The interview had 4 rounds.

1. First Round Technical: In this round, the questions were very precise. Though it looked very simple, it was quite hard to crack. It took 25 minutes to complete this round.

2. Second Round Technical: In this round, the questions, although precise, were all meant to be scenario-based questions, which may have multiple outcomes. So, don't worry about the outcome; go with the interviewer's cues. You'll do your best. 20 minutes at max.

3. Manager: In this round, the manager would ask organizational questions, which was nice since the manager who took my interview was very open and responded to every nitty-gritty question I had regarding the organization. 15 minutes, and it depends on your questions.

4. HR: Finally, the moment of truth on how much you can earn . It was again very straightforward, and not much negotiation was necessary, as they offered a very good package at the beginning itself. You can look for anything greater than 25% and less than 40% of your current CTC, which is great!

The total interviewing process took around 2 weeks due to my and staff's unavailability. The outlook of the company and the panel grew way more than I had imagined at the beginning, and it's great fun to work with the guys who took the interview, knowing that they are the best minds of the stable.

Outlook of the Performance Testing Team at HPE: Though the Performance Testing Team is very small, with around 50 people all based in Bangalore, they are the most capable people I have met. The experience diversity is also very wide, from freshers to 14-15 year experienced guys.

And you need to attend an interview to know the caliber of 2-4 years of experienced guys. To put into perspective, with the 4 years of experience I have, I couldn't make out that the guy who grilled me in the first round had his career started 2 years ago. (@other HPE Performance Team guys, if you are reading this, you know who I'm talking about)

1st round

1. Basic Correlation. goes all the way to Advanced. - very tough
2. Parameterization - very tough
3. Branching
4. Error Handling
5. Work Load Modeling - moderate
6. C!! - moderate

2nd Round

1. Scenario Based question with little Web Servers, App Servers, Middleware, and Networks.
2. Architecture
3. Bottlenecks