EY GDS interview: process, rounds and questions

Written by Mentari as typical of this process — not a record of questions EY has asked. Each comes with the follow-up a good interviewer asks next and what they listen for in the answer. Scenario details are our framing, chosen to fit EY’s sector.

1. 01 Introduce yourself the way an engineer would — which tools you shipped with, and why those.

   Follow-up · Name the one choice you would undo today, and what undoing it would cost.

   Listens for · Comfortable in their own toolset; willing to criticise a past decision with reasons.

2. 02 Your project keeps users and their orders. Which constraint stops an order from pointing at a user who does not exist, and what happens when that user is deleted?

   Follow-up · Reporting is slow because of the joins. Which table would you flatten, and what could go wrong afterwards?

   Listens for · Foreign keys and cascade behaviour understood; sees that flattening trades integrity for speed.

3. 03 Explain inheritance versus composition using something you built.

   Follow-up · Where did inheritance cause you a problem?

   Listens for · An example from their own code, not the textbook shapes hierarchy.

Compiled from 8 candidate reports (2024–2026) and the official hiring page. Where reports differ, the range is shown rather than one number.

Online assessment — the most detailed reported version (Technology Consultant, September 2024, SHL) — Other drives report 30 aptitude plus 30 logical questions at 30 minutes each with two coding problems, or 30 English-and-reasoning questions with two easy coding problems. Counts and timings differ by campus and vendor; sectional structure does not.^4,5,6

1. Practise timed English, logical and quantitative sections — the SHL versions are short per section. The reported SHL pattern gives 18 minutes for 22 English questions and 14 minutes for 14 logical ones.
2. Record yourself: read a paragraph aloud, repeat sentences, and speak for ninety seconds on a given topic. The communication assessment is scored, and spoken English is the most-cited selection signal.
3. Take each résumé project down to how it was built, with a demo ready if it runs. Interviewers asked for implementation details and, in one drive, demonstrations.
4. Revise DBMS normalisation and constraints, joins in SQL, OOP with real examples, and a HashMap problem. These recur across the technical interviews reported.
5. Write one paragraph on what a consultant does that a developer does not, and why you want that. HR interviewers reportedly ask it, and GDS is delivery for a consulting firm.
6. Solve two easy-to-medium array, string and hashing problems a day. The coding section is reported as easy to medium but carries substantial weight.

What EY says it assesses

• Applications are reviewed against what the role needs; interviews "may be a combination of in-person, phone and video"; a written assessment may be required¹
• GDS internships: "after an aptitude test and an interview, we onboard the shortlisted students"; a GDS bootcamp is designed to make freshers "engagement-ready"²

What candidates report being probed on

• Résumé projects in implementation detail, sometimes with a live demonstration^6,4,9
• DBMS normalisation, constraints and joins; designing across multiple databases^5,9
• OOP concepts with real-world applications; Java; HashMap and HashSet coding^9,8
• Spoken English — repeatedly named as a selection signal^5,8
• Developer versus consultant: whether you understand the role you applied for⁹
• A situational decision or a simple puzzle^5,9

EY GDS runs a separate, scored communication stage that most IT-services recruiters do not. Candidates describe a spoken-English assessment with listen-and-repeat, sentence correction, reading aloud and a short prepared speech — or, in one drive, a recorded HireVue behavioural interview — sitting between the aptitude test and the technical interview. Reports from several drives name spoken English and clear project explanation as the thing that decided selection, and one drive reports 22 selected of 120 interviewed, so the stage is not a formality.

The second distinctive feature is the consulting framing of a technical interview. Beyond the usual DBMS and OOP questions, HR interviewers reportedly ask whether the candidate understands the difference between a developer and a consultant, and technical interviewers ask for situational decisions. GDS is the delivery arm of a professional-services firm, and candidates who answer as if they were interviewing for a product company are reported to do worse than those who can explain why they want client-facing delivery work.

Where the sources disagree

The five campus accounts from August to December 2024 agree on the shape — assessment, communication or HireVue, technical interview, HR — and disagree on the test. One SHL version has 22 English, 14 logical and 14 quantitative questions plus two coding problems in 45 minutes; another has 30 aptitude and 30 logical questions at 30 minutes each; a third has 30 mixed questions and two easy coding problems. The communication stage also varies: a SVAR spoken test in three drives, a recorded HireVue behavioural interview in another. EY’s official pages explain the variation rather than resolve it — the structure "will depend on the country, service line and role" — and give the only official process statement, for internships: an aptitude test and an interview. Eligibility figures of 60% / 6.0 CGPA come from preparation sites, not EY, and should be read from the campus notice.

4. 04 Count the number of distinct words in a document. Which structure, and why?

   Follow-up · Now return the ten most frequent. What changes, and what is the complexity?

