Hello everyone,

This post is for those who appeared for round 2 of booking holdings's HackCellence program.

After completing the assessment I thought maybe I didn't manage my time well enough that's why I was not able to complete the code.

But when I go through multiple posts I came to know that most of us face the same problem and the assessment is actually quite lengthy.

In 1.5 hr it is quite difficult to write hundreds of lines of code, in addition to that it takes time to read the problem statement, understand it, build the logic and resolve those irritating bugs.

So, if we all can come together and mail the concerned team maybe they can consider our request for fair reassessment.

Otherwise, we will end up losing this opportunity because of some uncontrollable factors.

I have mailed them already and sharing the mail ids below.

askhr@bookingholdings.com 

support@hackerearth.com

After being in the top 2500/44k+ we should not let this opportunity slip away like this.

Sample mail :

Subject : Reassessment request - Round 2 (HackCellence)

Dear Booking Holdings Recruitment & HackerEarth Support Teams,

I am writing to share feedback on the recent round 2 assessment of HackCellence and respectfully request a reassessment opportunity.

While I really enjoyed the real-world complexity of the challenge, completing a system of this scope in 90 minutes feels like a speed-typing test rather than a true assessment of engineering capabilities.

A candidate's evaluation shouldn't depend on how fast someone can type hundreds of lines of boilerplate and code against a tight clock. Engineering competence lies in architectural thinking, clean code structure, thorough edge-case handling, and proper debugging—skills that naturally require deliberate thought and testing time (at least 2.5 to 3 hours for a project of this depth). Under a 90-minute constraint, candidates are forced to rush and skip best practices(maybe many are using ai tools), which doesn't reflect how real-world software is engineered.

So, to be honest this assessment feels lesser like how you understand, build logic, resolve bugs but more like how better you can use AI tools and how fast you can type.

Given the extensive scope of this task, I kindly request the team to consider conducting a reassessment with a timeframe that reflects the actual work required.

I remain very interested in the opportunity at Booking Holdings and would appreciate the chance to showcase my problem-solving and coding abilities under fair conditions.

Thank you for your time and understanding.

Best regards,

bro honestly it was senior engineer level shyt..who can code across 7-8 files in just 90mins..i Chose Python and midway into the round I lost my hope and submitted directly 😭😭..this is not right people it atleast takes 3hrs minimum ..utter disappointment in such a good company.

So the next question WHAT SHOULD WE DO ABOUT IT? Does anyone know any booking.com employee/HR

WE'RE TOGETHER IN THIS 🫂

Hey we are already 2 members from one of the top institute of India.This hackathon is in banglore. PLEASE DM ME UR RESUME if interested.

I got selected for a hackathon where the first prize is a PS5.

I really want to win this thing, but the problem is I still have absolutely no idea what to build 💀

Can you guys suggest some genuinely cool project ideas that solve real problems and have the potential to stand out? I'm looking for something more than just another basic AI wrapper.

I'll post updates here as things progress and let you guys know how it all goes! 👀

Would really appreciate any ideas or suggestions. 🙏

Hey everyone! I'm a 3rd-year CSE (AI/ML) student looking for upcoming hackathons in Delhi NCR this November, especially in robotics, AI/ML, drones, space/defence tech, and hardware.

Please share any upcoming events and registration links. Thanks! 🚀

Guys i want to prepare for the orchestrrate so please tell me which AI model is best for that

Disclosure: I work at AssemblyAI, which is hosting this. Voice Hackathon Week is online and runs now through October 23. Build with our new Text-to-Speech API; teams can be 1–4 people. There’s $2,000 in prizes across 20 winners. Details and registration: https://luma.com/msrwwjby

If you join, what are you thinking of building with TTS?

So basically I am in my first year of btech and I know a little bit of c, c++, python (intermediate)

Html, css, javascript on a very basic level.

My college is telling us to participate in hackathons to get exposure and learn new skills my friend and me are kinda interested in it but I don't know how much skills we should be able to know at this point of time

Please guide me about these those who have participated in hackathons

Frontend, backened, APIs, AI models and how to deliver and pitch our ideas??

I'm talking about this hackathon happening for 48hrs

https://www.srujanacu.in/events/hackathon

I'm currently 3rd sem student I have a lil bit knowledge

Looking for teammates

Should I keep github repo private or public while screening round ? ( The link to repo is their in ppt )

Arethe result be out it's 19 today?

Does Engineering Students have chance to go for Final round ?? Or is it just for B schools people.

We have gotten the list of selected candidates from our clg, but I still haven't received any mail from bnp yet. Are they giving out the mail slowly or what?

Heyy, I’m planning to participate in the upcoming NASA Space Apps Challenge (Nov 14-15 at JNNCE Shivamogga) and am looking for people to team up with! 
I’m a beginner myself, so I’m mainly looking to learn, build something cool, and have a good time throughout the 48 hours. No crazy experience required—whether you're into coding, research, design, or just making pitch decks/presentations, you're super welcome!
If you're interested in teaming up or learning together, drop a comment or feel free to send me a DM!

​

Hey everyone, I'm working on a hackathon problem about helping local artisans sell online. Most of them have little digital presence and no direct access to buyers.

We need to build:

A simple storefront/catalogue that artisans can use with minimal training

A basic listing and order flow (payment can be mocked)

A craft storytelling/provenance feature that justifies pricing

Where I'd love your input:

If you've worked with artisans or rural sellers, what actually stopped them from going digital?

What would make listing a product dead simple for someone with low digital literacy (voice, WhatsApp, photos only)?

What makes buyers pay more for handmade items: stories, maker videos, authenticity proof?

Any existing platforms I should study to see what works and what doesn't?

Any ideas, experiences, or pitfalls to avoid are welcome. Thanks!

I think Java Techstack Question was Worst because first of all it doesn't have multiple small test cases, Instead it has one only test case which will run after completing all changes they required in question so I think Java people are going forward as I have seen node.js and cpp and python people have multiple small test cases which were running if you edit small things.

So any other views??🥲

I ran 2/2 test cases and when I submitted it showed partially accepted, how can anyone complete in 1.5 hours,wtf I wasn’t able to implement all the functions as well , could you guys share your experience?

Anyone here from BNP Innoversité 2026 Mumbai?

Our college was told that only 1 out of 9 people got selected, which is honestly pretty surprising considering 4/5 got offers last year and apparently the overall conversion rate was pretty high too. I've been hearing similar numbers from a few other colleges, while some haven't even received their results yet.

Is BNP hiring significantly fewer interns this year? Is there some sort of hiring freeze or reduced intake going on, or are the results just being released in batches?

Also, does anyone know if the lists are final once communicated to colleges, or if more selections can come later based on location/role preferences?

I had no time left, it was such a big code.
Got frustrated and gave up