I applied in-person. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Paytm (Noida) in Jul 2021
Interview
I applies by directly sending an email to the hiring manager after seeing his linkedin post.
First Round:
It was an average round where I was asked a few basic questions and then I had to code a typical DS problem. I was asked if I can reduce the time complexity of the code. I tried and thought out loud. After a couple of minutes I was able to do that.
I got a call after 2 weeks that I have cleared the round.
Second Round:
The person taking this round had no idea what he was there for. He asked which round this is and then went on to ask the questions I was asked in the previous round. Then he went on took a full technical round. He gave me question to solve also but he was too busy with his own stuff. I had to call out his name multiple times to get his attention. Disappointing.
Nevertheless, I got a call again after a week that they are scheduling this third round with the hiring manager.
Third Round:
This round was actually easier than the previous round. He asked in detail about how collections worked, different joins on DB2 etc.
At this stage I thought I will be able to clear the third round.
After a week, I sent a follow up email asking for feedback only to get three words in reply "Feedback is negative".