25+ Factset Interview Questions and Placement Paper

I am sharing Factset Interview Questions and my experience with Factset placement. Total 4 Rounds: 1st Written, 2nd Tech Interview (with 2-panel members), 3rd Tech interview(with only 1 but senior panel member), 4th The HR Interview.

1st Round: Written Test

It was a pen and paper test having only 3 coding questions (Total Points: 25+15+10) but to be solved in 60 minutes (we need to write pseudo code and the main focus in this round was only on your logic with the optimized code nothing else).

1. You have 2 sorted arrays having a different sizes. Find the median which will get after merging these arrays. Complexity should be O(log m + log n) where m and n are the sizes of those arrays. (Points 15)
2. There is the (m x n) matrix having elements in each row sorted. Need to find the common element in each row of that matrix in complexity O(m x n). (Points 25)
   I did the hashing-based solution as given in the above link.
3. Traverse the binary tree in a zigzag manner. (Points 10)

2nd Round: Factset Interview Questions  (Technical Interview–2 on 1)

(For this round total of 24 guys were shortlisted.)

Following are the Factset Interview Questions asked me.

4. Tell me about yourself.
5. There is an array of size N and having elements from 1 to N, none repeating how will u find the sum? (Sol. Arithmetic addition i.e. N(N+1)/2 i.e. in complexity O(1))
6. Now in that array, any 1 value is replaced with any other value from the array. This means the array is having one missing and one repeating number. Find those missing and repeating numbers (I tried to give them a solution but they required O(N) solution so I gave a solution with Time complexity O(N) and Space O(N), but they were looking for Time Complexity O(N) and Space O(1)).
7. As I directly tell them that I am not comfortable with C++, so they didn’t ask me any questions related to it. Then in my resume C and Java were written, so only one question they asked me:
   Give a problem that can be solved in Java but not in C.
   (I tried my level best but they crossed me down each time and in the end, I kept mum for two minutes and they understand that it is not possible for me so moved to the next question)
8. Now there is a string having only S (Ex. “SSSSSSSSS…”) we don’t know the length. Encode the string in fashion like:
   SS -> (S), SSS-> (S)S, SSSS->((S)), SSSSS->((S))S, SSSSSS->((S)S)….
   This means each value in the bracket will be repeated two times if we’ll decode it e.g.,
   ((S)S)->(SSS)->SSSSSS,
   i.e. even after encoding, we should be able to decode it back to the original.
   (Here again, I tried my best but even after giving so many thoughts, I was not even close enough to the solution. So they gave me hint to use recursion, but for me, it was of no use)
9. Now one of them asked me about Anagram (if we have two strings and if they are having the same frequency of characters, those strings are called anagrams).
   He gave me relief in space complexity and find the solution in O (M+N) where M and N are the sizes of the strings.
   I solved it using HashMap() having the key as character and value as the count of that character in the 1st string and now while parsing the 2nd string we’ll reduce the count.
   (Note: This question was asked in an online coding test of Amazon too, but no complexity constraint was there)
   Solution: How to Check whether Two Strings are Anagram or not?
10. They asked me to write a function that will accept an element, and we need to check if it is present in the Fibonacci series if yes, return the index, else return 0.
11. Tell the logic and thereafter write pseudo code to swap the Kth element from the left side with the Kth element from the right side of a Linked List.
12. In the end, they were done with their questions and ask me if I have any questions for them. So asked the solution for the string of “SSSSSS…” problem, and they told me to just google it, man. 😛

3rd Round: Factset Interview Questions (Technical Interview)

An interviewer was senior-most. For this round, a total of 11 guys were shortlisted.

Oh gosh, it was a sigh of relief for me when I heard my name for the 3rd round, maybe I was lucky or the rest guys didn’t give their best that I got a chance.

This round I can say is a Data Structure round only. They asked some of the data structure interview questions. (At least for me and for each question he made me write code). Following are the Factset Interview Questions has been asked me.

