JPMorgan Chase Interview Experience — Code for Good Hackathon
Hello folks, I am Sudipto Ghosh a final year undergraduate in Information Technology from Jalpaiguri Government Engineering College, West Bengal . I have been offered Software Developer Engineer role in JPMorgan Chase (Glasgow,Scotland) through Code for Good program.
In this blog, I will cover the application process, my Interview experience and tips to stand out in JPMC Interview.
📌Application process
I applied for 2021 EMEA Software Engineering role directly through their Careers site and without any referral.
✔️ Interview rounds
- Pymetrics test : The 1st round is pymetrics test which is used to check one’s logical and aptitude reasoning.
2. Coding & behavioural round : After clearing the pymetrics test, I was invited for coding round which took place in HireVue platform. There were 2 coding questions ( 1 LeetCode easy and 1 LeetCode medium) as per my experience and 2 behavioural questions. After coding your solution one need to explain his/her approach through video in a certain duration.
Make sure you speak what you have coded — the approach and improvisation to your solution if any.
3. After clearing this round, I was invited to participate in Code for Good Hackathon (EMEA region) — my 1st International Hackathon 🤩
So for those who don’t know what CFG is -
Code for Good is a series of Hackathon hosted in JPMorgan’s global technology centers. During this event, participants spend 12–24 hours with company’s employees, developing creative solutions to help nonprofits tackle real world problems.
Not wasting much time , starting off my experience in CFG which is sole purpose of writing this blog.
This competition was carried off on Zoom virtually from 15–17th October in Britain Standard Time(BST).
📅 Day1
It was basically welcome session to the program where we were told about the plan for next 2 days of the Hackathon. ( Not much to speak on to be honest. )
📅 Day2
Git Workshop 😇
So, it started off with Git Workshop. ( Though the basics part of Git and GitHub is covered during the workshop make sure you have idea on it before you participate in the Hackathon.)
Meet your mentor session 👨💻
Every team was allotted 2 mentors to help them throughout the Hackathon and assess their performance. We had a introductory session with our mentor through which they came to know our team better.
Opening ceremony🎊
On the opening ceremony of the program , the organizers stated their agenda of this program and welcomed all the participants 😇. 4 Non profit organizations presented their problems they are looking for us to solve during this Hackathon.
After some time , teams were allotted with the NGOs they will be working on. We started brainstorming on the problem statement given to us.
Our problem statement — To build a platform which help students gain virtual experience in medical field with live streaming facilities.
Q&A with NGO 🙋
In the midst we had Q&A session with the NGO were we asked questions on our problem statements and solution they are looking for us to deliver.
We were given 20 hours to submit our solution.
After brainstorming with the team we came up with the right tech stack to complete this challenge after consulting with our mentors.
We discussed flow of the application , database design and front end architecture before jumping into coding as it is must to consolidate your idea before coding.
Coding Phase starts :
We started coding from scratch, I was mainly working on the backend stuff with two of my friends — Daneil(Nigeria) and Amber(England). I and Daniel decided to work on our backend stuff until and unless we complete it fully before the Hackathon — ended up being sleepless that night 😪.
We were provided Industry experts as Subject Matter Experts(SMEs) to resolve queries on technical aspects.
📞 One on One Mentor Call
During the Hackathon, I had 2 one on one call with my mentor. This call was taken to get a background check on the candidate and assess his/her key strength ,weakness . If you are taking a lead role you are supposed to be asked more questions , also some questions are asked based on yours friends feedback working with you.
📅 Day3 (D Day)
From the midnight we were working hard to finish our project and presentation before the given deadline . Hopefully we were able to give a MVP with presentation by the submission time.
Result 😬
Even after giving our best, we were unable to win the competition. Though the overall experience was great 😊.
The winning team’s project are taken further into Force for Good program where they are given an opportunity to complete their project end to end in 8 months duration for the NGOs they worked on.
This was just the glimpse of the Hackathon and I can’t share every aspect of this competition because :
Post Hackathon
After the Hackathon, I was back to my daily schedule of Interview preparation. One sudden day (22nd Oct.) while I was giving coding round for another company, I received a call from USA number.
I initially thought not to receive it being spam. I somehow gained some strength to pick up the phone . To my unaware , it was a call from EMEA recruiter 💥 stating
We are happy to offer you a Software Engineering role in our Glasgow office .
I literally 😭 out that day hearing this news. It was nothing more than a dream offer for me.
Key takeaways from the Hackathon
It was one hell of a lifetime experience. I participated in more than 50+ Hackathons in past 1 year but this time I participated with some incredible people across the globe (one of the best to be recognized with though being virtual). I made myself comfortable with the time zone after a day.
Never preassume anything throughout the Hackathon or the Interview process. One of my friend have won the Hackathon but still haven’t received back any update after the Hackathon. It doesn’t mean that he isn’t worthy. There are many factors on which a role is being given to a candidate by the authority. From my perspective it’s your past experience and your role in the Hackathon . Never miss any opportunity to ask questions and stand out when needed .
Things which I thing one should possess throughout the Hackathon are:
- Team Work : “We rise by lifting others” -Robert G. Ingersoll
2. Leadership Quality : “ Leadership is the ability to get extraordinary achievement from ordinary people.” — Brian Tracy
3. Being inquisitive : “Asking right questions to the right person can open up new opportunities for you.”
Feel free to ask any questions, if any :)
LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/sudiptoghosh11/
Follow me on GitHub — https://github.com/pydevsg
