistency
    • transaction integrity
    • partial failures and race conditions

    Varies: More common for SDE-2 and senior roles; the campus reports read do not describe it.

    Practise for this round

    • ReportedDesign a fraud detection service for payments Single prep-guide listing.Prep guide ↗

    Reported prompts have no written answer yet. Read the linked page for context.

    What can be asked in a system design round

    A 45 to 60 minute discussion of how to build a system at scale: requirements, numbers, APIs, data model, components, bottlenecks and trade-offs.

    • Short links, chat, news feed, notifications, search, rate limiting

      Use one repeatable path: clarify scope and scale, estimate load, define the API, sketch the data model, draw the main components, then probe bottlenecks. For short links, store a mapping from a generated short id to the long url, generate ids with a counter encoded in base 62, cache hot links, and note reads far outnumber writes. For chat, mention persistent connections and a store ordered per conversation.

      System design course →
    • Payments, wallets and ledgers where money must never be lost or doubled

      Money systems put correctness before speed. Use a double-entry ledger where entries are append-only and every transfer writes a debit and an equal credit in one transaction. Protect against doubled charges with an idempotency key stored with the result, so a retry returns the original outcome. For lost updates use a database transaction, and reconcile with the payment provider's records on a schedule.

      System design course →
    • Ride matching, maps and anything with live location

      Split the problem into location ingestion, a geospatial index and matching. Drivers send updates every few seconds to a write-optimised store, often in memory, keyed by a grid cell such as a geohash or S2 cell. To find nearby drivers, query the rider's cell and its neighbours, then rank by distance and estimated time. Say how you handle a stale location and a driver who accepts two rides.

      System design course →
    • File storage and sync, video streaming and content delivery

      For file sync, split files into chunks, hash each chunk and upload only chunks the server lacks, so a small edit transfers a small amount. Keep metadata in a database and chunks in object storage. For video, upload the original, transcode into several resolutions, store segments and serve them through a content delivery network with adaptive bitrate streaming, so the player switches quality as bandwidth changes.

      System design course →
    • Fundamentals: caching, sharding, replication, queues, consistency, failure handling

      Treat each as a tool with a cost. A cache cuts read latency but adds staleness and invalidation. Sharding spreads write load but makes cross-shard queries hard. Replication gives availability and read scale but introduces lag. Queues smooth spikes and decouple services but require idempotent consumers. For failures, name timeouts, retries with backoff and a fallback. State what you give up whenever you choose.

      System design course →
    • Back-of-envelope estimates and what they decide

      Estimates are there to choose a design, so finish each one with a decision. Use round numbers: a day has about 100,000 seconds, so 10 million requests a day is roughly 100 per second on average, with a peak of a few times that. Multiply object size by count for storage, and compare against one machine's capacity. If one database handles the load, say so and avoid sharding.

      Capacity estimation →

    Prepare with: Book · System designSystem design course

    2 sources for this round

  5. Managerial and team fit

    Hiring manager

    Prep guides

    Conversation with an engineering manager about past projects, handling technical challenges and working with a team.

    • project ownership
    • team collaboration
    • handling technical challenges

    Practise for this round

    What can be asked in a hiring manager round

    A conversation about your past work and how you would fit the team: depth on projects, ownership, decisions and trade-offs, sometimes a design problem.

    • Pick a project and go deep: why this design, what broke, what you would change

      Choose a project you can discuss at every layer. Explain the problem and who it served, the options you considered, why you chose one, what broke and what you would change now. Be clear which parts you did and which the team did. Admitting a flaw earns trust. Opening line: the main constraint was latency, so I chose a cache in front of the database, and I would now add an invalidation strategy.

      Resume grilling chapter →
    • A time you disagreed with a teammate or pushed back on a decision

      Use situation, task, action, result, and keep the disagreement about the work, never the person. The listener is checking that you can hold a view with evidence, listen, and commit once the decision is made. Describe what you proposed, the data or reasoning you used, how you reached agreement or accepted the other path, and what happened. Do not invent a story: use a real one, even a small one.