   Listens for · Counts with a map, then a heap or a sort for the top ten; says the cost of each.

5. 05 A client reports that a nightly job you own produced wrong totals this morning. You have thirty minutes before their standup. What do you do?

   Follow-up · You find the cause is upstream data, not your code. What do you tell the client?

   Listens for · Checks the failure is real before explaining it; tells the client early and without pointing fingers.

6. 06 What is the difference between a developer and a consultant, and which are you applying to be?

   Follow-up · And when the client insists on the thing you advised against?

   Listens for · Understands accountability for outcomes; has a position on disagreement with a client.

7. 07 Tell me about a technology trend you have an opinion on.

   Follow-up · What would make you wrong about it?

   Listens for · A view with reasons, and the ability to state its failure condition.

8. 08 In ninety seconds: describe your project to someone who is not technical.

   Follow-up · Now the same project to the engineer who will maintain it.

   Listens for · Register switching — the spoken-English and communication signal in the form the interview actually tests.

9. 09 You have a 3-litre jug and a 5-litre jug. Measure exactly 4 litres.

   Follow-up · Which capacities make it impossible, and why?

   Listens for · Thinks audibly; generalises (common divisors) rather than stopping at the trick.

What is the difference between a developer and a consultant, and which are you applying to be?

Weak · "A developer writes code and a consultant advises clients. I am applying for the technology consultant role because I want to work with clients and also code."

Stronger · "A developer is accountable for the build; a consultant is accountable for the client’s outcome, which means understanding what the client is trying to change and sometimes telling them the build they asked for is wrong. In my internship I was asked for a report export and found the real need was a weekly alert — proposing that instead is the consultant part. I want the role where that is expected of me."

Why the follow-up lands · The interviewer asks "and when the client insists on the export anyway?" The strong answer has a position — deliver it, document the recommendation; the weak one has only a definition.

Illustrative — yours must be true.

An EY GDS campus drive filters on a timed aptitude-and-coding test and a scored spoken-English assessment before any interview, so the two things a cell can train are sectional aptitude practice and practice speaking on camera. One drive reported 22 selected of 120 interviewed; the interview that decides is résumé-led and technical.

Mentari’s software-engineer and HR-round mocks rehearse the interview — project depth, DBMS and OOP aloud, and the developer-versus-consultant question — and the text mode doubles as structured speaking practice. Run EY-pattern mocks for a whole batch.

• Software engineer mock interview
• HR round mock interview for campus placements
• McKinsey interview
• BCG interview
• Bain interview
• Why Should We Hire You? Fresher Answer Guide
• STAR Method Answers That Survive Follow-ups
• All company guides →

1. How we hire — EY India — EY (official) · official · accessed 2026-10-23 · application review, interviews, possible written assessment; structure depends on service line and role
2. Early career opportunities with EY GDS — EY (official) · official · accessed 2026-10-23 · internships: "an aptitude test and an interview"; GDS bootcamp
3. Student and entry-level programs — EY India — EY (official) · official · accessed 2026-10-23
4. EY GDS interview experience — Tech Consultant, full-time, on-campus — GeeksforGeeks · candidate report, 2024-09 · accessed 2026-10-23 · SHL: 22 English, 14 logical, 14 quantitative, 2 coding in 45 min; SVAR spoken English
5. EY GDS interview experience (on-campus) — GeeksforGeeks · candidate report, 2024-09 · accessed 2026-10-23 · assessment → HireVue behavioural → technical interview
6. EY interview experience for GDS — GeeksforGeeks · candidate report, 2024-09 · accessed 2026-10-23 · AMCAT/SHL assessment → technical interview with project demonstrations
7. EY GDS Consulting Engineer — on-campus, August 2024 — Naukri Code360 · candidate report, 2024-08 · accessed 2026-10-23
8. EY GDS Consulting Engineer — on-campus, 10–12 August 2024 — Naukri Code360 · candidate report, 2024-08 · accessed 2026-10-23 · communication round tasks listed in detail
9. EY GDS interview experience — on-campus recruitment, Tech Consultant 2024 — GeeksforGeeks · candidate report, 2024-10 · accessed 2026-10-23 · 22 of 120 interviewed selected
10. EY aptitude test pattern and preparation 2026 — FACE Prep · candidate report, 2026-05 · accessed 2026-10-23 · preparation-site compilation; eligibility figures
11. EY campus hiring — eligibility and process — useastra.in · candidate report · accessed 2026-10-23 · preparation-site compilation

Verified October 2026 by Sumit Mishra, Mentari founder. Spotted an error, or represent EY? Write to [email protected] — we acknowledge within two working days and correct or remove a disputed statement within 72 hours.

Mentari is not affiliated with EY. This page is pattern-based, compiled from the public sources listed, and is not insider information. Candidate-reported details are reproduced as patterns only, in our own words.