Walmart Interview Questions

Now that we've learned a little about Walmart, I'm sure you're tempted to apply for a job there! Because they care so much about their teams and the individuals that make them up, their hiring process is an important aspect of their culture. The goal of Walmart's hiring team is to create a more diverse and inclusive workplace, which starts with employing highly qualified people from varied backgrounds. Walmart's hiring team believes that in order to truly develop for everyone, there must be a diversity of viewpoints and experiences, and a fair hiring process is the first step. To be considered for the job position at Walmart, candidates must go through the following rounds and pass them all:

• Online Assessment
• Technical Interview Rounds
• HR Rounds

All of the rounds listed above are elimination rounds, and you must pass all of them to be considered for the role.

1. Online Assessment:

Taking an online assessment test is the first step in the hiring process. Those who succeed in this phase will be invited to the technical interviews. The online assessment is usually a 90 minutes assessment and includes around 10 MCQs (based on Computer Science fundamental subjects like Object-Oriented Programming, Computer Networks, Operating Systems and Database Management Systems) and three coding questions. The difficulty level of the coding questions ranges from easy to medium to medium-hard. 

To clear this round, have a strong knowledge of the CS fundamental subjects. Also, practice a lot of coding problems as this will help you to clear this assessment. 

2. Technical Interview Rounds:

The technical face-to-face interview is the most important part of the entire hiring process. You will be summoned for a Technical interview if you pass the online assessment test. In this round, the interviewer assesses the candidate’s technical skills and knowledge. Candidates are frequently asked questions based on their resumes and areas of interest during this phase. 

You need to have a thorough understanding of at least one programming language, System Design, as well as computer fundamental subjects such as Object-Oriented Programming (OOPs), DataBase Management Systems (DBMS), Operating Systems (OS), Computer Networks (CN), and be able to explain them to the interviewer. You should also be aware of the latest developing technologies, to achieve a good grade in this round. You must choose and prepare for a field of interest that is directly related to the job. Your problem-solving abilities may be judged during this stage, which may involve puzzles and aptitude tests. Also, be prepared to answer questions about your projects/internships and your involvement in them.

Candidates at Walmart usually need to undergo 3 rounds of technical interviews. However, the number of technical round interviews may vary depending on your performance in the first round of interviews. You must perform well in all of the rounds in order to increase your chances of getting selected for the next round.

3. HR Interview Round:

The Human Resources or HR round of the Walmart Recruitment Process is conducted to see if the candidate is a cultural fit for Walmart. In order to ace these interviews, candidates need to study more about Walmart and its products. Here, the interviewer wants to assess you beyond your technical skills. They want to assess your desire and will to join the company. They can also ask about Walmart's history, such as when it was founded, its objectives, values, and goals, as well as its organisational structure.

Most candidates believe that the HR interview is simple, but keep in mind that a poor HR interview can jeopardise your chances of receiving the job, even if you have cleared all other barriers. The goal is to maintain a pleasant and confident demeanour. Because interviews can be long and dull, remember to smile throughout.

Candidates may be assigned puzzle-based questions during these rounds to assess their overall intelligence and how well they adapt to difficult and challenging situations. If an applicant fits all of the aforementioned qualifications and has previously shown exceptional technical abilities, he or she will almost probably be employed at Walmart. Some of the questions that may be asked during the Human Resources or HR round are as follows:

• What are some of your strengths and weaknesses?
• What made you want to work at Walmart in the first place?
• What value would you bring to Walmart, and how do you see yourself making a difference in the world while you're working here?
• Is it feasible for you to move to a different part of the country?
• Describe yourself, including who you are and what you know about yourself.
• What was it about Walmart that initially piqued your interest?
• What makes you so special that we should recruit you?
• What are some of the aspects of this career that you find appealing?
• Describe your Final Year Project in detail. What innovative ideas did you offer to this project?

For further assistance, Check out our HR Interview article.

Example:  Input: array[] = {5, 6, 3, 2, 8, 9, 10}             k = 3  Output: array[] = {2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10}  

Input: array[] = {10, 9, 8, 4, 7, 70, 50, 60}          k = 4 Output: array[] = {4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 50, 60, 70}

Approach 1:

In this approach, we will use insertion sort to sort the array. Since it is given that each element of the given array is utmost k positions away from its original position, the inner loop of the insertion sort will run utmost k times. 

