Recently, I had an interview with Infosys. The recruiter reached out to me through the contact details available on their career page.
**First Round:**
The interview began with my introduction, during which I outlined my technical stack, emphasizing my use of ORM and my limited experience with SQL. The interviewer was knowledgeable and focused primarily on questions related to my field of expertise, avoiding SQL-related topics. This round lasted about an hour, and the interviewer informed me that I would be moved to the next round. I felt confident and prepared for the upcoming interview.
About half an hour after the first interview, I received a call from HR, informing me that the next round would begin in 10 minutes. The second round was scheduled to start 30 minutes after the first interview concluded.
**Second Round:**
I began with the same introduction as the first round. The interviewer asked about my previous interview, to which I responded appropriately. He then proceeded with questions related to .NET, which I answered confidently. During the interview, he asked if I knew SQL, to which I replied that I had a basic understanding but primarily relied on ORM.
The interviewer then shifted focus to questions about ORM and other related topics. Despite this, he repeatedly inquired about my SQL knowledge, to which I consistently replied that I had limited experience and relied on documentation when necessary.
At one point, I asked whether the interview was for a pooled or project-specific role, and he confirmed it was pooled. The interviewer continued to emphasize SQL, which prompted me to state my future goals and express that I could seek documentation if SQL expertise was required.
I then posed a question to the interviewer: "Suppose you are developing an application (web/mobile/embedded), would you be able to create it using only SQL?" This question seemed to offend him, and he explained that SQL is also a programming language used for procedures and other tasks. I clarified my question, asking if it was possible to create an entire application using SQL alone.
The interviewer concluded the interview, asking if I had any questions about the company, which I did.
The following day, I received a call from HR informing me that I had been rejected.
**My Question:**
What did I do wrong, and how can I improve for future interviews?
**A Little About Myself:**
I have developed over 10 applications across mobile, web, and desktop platforms, handling everything from UI design to implementation. In my experience, I have predominantly used ORM (Entity Framework) and have not used SQL even once. I have 2 years and 6 months of experience and currently hold an offer with a 300% salary hike.
Any suggestions for improvement would be greatly appreciated.