      Behavioural chapter →
    • How you prioritise when everything is urgent

      Show a method rather than a claim of being busy. Describe how you judge impact and deadline, ask who needs the result and when, and say no or renegotiate scope early when two things clash. Mention communicating the trade-off to stakeholders so nobody is surprised. A sentence you could adapt: I list what is blocking others first, then what has a fixed date, then what moves a metric.

      Behavioural chapter →
    • What you want from the next role and the team

      Answer honestly and tie it to what the role offers. Say what you want to learn or own next, such as larger systems, more ownership of design, or mentoring, and what kind of team helps you do it. Then ask what the team is trying to achieve this year and how the work is reviewed. The listener checks that your wishes match the job and that you have thought about it.

    Prepare with: Book · Resume grillingBook · Behavioural

    2 sources for this round

  6. HR round

    HR and offer

    One report

    One campus report asks why Paytm and about strengths and weaknesses; a guide adds compensation expectations and logistics. Two other campus reports describe no separate HR round.

    • motivation
    • self-awareness
    • logistics and expectations

    Practise for this round

    What can be asked in a hr and offer round

    The closing conversation: motivation, expectations, notice period, compensation and how the offer is structured. Prepared answers and a clear number help here.

    • Current and expected compensation, and how to answer without boxing yourself in

      Be honest and avoid giving a single number too early. Share your current pay only if you are comfortable, and make clear what is fixed and what is variable. For expectations, say you are flexible for the right role, and offer a researched range based on level and market. If pushed, state a figure you can justify. Never state a number you cannot support, because offers are often checked.

      HR and the number chapter →
    • Notice period, joining date and relocation

      Give the facts exactly as they are in your contract. State the notice period, whether early release or a buy-out is truly possible, and the earliest honest joining date. Do not promise a date your employer has not agreed to. For relocation, say whether you can move, how soon, and whether you would need support. Clear, early information helps the recruiter plan and shows you are reliable.

      HR and the number chapter →
    • Why you are leaving and what you are looking for

      Keep it positive and forward looking. Talk about what you want more of, such as larger scale, ownership or a stronger team, rather than criticising your current employer. The listener checks that you will not leave this job for the same reason. Opening line: I have learned a lot in the current role, and I now want to work on problems at a bigger scale.

    • Levels, equity and how the offer is built

      Ask for the structure rather than only the total. Find out the level and title, base salary, bonus and whether it is guaranteed, equity amount, vesting schedule and cliff, joining bonus and any clawback. Compare offers on a yearly total with the same assumptions. If equity is in a private company, ask how it is valued and what happens on leaving. Asking calmly is normal and expected.

      Levels and equity chapter →

    Prepare with: Book · HR & the numberBook · Levels & equity

    2 sources for this round

Preparing for the people rounds at Paytm

The hiring manager, behavioural and offer conversations. Candidate reports shape the themes; the answers and frames are written for this site, so use them as a structure and bring your own stories.

What Paytm says it values

  • Shipping under a deadlineA prep guide lists shipping a critical feature under a tight timeline as a typical managerial prompt.
  • Calm outage responseThe same guide lists responding to a production outage in a high-throughput system as a typical prompt.
  • Ownership under pressureThe guide says interviewers look for evidence that you take ownership, so expect to show a problem followed through to the end.
  • Working through ambiguityThe guide says interviewers look for people who can navigate ambiguity, so have an example of unclear requirements.
  • Clear communicationThe guide says interviewers look for people who communicate well under pressure.
  • Motivation for PaytmA campus report lists a direct why-Paytm question in the HR round, so a specific reason helps.

Themes candidates report being probed

  • Shipping a critical feature on a tight timeline
  • Responding to a production outage
  • Ownership and communication under pressure
  • Ambiguity
  • Why Paytm
  • Strengths and weaknesses
  • Compensation expectations and logistics

Questions to rehearse

  1. Tell me about shipping an important feature against a tight deadline. What did you cut, and what did you protect?Prep guides

    What is being checked. A prep guide lists this as a typical managerial-round prompt; the listener checks whether you can scope under pressure without hiding the risk you accepted.