Code:

void sortArray(int arr[], int size, int k)
{
   int i, key, j;
   for (i = 1; i < size; i++)
   {
       key = arr[i];
       j = i-1;
 
       /* We move the elements of arr[0..i-1], that are
          greater than key, to one
          position ahead of their current position.
          This loop will run at most k times */
       while (j >= 0 && arr[j] > key)
       {
           arr[j+1] = arr[j];
           j = j-1;
       }
       arr[j+1] = key;
   }
}

Explanation:

In the above code, the function sortArray takes the input of an array, its size and k as input, and returns the sorted array. The inner loop runs utmost k times since it is given in the problem statement that each element of the given array is utmost k positions away from its sorted position. So, the time complexity of this approach is O(nk), where n is the size of the array.

Approach 2:

In this approach, we use the heap data structure to solve the problem more efficiently. With the first k+1 elements, we make a Min Heap of size k+1. This will take O(k) time. We then remove the min element from the heap one by one, place them in the result array, and add a new element to the heap from the remaining elements. It will take O(log k) time to remove an element and add a new element to the min-heap. As a result, the total complexity will be O(k) + O(n-k) * log(k).

Code:

#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
 

int sortArray(int arry[], int n, int k)
{
     
    int size;
    size = (n==k) ? k : k+1; //When the size of array is k itself, we insert k elements to the heap else we insert k + 1 elements
    priority_queue<int, vector<int>, greater<int> > p_queue(arry, arry +size); // Min heap 
 
    // i is index for remaining elements in arr[] and index is target index of current minimum element in Min Heap 'pq'.
    int index = 0;
    for (int i = k + 1; i < n; i++) {
        arry[index++] = p_queue.top();
        p_queue.pop();
        p_queue.push(arry[i]);
    }
 
    while (p_queue.empty() == false) {
        arry[index++] = p_queue.top();
        p_queue.pop();
    }
}
 
// A function to print the array elements
void showArray(int arry[], int size)
{
    for (int i = 0; i < size; i++)
        cout << arry[i] << " ";
    cout << “\n”;
}
 
// main function to call the above functions
int main()
{
    int k = 4;
    int arry[] = { 10, 9, 8, 4, 7, 70, 50, 60};
    int n = sizeof(arry) / sizeof(arry[0]);
    sortArray(arry, n, k);
 
    cout << "The sorted array is as follows:" << endl;
    showArray(arry, n);
 
    return 0;
}

Output:

The sorted array is as follows:
4 7 8 9 10 50 60 70

Explanation: 

In the above code, the function sortArray takes the input of the array, its size and k. We create a min-heap of size k + 1 and iterate over the remaining elements one by one. We extract the min element from the heap in each iteration and remove it from the heap.

Useful Resources

• Data Science Interview Questions
• Java Interview Questions
• Data Engineer Interview Questions
• Software Engineering Interview Questions 
• Front End Developer Interview Questions
• Technical Interview Questions
• Coding Interview Questions

There can be several approaches while writing an SQL query to a particular problem. Be sure that you explain your thinking as and when you are thinking about your approach. This will keep the interviewer engaged and present to him a clearer image of your thinking process. 

Approach 1:

SELECT name, MAX(salary) AS salary 
FROM employee 
WHERE salary IN
(SELECT salary FROM employee MINUS SELECT MAX(salary) 
FROM employee);

Here, we first find all the salaries which are not equal to the highest salary. Thus, the highest salary is eliminated by this process. Now, we need to find the employees having the highest salary in the remaining salaries.

Approach 2:

SELECT name, MAX(salary) AS salary 
FROM employee 
WHERE salary <> (SELECT MAX(salary) 
FROM employee);

Here, we use the NOT operator. We run a nested query to first find the highest salary. Then, we find the highest salary in the outer query subject to the condition that it is not equal to the highest salary returned by the inner query. 

Approach 3:

select * from employee 
group by salary 
order by  salary desc limit 1,1;

Here, we use the LIMIT operator. First of all, we order the tuples in the descending order of the salaries. Then we use the LIMIT operator and provide it with an offset value of 1. It implies that we will skip the first entry of the sorted order and limit our results to 1 entry of the remaining result. Here, we make an assumption that all the employees have unique salaries.

