I recently had the opportunity to interview for a Software Development Engineer (SDE) role at SBS Software through my college placement drive (2026 batch). Here’s a breakdown of the selection process:
About the Company & Offer
- Company: SBS Software - they specialize in banking and financial software solutions (core banking, payments, lending, open banking, etc.).
- Role: Software Development Engineer (SDE)
- Package: 8 LPA (CTC)
- Bond: 2 years
- Location: Likely Noida/Gurugram/NCR region (they have offices in India).
Overall Process: 4-5 rounds total, 2 rounds (1 & 2) on-campus and 2-3 at the company’s office
Round 1: Online MCQ Test (Elimination round)
- Duration: 50 minutes
- Questions: 30 MCQs
Topics:
a. DBMS
b. OOPs concepts (very important - inheritance, polymorphism, etc.)
c. C/C++ (output prediction, pointers, memory management)
d. Data Structures (basic arrays, linked lists, stacks/queues, trees)
e. Spot the error / output-based questions
Cutoff: Minimum 20 correct to qualify (they were strict about this).
Tip: Revise theory + lots of output-based MCQs from GeeksforGeeks. DBMS played a crucial role in shortlisting candidates.
Round 2: Aptitude Round (Algorithmic Flowcharts)
- Duration: 75 minutes
- Format: Around 10–12 questions based on understanding/analyzing flowcharts and predicting outputs or finding the correct next step.
- This was not a typical quant/aptitude round; it focused more on pseudo-code logic and algorithmic thinking through diagrams.
- Cutoff: 8-10 correct (approx., they shortlisted ~30–40% here).
Tip: Practice flowchart-based puzzles (available on some placement prep sites or YouTube). Focus on loop conditions, variable tracing, and decision boxes.
Round 3 & 4: Technical Interviews (1 or 2 rounds)
Mostly 1–2 technical rounds (45–60 min each), depending on panel and performance. These rounds included discussions on:
- Full-stack concepts (HTML/CSS/JS basics, React/Angular if you mention frontend, REST APIs, Node.js/Spring if backend)
- DSA - Mostly easy to medium level: arrays, strings, linked lists, basic trees/graphs, sorting/searching. No live coding on platform, mostly discussion + dry run.
- Computer Science Fundamentals - OS (processes, threads, deadlock), CN (OSI/TCP-IP basics), DBMS (most focus).
- DBMS Focus - They focused deeply on JOINS (all types with examples, differences between INNER/LEFT/RIGHT/FULL, self-join), VIEWS (types, updatable views, advantages), indexes, normalization (up to 3NF/BCNF with examples), ACID properties, SQL queries (window functions, subqueries, GROUP BY with HAVING).
- Resume & Projects - Explain your projects in depth (tech stack, challenges, your contribution). Be ready to defend design decisions. One interviewer asked me to improve one of my project DB schemas on the spot.
Tip: Prepare DBMS thoroughly - especially Joins + Views + real-world query examples.
Final Round: HR Interview (~25 minutes)
1. Very conversational.
2. Questions like:
a. Tell me about yourself.
b. Why SBS Software? (Tip: Mention their work in the banking/fintech domain, global presence in 50+ countries, focus on digital banking solutions - show you’ve checked their website.)
c. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
d. Willingness to relocate (if any), family background, bond understanding.
e. Any questions for us? (Ask about learning opportunities, tech stack used in projects, growth path for freshers.)
f. They also explained the bond and package breakup clearly here.
Result: Not selected, but it was a great learning experience.