Gupshup India Support Engineer Interview: Rounds, Questions and Preparation

What the job involves

Support Engineers in Indian IT services and product companies handle customer or internal technical issues via tickets, chat, email, or phone. They troubleshoot APIs, integrations, configuration problems, and basic code or environment issues, then escalate complex bugs to engineering. The role demands clear communication, ticket hygiene, and comfort with tools like logs, dashboards, and SQL.

Role and company knowledge

1. 1

   What do you understand about the day-to-day work of a Support Engineer?

   Mention ticket queues, SLA targets, first response, reproduction, escalation, and closing with a clear resolution note. Avoid saying you only fix computers.

2. 2

   Why do you want to work in a support role rather than a pure development role?

   Show that you enjoy problem solving with people, learning products deeply, and building communication skills. Link it to your interest in debugging and customer impact.

3. 3

   What does SLA mean and why does it matter in a support environment?

   Define Service Level Agreement as response and resolution time commitments. Explain that breaching SLA affects customer trust and company penalties.

4. 4

   How would you handle a situation where you do not know the answer to a customer query?

   Say you acknowledge the issue, gather details, check internal knowledge base or documentation, ask a senior, and commit to a clear follow-up time. Never guess or go silent.

Technical fundamentals

1. 5

   A customer says their API call is failing. What information do you ask for first?

   Ask for the exact endpoint, HTTP method, request headers, request body, full response, timestamp, and any error code or trace ID. This shows structured debugging.

2. 6

   What is the difference between 4xx and 5xx HTTP status codes?

   4xx means client-side error like bad request or unauthorized. 5xx means server-side error like internal server error or gateway timeout. Give one example each.

3. 7

   Write a SQL query to find all tickets raised by a customer with email 'abc@example.com' in the last 7 days.

   Use SELECT with WHERE on email and a date condition like created_at >= NOW() - INTERVAL 7 DAY. Mention you would adjust column and table names to the actual schema.

4. 8

   How would you check if a service is running on a Linux server?

   Mention systemctl status for systemd services, ps aux or pgrep to check processes, and curl or netstat to verify the port is listening. Keep it practical.

Practical scenarios

1. 9

   A customer reports that messages are not being delivered through your platform. How do you troubleshoot?

   Check message logs or dashboard for status, verify API credentials, check rate limits, confirm destination number or channel, and look for carrier or provider errors. Escalate with evidence if needed.

2. 10

   You see a spike in 500 errors on the dashboard. What are your first three actions?

   Check recent deployments or config changes, pull error logs for the failing endpoint, and verify dependent services like database or third-party APIs. Communicate status to the team.

3. 11

   A customer is angry because their issue has been open for two days. How do you respond?

   Apologize sincerely, take ownership, give a clear status update, set a realistic next update time, and follow through. Do not blame other teams.

4. 12

   How would you test an API endpoint using Postman before telling the customer it works?

   Mention setting the method, URL, headers like Content-Type and Authorization, body if needed, sending the request, and checking status code and response body against expected output.

Behavioural and HR

1. 13

   This role may require night shifts or rotational shifts. Are you comfortable with that?

   Answer honestly. If yes, say you understand support coverage needs and can manage sleep and routine. If no, state your constraint politely without sounding rigid.

2. 14

   Tell me about a time you explained something technical to a non-technical person.

   Use a college project, lab, or internship example. Focus on simplifying jargon, using analogies, and confirming the other person understood.

3. 15

   How do you prioritise when multiple tickets are assigned to you at once?

   Mention severity, SLA deadlines, customer impact, and business criticality. Say you communicate if timelines slip and ask for help when needed.

4. 16

   Where do you see yourself in two years in a support career path?

   Show growth within support or adjacent areas like escalation engineering, technical account management, or DevOps. Avoid saying you want to leave support immediately.