Bharti Airtel Interview Preparation
55+ telecom, networking, backend and DSA questions with complete solutions.
| Question | Answer | Category |
|---|---|---|
| Q1. Explain OSI model. | Physical, Data Link, Network, Transport, Session, Presentation, Application. Each layer has specific functions. | Technical |
| Q2. Difference between TCP and UDP. | TCP: reliable, ordered, slower. UDP: fast, connectionless, unreliable. Used in streaming, gaming. | Technical |
| Q3. DSA: Merge sorted arrays. | Two pointer technique. Compare elements, add smaller to result. | Coding |
| Q4. What is 4G/5G technology? | 4G: LTE for high-speed mobile data. 5G: ultra-fast, low latency, massive IoT connectivity. | Technical |
| Q5. Longest substring without repeating chars. | Sliding window with hashmap for O(n) solution. | Coding |
| Q6. REST API design principles. | Stateless, client-server, cacheable, uniform interface, use proper HTTP methods/status codes. | Technical |
| Q7. Two Sum problem. | HashMap for O(n) solution. Store complement, check if current num is complement. | Coding |
| Q8. Explain DNS. | Domain Name System: translates domain names to IP addresses. Hierarchical system with root, TLD, authoritative servers. | Technical |
| Q9. Reverse linked list. | Three pointers: prev, curr, next. Reverse links iteratively. | Coding |
| Q10. Maximum subarray sum (Kadane). | Track current sum, reset if negative. Update max at each step. | Coding |
| Q11. Database scaling techniques. | Replication, sharding, caching, indexing, query optimization, read replicas. | Technical |
| Q12. Check balanced parentheses. | Stack: push opening, pop on closing. Empty stack = balanced. | Coding |
| Q13. How does HTTP/HTTPS work. | HTTP: stateless, port 80. HTTPS: encrypted with SSL/TLS, port 443. Adds security. | Technical |
| Q14. Find duplicates in array. | Floyd cycle detection or hashmap approach. O(n) time. | Coding |
| Q15. Microservices architecture. | Independent services, scalable, deployable separately, communicate via APIs or messaging. | Technical |
| Q16. Intersection of two linked lists. | Two pointers: when one reaches end, switch to other. Meet at intersection. | Coding |
| Q17. Group anagrams. | Use sorted word as key in hashmap. Collect words with same key. | Coding |
| Q18. What is VoIP? | Voice over Internet Protocol: transmit voice over internet instead of traditional phone lines. | Technical |
| Q19. Rotate array by k. | Slicing or reverse technique. O(n) time, O(1) space with reversal. | Coding |
| Q20. Load balancing strategies. | Round-robin, least connections, IP hash, weighted, geographic-based distribution. | Technical |
| Q21. Valid palindrome check. | Remove non-alphanumeric, compare with reverse, ignore case. | Coding |
| Q22. Factorial calculation. | Iterative or recursive. Base case: fact(0)=1. | Coding |
| Q23. What is IP address? | Internet Protocol address: unique identifier for devices. IPv4 (32-bit) and IPv6 (128-bit). | Technical |
| Q24. Binary search. | Divide search space in half. O(log n) time on sorted array. | Coding |
| Q25. Caching strategies. | LRU, LFU, TTL-based, write-through, write-back. Improve performance, reduce DB load. | Technical |
| Q26. Remove duplicates from sorted array. | Two pointer technique. Count unique elements. | Coding |
| Q27. String reversal. | Slicing or iteration. Return reversed string. | Coding |
| Q28. Message queues. | Decouple components, async processing. Examples: RabbitMQ, Kafka, SQS. | Technical |
| Q29. Fibonacci series. | Each term = sum of previous two. Start: 0, 1. | Coding |
| Q30. What is spectrum? | Radio frequency bands used for wireless communication. Allocated by government. | Technical |
| Q31. Tell me about yourself. | Education, projects, internships, interests in telecom/networking, why Airtel. | HR |
| Q32. Why Bharti Airtel? | Market leader, 5G rollout, innovation, career growth, customer base. | HR |
| Q33. Your strengths. | Quick learner, teamwork, problem-solving, communication, analytical. | HR |
| Q34. Weaknesses. | Show self-awareness and improvement: perfectionist, building faster decision-making. | HR |
| Q35. Team collaboration. | STAR method: situation, task, action, result. Emphasize communication and teamwork. | HR |
| Q36. Missing number in array. | Expected sum minus actual sum. XOR approach also works. | Coding |
| Q37. Prime number check. | Check divisibility up to sqrt(n). O(sqrt(n)) time. | Coding |
| Q38. Session management. | Cookies, tokens (JWT), server-side sessions. Security, scalability considerations. | Technical |
| Q39. Anagram check. | Sort both strings and compare, or use character frequency. | Coding |
| Q40. Second largest element. | Track first and second largest. O(n) time, O(1) space. | Coding |
| Q41. How do you handle pressure? | Prioritize, break problems into chunks, communicate, maintain focus. | HR |
| Q42. Salary expectations. | Research telecom sector. Give realistic range with flexibility. | HR |
| Q43. Array intersection. | Use hashset. O(n+m) time complexity. | Coding |
| Q44. Number to words. | Breaking down into groups of three digits. | Coding |
| Q45. Count character occurrences. | Hashmap or counter. O(n) time. | Coding |
| Q46. Rate limiting. | Token bucket, sliding window. Prevent API abuse, ensure fair usage. | Technical |
| Q47. Bubble sort. | Compare adjacent, swap if wrong order. O(n²) worst case. | Coding |
| Q48. Selection sort. | Find minimum in unsorted part, swap with first unsorted. O(n²). | Coding |
| Q49. Career goals in 5 years. | Senior developer, team lead, network architect, or specialist role. | HR |
| Q50. Any questions? | Ask about projects, team structure, tech stack, growth opportunities, 5G initiatives. | HR |
| Q51. Insertion sort. | Build sorted array one item at time. O(n²) worst, O(n) best. | Coding |
| Q52. GCD of two numbers. | Euclidean algorithm: gcd(a,b) = gcd(b, a%b). | Coding |
| Q53. LCM calculation. | lcm(a,b) = (a*b) / gcd(a,b). | Coding |
| Q54. Authentication vs Authorization. | Auth: verify identity. Authz: check permissions. Both essential for security. | Technical |
| Q55. How do you stay updated? | Online courses, tech blogs, GitHub, coding platforms, tech podcasts, conferences. | HR |