13. He directly asked me to let us check your data structure skills.
14. There is a sorted array having only and exactly two elements misplaced find those two and put them at their respective places.
    First as with my naïve thinking as the array was sorted so directly apply the binary search algorithm so that it can be solved in O(log N) time. But within a second he gave me an example where this approach was total of no use. So I directly give him an O(N) solution that is in only one pass we will get the index of each of these elements also he asked me to write the code for it and I did it. 🙂
15. There is a binary search tree and given two numbers say K1 and K2. Find all the values from the tree lying in this range only, and also give the pseudo-code for it. (I gave him a recursive programming solution and he found the case where it will fail so asked me to rectify it and I removed that bug.)
16. There is already a binary tree and each node is having extra pointer nextSubling. Write pseudocode which will update this pointer such that it will point to the node next to it on the same level, if there is no such node so it should point to NULL.
17. Suppose there are two linked lists both of which may or may not intersect at some point. If they do, they become a single linked list from that point. So check whether they intersect or not if yes at which node. (Those linked lists may be of different sizes).
18. Last question: Print the value of only boundary elements of a binary tree. i.e. the left boundary, then leaf nodes and the right boundary. Note order is important and no element should be printed twice.
    Solution: This is nothing but the inorder traversal of the binary tree.
19. And a formality question, do you have any questions for me? I said not now.

They can ask you to write a code, so practice solving interview coding questions.

4th Round: Factset Interview Questions (HR)

This round was not held for everyone. For some guys, it was included in the 3rd round itself and for some guys it was separate.

I’ll say it was a formality round. But still much important cause it was only 10 min but in that round HR was judging my communication skill (But not of a higher level) as well as whether I will join and work in the company for at least the next 3-4 years. Following are the brief Factset interview questions asked me in the HR round.

20. How was your day?
21. How was the screening process?
22. Then asked me about the written round. How did you solve those questions means your approach?
23. Tell me about your family background?
24. Have you searched for anything about FACTSET? Do you know anything about FACTSET?
25. What does FACTSET do?
26. Is the package sufficient for you?
    (Note: Even though trivial but most important question in judging whether you will join and work in it at least for next 3-4 years, give the answer in a positive way like you were just waiting for such kind of package only. I did by giving a wide smile and a wow kind of expression).
27. Why do you prefer Hyderabad? (Be flexible for this question even if you are not wishing for Hyderabad still say that you don’t have any issue with any work location and convince it in a proper manner).
28. Again the same last question Do you have any questions for me?
    I said not now. So he asked why? I said if I get the offer, after joining I’ll ask. So what will you ask after your joining? I said, “What will be my role? Even it was mentioned in PPT but still in which area I will be working?” So he explained to me about all their departments and my role will be decided depending on my performance in the training. I said ok and that is why I was going to ask this question after my joining.

You will be asked different questions. You should be prepared for all the common questions asked in HR rounds.

Following are Factset Interview Questions asked to other Guys by the Different Panel:

• Some interviewers asked about some puzzles. Here are some puzzles that will help you to practice.
• Some asked about the database like writing database schema for an Inventory like that.
• Also, read different types of database keys used in DBMS.
• Some asked about the solutions you have written for questions in the written test (Yes, please note that you should go through the solutions of questions asked in the written test).

Note (Some basic tips which helped me):

• For each code writing: try to write a code that will handle most of the negative scenarios like in the Fibonacci series I missed the exception handling for considering negative values.
• Don’t jump directly to write the code. First, take your time to think about the logic discuss it with the interviewers then try to write code in a neat and clean fashion so that it can be readable as well as understandable for them as well as you. Also, explain to them calmly and confirm with them whether they understood or are you going in the right direction like that. Be confident and don’t lower your voice while explaining.
• And don’t worry about the time they will give ample time but still try to write or think as fast as you can.
• For any question asked please don’t give up directly. If you don’t know at all and if you think it won’t be possible for you to figure out the answer even after thinking logically then it’s okay to tell them sorry I am not able to figure it out or don’t know. But try your best to at least think in the direction of the solution.
• Please read “Coding Interview Questions by NarsimhaKarumanchi” and “Cracking the Coding Interview” before appearing in any of the coding interviews. These books really helped me a lot. 🙂

ALL THE BEST GUYS!

Editors’ Note: Thank you Akhil Tambi for sharing Factset Interview Questions and your experience with Factset placement. We wish you all the best for your future.

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