my UBS internship (on-campus) drive experience (selected!)
5 rounds, one very hectic day, and a result I’ll remember for a long time.
A few days ago, I went through the on-campus summer internship recruitment process for UBS, and I’m extremely happy to share that I was selected for the Summer 2027 Intern role! 🎉
The entire process was kinda lengthy and honestly a little unpredictable at times. So, I thought I’d document my experience for anyone preparing for an on-campus UBS drive or simply curious about what the process looks like.
Hi everyone! I’m Arya, a third-year Computer Science student at Banasthali Vidyapith, and I’m incredibly excited to share that I’ve been selected for the UBS Summer 2027 Internship! :)))
In this article, I’m sharing my experience of the entire process: what each round looked like, the kind of questions I was asked, how I approached them, and a few things I learned along the way.
Hopefully, this helps anyone preparing for UBS, on-campus placements, or technical internship drives in general.
There were 5 rounds in total:
- Resume Shortlisting
- MCQ + Technical Pen-and-Paper Round
- Group Discussion + Solution Presentation
- Technical Interview
- HR Interview
Here’s how it went.
Round 1: Resume Shortlisting
The process started with a Google Form shared by our placement cell where we had to submit our resumes. These details were then forwarded to UBS for shortlisting.
Tips for Resume Shortlisting:
- Keep your resume ATS friendly. Use Latex editors like OverLeaf for the same. You’ll find multiple popular templates there, to begin with.
- Include properly seperated sections for Introduction (keep it brief), Experiences (hackathons etc. if any), Projects, Skills AND very importantly, Extra-Curriculars — something that banks esp UBS realllyyyy care about.
- Use keywords about the tech used in your projects and also include stats wherever possible, eg: selected in the top 10 for xyz out of 3,000+ participants.
- You must be able to defend your projects and stats pretty well. Know your projects inside out.
- If the company explicitly asks you to attach a photograph, you do NOT overthink and just attach it.
On 7th August, we received the final shortlist, and 33 students were selected for the in-person drive scheduled for 13th August.
And that’s when the actual process began.
Round 2: Pen and Paper (MCQ) Test
The first round on the day of the drive was a pen-and-paper test.
We had exactly 30 minutes.
There were around 20 MCQs, covering topics like:
- DSA
- Debugging
- DBMS
- Basic Python
- Dry runs
- Finding the correct output
Along with these, there were around 2–3 debugging/basic implementation questions, including some HashMap/Set-based pseudocode, and an OS theory question that I unfortunately don’t remember very well.
There was no elimination immediately after this round, so we moved on to the next stage.
The test was very strictly invigilated. Company officials and college coordinators were continuously monitoring us, so there was absolutely no scope for cheating.
Personally, the round went pretty well for me. I believe (and like to think that) I was able to solve most of the questions correctly, which gave me some confidence going into the next round.
Round 3: Group Discussion
The next round was the GD round.
We had already been divided into teams when the shortlist was announced, and all the teams received the same problem statement.
The company officials first explained the problem statement to us. We were then given exactly one hour to:
- Understand the problem
- Research
- Brainstorm a solution
- Prepare our approach
- Create a PPT
- At the end of one hour, 15 minutes to present our solution.
Although it was a group presentation, the evaluation was very much individual.
We were constantly being judged on our:
- Communication
- Presentation skills
- Teamwork
- Collaboration
- Contribution to the solution
I was fortunate enough to get shortlisted after this round.
Interestingly, I was the only person from my team who got shortlisted, while there were also teams where more than one person got through and even teams where nobody got shortlisted.
So, even though the solution was prepared and presented as a group, your individual contribution really mattered. Although we had divided tasks within the group, it was really important you understood the entire solution as a whole and not just the part you were presented.
After the GD, we had around 1.5 hours before the technical interviews.
Only 7 students made it to the technical interview stage.
Round 4: Technical Interview
This was probably the most interesting round for me.
And surprisingly, my interview didn’t start like an interview at all.
When I entered, the interviewer first asked me about my day, and naturally, I asked him about his.
I also asked him how he liked our campus and his experience here, and he genuinely seemed to really like it.
He then asked me:
“Why did you choose Banasthali for your education?”
I spoke about a few things that mattered to me, like the quality of education, safety, and the five-fold culture with its focus on academics as well as extracurricular activities.
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That naturally led to questions about my extracurriculars.