Process: Processes are programs that are dispatched from the ready state and scheduled for execution in the CPU. The concept of process is represented by the PCB (Process Control Block). Child Processes are created when a process creates another process.

Thread: A thread is a section of a process, which means that a process can have several threads, all of which are contained within the process. There are three states for a thread: running, ready, and blocked.

The following table illustrates the differences between processes and threads in the context of Operating Systems:

It takes 60 minutes to thoroughly burn a stick if we light it. What if we light both sides of the stick? It will take exactly half the time to burn fully, i.e. 30 minutes.

At 0 minutes: We start with lighting Stick 1 on both sides and Stick 2 on one side.

At 30 minutes: Stick 1 will be completely burnt out. Now we light the other end of the stick 2 as well. 

At 45 minutes: Stick 2 will be completely burnt out. This will mark the completion of the required 45 minutes.

Within a process, a thread is a path of execution. Multiple threads can exist in a process. A thread is the smallest unit of processing and is a lightweight sub-process.

Multithreading refers to the process of running multiple threads simultaneously in a process. By dividing a process into many threads, parallelism can be achieved. Multiple tabs in a browser, for example, can represent different threads. MS Word makes use of numerous threads: one to format the text, another to receive inputs, and so on. Below are some more advantages of multithreading.

The following are the advantages of multithreading:

• Enhanced Responsiveness: Multithreading leads to increased responsiveness in the system. This is because when there are multiple threads, even if some threads get blocked, the other threads may continue their execution.
• Less time to switch context: In the case of threads, context switching is faster. This is because threads share the same data, and code. Only the stacks are different for each thread.
• Increased system utilisation: Let us say that a single processor can have multiple threads. In that case, in a multi-processor system, each process can have multiple threads leading to an effective system utilisation. As a result of this, the throughput of the system increases as well since the number of jobs done per unit time increases.
• Communication: Since all the threads are present within one single process, communication between the threads is much simpler than that of processes.

Preprocessors, as the name implies, are programs that process our source code before compilation. The file program.c contains the source code written by programmers. This file is then preprocessed, and an enlarged source code file named program is generated. The compiler compiles this expanded file and creates an object code file named program .obj. Finally, the linker creates the executable file program.exe by linking this object code file to the object code of the library functions.

The following are the different types of preprocessors directives:

• Macros: A macro is a piece of code in a program that has a name. The compiler substitutes this name with the real piece of code whenever it encounters this name. To define a macro, use the '#define' directive. Let's look at a program to assist us to grasp what a macro is:

#include <stdio.h>
 
// macro definition
#define LIMIT 5
int main()
{
    for (int i = 0; i < LIMIT; i++) {
        printf("%d \n",i);
    }
 
    return 0;
}

In the above code, a macro “LIMIT” has been defined with 5. Whenever the compiler encounters the macro “LIMIT”, it substitutes it with 5. Hence, in the above code, the for loop runs five times. 

• File Inclusion: A preprocessor directive that instructs the compiler to include a file in the source code program. There are two categories of files that a user can incorporate into the program:
  • Header files: Header files, often known as standard files, contain the definitions of pre-defined functions such as printf() and scanf(). These files must be present in order to use these functionalities.
  • user-defined files: When a programme grows too big, it's a good idea to break it down into smaller files and include them as needed. These are referred to as user-defined files.
• Conditional Compilation: Conditional Compilation directives are a form of directive that allows you to compile or omit the compilation of a specific segment of the program based on certain criteria. The preprocessing commands 'ifdef' and 'endif' can be used to accomplish this.

• Super Key: The Super Key is a collection of all the keys that help to uniquely identify rows in a table. This means that all columns in a table that are capable of uniquely identifying the table's other columns are called super keys.
• Candidate Key: An attribute or group of attributes that can uniquely identify a tuple such that no subset of it can uniquely identify a tuple, is known as a candidate key. A candidate key can be referred to as a subset of super keys. Among all the candidate keys, one key is chosen and referred to as the primary key.
• Primary Key: A primary key is basically one of the candidate keys. A primary key is a column or group of columns in a table that helps to uniquely identify each record in that table, such that no subset of it can uniquely identify each tuple. In a table, there can only be one primary key. In addition, the primary Key cannot have identical values in any two rows. A PRIMARY KEY (PK) constraint on a column or set of columns prevents null values or duplicates from appearing. There can only be one primary key constraint per table.
• Foreign key: The column in a table that points to the primary key of another table is known as a foreign key. For example - Every employee in a corporation is assigned to a specific department, and employee and department are two distinct entities. As a result, the department's information cannot be stored in the personnel table. That's why the primary key of one table is used to connect these two tables.