    How to frame it. Set out the fixed date, the scope you reduced and why, what you refused to cut (correctness, rollback, monitoring), and how you told stakeholders. An opening you can adapt: 'We had [number] weeks to deliver [feature], so I split the work into [must-have] and [later], and I would not compromise on [protected item].'

    Prep guide ↗

  2. Describe how you responded when a high-traffic system you worked on went down.Prep guides

    What is being checked. The same guide lists an outage prompt; it checks calm triage, communication during the incident and what you changed afterwards.

    How to frame it. Follow the order: detect, reduce user impact, find the cause, fix, communicate, then prevent. Say who you kept informed and how often, and what the post-incident change was. An opening you can adapt: 'The first signal was [alert or report], and before looking for the cause I focused on [mitigation step].'

    Worked example in the Interview book →Prep guide ↗

  3. Why do you want to join this company in particular?One report

    What is being checked. A campus candidate reports being asked this directly in the HR round; the listener wants a reason that is specific and not generic enthusiasm.

    How to frame it. Give one concrete reason tied to scale or the type of problems in payments, one tied to your own skills, and one honest thing you want to learn. Avoid repeating the brand name as the reason. An opening you can adapt: 'The kind of problem I want more of is [problem type], and your scale means I would see it in [way].'

    Worked example in the Interview book →Candidate write-up ↗

  4. What are your strengths and your weaknesses?One report

    What is being checked. The campus HR round included this question; the listener checks self-awareness and whether the weakness you name is real and being worked on.

    How to frame it. Choose strengths you can prove with one example each, and a real weakness that is not fatal for the role, followed by what you are doing about it. An opening you can adapt: 'One thing I do well is [strength], for example when [short example]; something I am working on is [weakness], and I handle it by [habit].'

    Candidate write-up ↗

  5. Walk me through an internship or project you worked on and what you personally did in it.One report

    What is being checked. The campus report describes a short internship and project discussion at the end of the second technical round; the listener checks that your claimed work is really yours.

    How to frame it. Give the goal, your own part in two or three sentences, one hard decision and the outcome. Be ready for follow-ups on any detail you mention. An opening you can adapt: 'The project was [goal]; my part was [specific piece], and the decision I would defend is [decision].'

    Worked example in the Interview book →Candidate write-up ↗

  6. What are your compensation expectations, and what are the logistics around joining?Prep guides

    What is being checked. A guide says the final HR conversation covers compensation expectations, logistics and next steps in the offer process, so the listener is aligning the offer with your situation.

    How to frame it. Know your current pay structure, your notice period and any buy-out options before the call. Give a researched range and anchor it on the role, not on your current pay alone. An opening you can adapt: 'Based on the scope of the role and the market, I am looking at [range], and I am flexible on how it is split.'

    Worked example in the Interview book →Prep guide ↗

The offer conversation

  • A prep guide says the final HR conversation covers compensation expectations, logistics and next steps in the offer process. No first-hand offer account from an experienced hire was found.
  • As general advice, get the full breakdown of fixed pay, variable pay and any joining terms in writing, check the notice period and buy-out position, and ask about the level and band before sharing a figure.

What we could not verify. No official values page was found; these are the themes a prep guide and a campus report point to, not Paytm statements. The only first-hand source is a campus report, undated apart from a July 2025 page update, and no experienced-hire managerial or HR account was readable.

What we could not verify. Could not read LeetCode Discuss (SDE-2 F2F, SDE-1) or Naukri Code360 (403), nor the Medium reports cited by one guide, so no first-hand 2022+ SDE-1/SDE-2 report was verified. All first-hand reads are campus reports: two titled 2021 (the year is not in the body) and one with only a 2025 page-update date. A 2025 guide's fresher and senior accounts are summaries of Medium posts. Round durations beyond the 2021 campus drive come from guides. SDE-3 not covered.