He then started cross-questioning me on them, so I quickly realised that anything mentioned during the conversation & on your resume is fair game!
After that, we moved straight into DSA.
DSA Question 1
The first question was:
If the input is 1, the output should be 0, and if the input is 0, the output should be 1. (i mean, easy, right?)
Plot Twist: do this without if-else, conditional statements, or loops.
I started thinking about different approaches and mentioned things like XOR and even string operations.
He immediately stopped me and basically said, don’t complicate it that much.
The answer was actually a very simple mathematical operation:
Output = 1-Input
Because:
- 1–1 = 0
- 1–0 = 1
I was able to solve this one pretty quickly once I looked at it mathematically.
DSA Question 2
The next question was a variation of Maximum Consecutive Ones. (i don’t remember the exact variation now, sorry!)
I initially tried a brute-force approach, and the interviewer kept pushing me towards better solutions.
It became less about simply getting the answer and more about seeing how I thought about improving my approach.
We also discussed:
- BFS
- DFS
- Stacks
- and the Real-life applications of these concepts
He also asked me about my role in the GD and then went quite deep into the problem statement. He asked questions from my part of the presentation as well as other team members’ parts.
This was something he seemed particularly interested in, so I was glad that I had paid attention to the entire solution and not just my own section.
Another interesting question was about the mechanism behind URL shortening. However, I wasn’t able to answer this one completely, which was definitely one of the weaker parts of my interview.
There were also some questions around:
- Why UBS?
- My family
- UBS work culture
- and finally, aptitude (he expected me to have a grasp on aptitude and give an instant response).
Finally, he asked me if I had any questions for him.
Overall, my technical interview lasted around 50–60 minutes.
I wouldn’t say I came out feeling extremely confident about it. I wasn’t particularly happy with how I had performed, but I felt it was still a satisfactory experience.
Interestingly, the interviews varied quite a bit across panels. From what I heard, other interviewers focused more on resume projects, OOPs and DBMS, while my interview was more DSA and discussion oriented.
Round 5: HR Interview
And then came the moment that made me really, really happy.
Around 5 minutes after my technical interview, I got a call asking me to appear for the HR interview.
At that point, I knew I had made it to the final stage, and I was so, so happy!
The HR interview was much shorter, around 10 minutes.
She asked me about the experiences I had mentioned on my resume and then asked me a few questions about my family.
And that was it.
Out of the 7 students who reached the technical interview stage, only 3 students reached the HR round.
At this point, I was honestly just hoping for the best.
The Result 🎉
Around 30 minutes after the HR interviews, the results were announced.
2 students were selected for the UBS Summer 2027 Internship. And I was one of them!! (I was too stunned to speak xD).
A Few Things I Took Away From The Process
Looking back, there are a few things I think really helped me throughout the process:
1. Know your resume.
Anything you mention can become a question. Be prepared to explain every project, experience, extracurricular and achievement.
2. Don’t overcomplicate simple problems.
My first DSA question was a perfect example. I immediately started thinking of XOR and string operations when the solution was simply 1 - input.
3. In a GD, don’t prepare only your part.
The interviewer specifically asked me about other parts of our solution as well. Understanding the complete problem and solution is important.
4. Communication matters.
The GD wasn’t just about having the “best” technical solution. How you communicate, collaborate and contribute to the team matters a lot.
5. Think out loud during technical interviews.
Even when you don’t immediately know the optimal solution, explaining your thought process gives the interviewer something to work with.
6. Don’t judge your interview too quickly.
I personally wasn’t very happy with my technical interview. I walked out thinking it was just okay. And yet, I still made it to the HR round and eventually got selected.
Sometimes, your perception of how an interview went isn’t the same as the interviewer’s.
Final Thoughts
The entire process was lengthy, hectic, and definitely exhausting, but it was also incredibly rewarding.
From submitting a resume through our placement cell, to seeing my name among the 33 shortlisted students, to getting through the pen-and-paper test, surviving the GD, going through a nearly hour-long technical interview, and then getting that HR call. It was quite a journey.
I’m incredibly grateful to our placement cell, the UBS team, my lovely lovely seniors, my family and everyone who helped us throughout the process. Thank you so much to lovely you, who’s been reading so far. All the best for what lies ahead. You’ll be great!
UBS Summer 2027, here we go! :D
I can’t wait to see what the summer brings. :))
I hope you found this article helpful. If you have any queries, feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn. More than happy to help!!