Following are the actions taken by the browser whenever we type an URL into a browser and hit enter:

• To find the website's corresponding IP address, the browser scans the cache for DNS entries. It searches for the following cache:
  • Browser Cache
  • Operating Systems Cache
  • Router Cache
  • ISP Cache
    If nothing is found in one, it moves on to the next until it is successful. If the domain name is not discovered in the cache, the DNS server of the ISP (Internet Service Provider) performs a DNS query to determine the IP address of the server that hosts the domain name.
• Small data packets, containing the request's content and the IP address it's destined for, are sent.
• The browser uses synchronize(SYN) and acknowledge(ACK) messages to establish a TCP (Transfer Control Protocol) connection with the server.
• The web server receives an HTTP request (either POST or GET) from the browser.
• The server on the host computer processes the request and responds. It generates a response in one of several formats, including JSON, XML, and HTML.
• The server sends out an HTTP response with the response status.
• HTML content is then displayed by the browser.

Wild pointers are uninitialized pointers that point to any arbitrary memory location, potentially causing a program to crash or behave improperly.

Example - Let us consider the following C program: 

int main()
{
  int *temp_pointer;  // A wild pointer
  *temp_pointer = 12; // This corrupts an unknown memory location. This should never be done. 
}

In the above example, no memory location is defined for the pointer “temp_pointer” and hence it is a wild pointer. Any random memory location will be assigned to such a pointer and this may corrupt the data present previously on that memory location. 

To avoid this, if we want to declare a pointer and we do not have a variable to which we can point the pointer, we can do the following:

int main()
{
   int *temp_pointer = (int *)malloc(sizeof(int)); // Not a wild pointer
  *temp_pointer = 12; // This is fine assuming malloc doesn't return NULL
}

In the above example, we made the pointer “temp_pointer” point to a memory location explicitly allocated for the pointer. This eliminates the risk of corrupting any random memory location.

When programmers create a heap memory and forget to destroy it, a memory leak develops. The result of a memory leak is that the computer's performance suffers as the amount of usable memory is reduced. In the worst-case scenario, too much of the available memory may be allocated, causing all or part of the system or device to stop working properly, the programme to fail, or the system to significantly slow down. Memory leaks are especially problematic for applications like daemons and servers, which are never terminated by definition. 

To avoid memory leaks, heap memory should always be destroyed when it is no longer required.

• C language: C is a widely-used general-purpose programming language that is easy to learn and use. It is a machine-independent structured programming language that is widely used to create a variety of applications, operating systems such as Windows, and other complicated programs such as the Oracle database, Git, Python interpreter, and others. C can be considered a programming foundation. You can readily understand the knowledge of other programming languages that employ the concept of 'C' if you know 'C.'
• C++ language: C++ is a general-purpose programming language. It has been developed in an effort to improvise over the C language. C++ programming language aims to include an object-oriented paradigm. C++ is an imperative programming language. It is a middle-level programming language and it can therefore be used to program both low-level programs such as drivers, kernels and higher-level programs such as games, GUI, desktop apps and so on. C++ has a similar code syntax as that of C.

The following table lists the differences between C and C++ programming languages:

When applying for a job or preparing for an interview, keep the following points in mind to make it simpler for you to succeed:

• Examine the Job Description in detail to gain a better understanding of the company's requirements. Optimize your resume to reflect this, including all of the accomplishments and lessons learnt.
• Prepare for the Aptitude test ahead of time. Take a few practice exams online to get a feel for the types of questions that will be asked of you.
• Examine your resume to ensure that you've included all pertinent information about yourself and that the information you've provided is accurate to the best of your knowledge. Prepare to answer any questions based on your résumé that may be asked.
• When it's your turn to talk in the Group Discussion round, be confident. Have a good understanding of what's going on in the world of technology, as some of the topics of debate revolve around it.
• Before the interview, it's a good idea to practise your communication abilities.
• Focus on Specifics - Be particular about your experiences, from how you solved specific challenges in a previous project to how you deal with working in a team. This allows the interviewers to have a better understanding of who you are as a person and whether you are a suitable fit.
• Undertake a mock interview. This will give you a sense of how the interview will go. Mock interviews can be created using the InterviewBit platform. You'll be paired with one of the other candidates looking out for mock interviews, and both of you will take interviews of each other turn by turn. In this way, both of you can experience the interview environment.

