Was asked to write code for a given question. Interviewer disagreed to my solution for a question on doubly linked list [which was correct way of doing it), and never listened.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Whats the difference between concurrency and parallelism?
I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at NVIDIA in Apr 2012
Interview
First interview with someone from Germany. Find number of occurrences of letters N-V-I-D-I-A. Solved problem two ways (1) if-else ladder (interviewer seemed unaware of parallel programming), (2) Counting sort. Second question, find n-th element from end of a singly linked list - solution, used circular buffer.
Second interview with manager from Santa Clara. Question - reverse bits in an integer. Solution, used boolean equation that had the same effect as shifting bits to correct position. Company phoned back asking for a follow-up interview the day I was flying out of the country, which seemed a bit inconsiderate.
Third interview with a software engineer from Santa Clara - review C code and suggest improvements. Solution - change char pointers to std::string etc.
Overall, a PhD, 15 years in OO design, Scott Meyers C++, safety critical testing and ASIC modelling proved insufficient. They seemed to want "coders", not patents. NVIDIA seems exciting, if you like writing linked lists, but not if you like algorithms and class design. Learning NVIDIA's chip architecture in preparation was a waste of time.
It was a very good interview experience. They asked a lot about my technical skills, including concepts related to my field, problem-solving ability, and past projects. They also focused on my communication skills, teamwork experience, and how I handle challenges in real-world scenarios.
I applied online. I interviewed at NVIDIA in Apr 2026
Interview
It was a really nice experience overall. The interviewer was very friendly, encouraging, and easy to talk to, which helped me feel comfortable and made the whole conversation more positive and productive.