Citi - interview guide

Citi interview questions - a complete guide

According to reports, Citi's India technology centres use a long online test on AMCAT, then technical and managerial rounds. Here is how to prepare for all of it.

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About Citi

Citi (Citigroup) is a global American bank. In India it has large technology centres in Pune, Chennai and Mumbai working on banking, trading and payments systems worldwide.

This guide covers 12 Citi interview questions with answers - what each question checks and how to answer it - plus the Citi interview process, round by round, a 7-day preparation plan for freshers, tips and the mistakes to avoid.

Citi hiring process

  1. Online test (AMCAT)

    Reported: about 55 MCQs and 2 coding questions, about 2 hours in total.

  2. Technical interview

    Projects, SQL joins, Java and OOP.

  3. Managerial / HR

    Behavioural and fit.

Citi does not publish its India fresher interview process in detail (as of our check). This is based on candidate reports - many of them for experienced roles, so the fresher process can differ. Confirm with the recruiter.

Sources (checked 16 October 2026): Citi Careers. Hiring processes change - read the official notice before you apply.

Citi interview questions and answers

SQL and Java

  1. 1.SQL: find trades that have no settlement record yet.

    What they're checking
    Using LEFT JOIN correctly.
    How to answer
    trades LEFT JOIN settlements ON trade_id WHERE settlements.trade_id IS NULL. An INNER JOIN is wrong here - it would drop them.

  2. 2.SQL: the total value of today's trades in each currency.

    What they're checking
    Filter + group.
    How to answer
    WHERE trade_date = CURRENT_DATE GROUP BY currency, SUM(quantity * price). To add across currencies, convert to one currency first.

  3. 3.What is the difference between Comparable and Comparator in Java?

    What they're checking
    Sorting.
    How to answer
    Comparable gives a class one natural order (compareTo). Comparator gives different orders from outside - such as trades by price or by time.

  4. 4.How does garbage collection work in Java (basically)?

    What they're checking
    Understanding the JVM.
    How to answer
    The JVM removes objects that no reference can reach. The heap is split into young and old generations - new objects die young, so cleaning the young generation often is cheap.

Coding

  1. 5.Remove duplicate characters from a string, keeping the order of first appearance.

    What they're checking
    Hashing.
    How to answer
    Go along with a seen set; if a character is new, add it to the result. Use a StringBuilder. O(n).

  2. 6.If there is a 0 anywhere in a matrix, set its whole row and column to 0.

    What they're checking
    An in-place matrix.
    How to answer
    Note all the rows/columns first (two sets), then zero them. For O(1) space, use the first row and column as markers.

  3. 7.A batch job processing millions of records at night fails midway - then what?

    What they're checking
    Banks run a lot of batch work.
    How to answer
    Process in chunks with a checkpoint after each; resume from there on restart. Each record idempotent, and failed records into a separate file for a re-run.

  4. 8.Why use a message queue (like Kafka or MQ)?

    What they're checking
    Systems integration.
    How to answer
    It decouples systems - the sender carries on without waiting, the receiver works at its own pace. It absorbs spikes and messages aren't lost.

Finance and managerial

  1. 9.What is the difference between equity and a bond?

    What they're checking
    Banking basics.
    How to answer
    Equity - a share in a company, part of both profit and loss. A bond - a loan to a company/government, with fixed interest and usually lower risk.

  2. 10.What steps does a trade go through from order to settlement?

    What they're checking
    Understanding the domain.
    How to answer
    Order -> execution (the trade happens) -> confirmation -> clearing (who owes what) -> settlement (money and shares actually change hands). Shares in India settle on T+1.

  3. 11.When did you catch a big mistake in testing or a code review?

    What they're checking
    Attention to detail.
    How to answer
    What the mistake was, how you caught it, what its impact could have been, and the fix.

  4. 12.Why Citi?

    What they're checking
    Motivation.
    How to answer
    The scale of global banking systems and the role of Citi's India centres - specific.

7-day preparation plan for the Citi interview

  1. Day 1: Aptitude MCQs - timed.
  2. Day 2: Coding - strings and matrices.
  3. Day 3: SQL - joins, aggregation.
  4. Day 4: Java - collections, sorting, JVM basics.
  5. Day 5: Finance basics and the trade lifecycle.
  6. Day 6: A full 2-hour test mock.
  7. Day 7: A mock technical + managerial.

Preparation tips

  • The online test is long - take a full-length mock for stamina.
  • Nail SQL joins (especially LEFT JOIN + IS NULL).
  • Core Java and collections.
  • Understand basic finance words (equity, bond, settlement).

Mistakes to avoid

  • Spending too long at the start of a long test.
  • Not understanding the difference between LEFT and INNER JOIN.
  • Not knowing a single finance word in a bank interview.

Frequently asked questions

What is in the Citi online test?

According to reports, about 55 MCQs and 2 coding questions on AMCAT.

Where are Citi's India technology centres?

Large centres in Pune, Chennai and Mumbai.

What is asked in Citi's technical round?

Projects, SQL joins, Java and OOP - according to reports.

How many rounds are there at Citi?

Commonly an online test, technical and managerial/HR.

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