The eligibility criteria for a job interview at Walmart generally include the following:

• Educational Qualification: BE/B.Tech/ME/M.Tech - CSE, IT, ECE.
• 60% or 6.5 GPA and above throughout without any running backlogs.

The average salary for a fresher software engineer at Walmart is around 22 lakhs to 25 lakhs per annum. The average salary for an experienced software engineer at Walmart can range from 35 lakhs to 50 lakhs per annum depending on the years of experience in software engineering.

CodeHers is a coding contest organised by Walmart for women candidates only. Walmart hires for various job openings through this program. Walmart aims to empower women in technology through this initiative.

This is again a behavioural question. Here the interviewer wants to assess whether or not you understand the responsibilities of the job position and how you think that you will be a great match for the job opening. The interviewer wants to assess how confident you are while answering this question. While answering this question, you can mention the following points:

• Demonstrate that you have the necessary abilities and expertise to do the job well. You never know what other applicants can bring to the table. But you know yourself: highlight your essential abilities, strengths, talents, job experience, and professional accomplishments that are critical to achieving exceptional results in this role.
• Emphasise how you'll fit in and contribute to the team. Demonstrate to the interviewer that you have the necessary personal and professional qualities to be a valuable member of the team.
• Demonstrate excitement for the work at hand, not simply competence. Your application shows that you're willing to put in the effort. The fact that you've been invited for an interview indicates that they believe you're capable. Show them your passion in addition to your abilities and expertise to demonstrate that you will approach your responsibilities with a positive attitude.

You must be clear in your understanding of all the technical skills that you have mentioned in your resume. You can definitely expect questions on that and so be well prepared for it. You must be well-versed in Data Structures and Algorithms and their applications. You can expect questions similar to what we have mentioned in the article above. Make sure that you are confident in all of the above topics and that you are good to go for the interview.

This is a behavioural question. Here, the interviewer wants to assess your desire and your motive to join the company. You should clearly state what motivates you to join Walmart and how you see yourself growing while working at Walmart. You can also state the benefits that the employees at Walmart get and this could be one of your motivations to join the company.

Walmart Labs (previously known as Kosmix and @WalmartLabs) was acquired by Walmart Global Tech, the company's technology and business services division. Kosmix was founded in 2005 by Venky Harinarayan and Anand Rajaraman. Walmart bought Kosmix in April 2011 and turned it into @WalmartLabs, a research branch. Walmart Technology was formed in 2006 when Walmart Labs and its information systems division (ISD) were merged into one team. Walmart Technology rebranded as Walmart Global Tech in August 2020 as part of the world's largest retailer's new technology and shared services organisation.

To prepare for an internship interview at Walmart:

• Be proficient in at least one of the modern programming languages such as  C, C++, Java and Python.
• Have a strong understanding of the different data structures and you must be familiar with the popular and well-known algorithms. You should be clear with the applications of the various data structures. You should also be able to differentiate between the various data structures.
• Have a strong knowledge of the CS fundamentals subjects such as Object-Oriented Programming Systems (OOPs), DataBase Management Systems (DBMS), Computer Networks (CN) and Operating Systems (OS).
• Consider giving a mock interview before the actual interview. This will give you a simulation of the actual interview and you can improve on your shortcomings based on the feedback provided from the mock interview.

The hiring process at Walmart is thorough. Walmart assesses a candidate thoroughly before making a hiring decision. That being said, one can say that it is not that easy to crack a job at Walmart. However, with the right preparation and guidance, nothing is difficult and you can surely crack a job at Walmart. 

To ace, a Walmart Interview, make sure that you have a strong understanding of the CS fundamentals subjects like Object-Oriented Programming Systems (OOPs), DataBase Management Systems (DBMS), Computer Networks (CN), Operating Systems (OS) and Data Structures and Algorithms (DSA). Also, make sure to have a strong understanding of whatever you mention in your resume. You can be asked questions on that, so be prepared for it. At last, be confident and believe in yourself. You will surely excel in the interview.