TCS Campus Recruitment Experience

Hi friends,

Recently I got placed in Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) through the campus placement process. I’m extremely delighted to share my TCS experience with all budding professional and sincerely thank www.CareerInfoline.com team to provide me an opportunity to share my experience of the most memorable day in my life so far. I would also take this opportunity to thank all my batch mates who provided me with relevant information about TCS in last few days.

Without any more delay let me begin now:

TCS Eligibility Criteria

1.       60% and above in 10th, 12th and B Tech.

2.       No pending or active backlogs.

This is a pretty relaxed criteria and any company will have atleast this requirement. I would urge all to work sincerely and if you have any backlogs please clear them before your seventh semester.

TCS Online Test

TCS is famous for conducting a rigorous online campus placement test. This year was no different. We all were expecting an online test on the pattern that TCS generally follows. As a preparation to the online test students had started mugging up BARONS wordlists and some aptitude questions. The craze was such that some students had even blindly started mugging the options to the multiple choice questions in BARONS book. All were pretty confident of the online test pattern as TCS seldom changed that. But, to the surprise of many TCS played a spoilsport this year and changed the test pattern. 

The instructions of online test were given by TCS officials. It was a real nightmare for us. I’d never expected such questions. All the questions were new and some of them were from previous years CAT papers too. This is the new pattern on which TCS is conducting their campus drive, so I would request you to stop memorizing and start understanding!!!!!

The TCS online test had three sections:

1.       Verbal

a.       Synonyms, Antonyms, Comprehension, Fill Ups

b.       40 question in 20 minutes

2.       Quantitative aptitude 

a.       38 questions in 40 mins

3.       Critical Reasoning

a.       3 parts with 4 questions each in 30 mins

The result was declared on the same day. Once you clear the online test then there are three more steps to go. Most of the time interview is not on the same day & you will get time to relax and prepare for the interview. We too were interviewed the next day.

Pre Placement Talk

The TCS officials gave a presentation and told us about their company and services. Listen to this talk carefully and you will get answers to a lot of questions that might be asked in the interview like:

o         Why one should join TCS?

o         What are the recent projects of TCS?

o         Of course about salary and many more other important details

TCS Interviews

TCS conducts multiple rounds of interviews in its process. For me three interviews were conducted. Let me give you a clue as to what are the kinds of questions that can be asked.

1. Technical Round Interview

This to me is the most crucial round of the recruitment process. No level of preparation is sufficient for this round as the scope is wide, but to be decently prepared you should at least prepare:

o         One or more Core Subjects in sufficient detail

o         Trainings undertaken during graduation and learning’s from these trainings

o         Projects undertaken during graduation

You should be comfortable if any questions related to these areas are asked. It reflects your preparation level for the interview.

Some of the questions asked to me by the TCS panel were 

o         Which is your favourite language?

o         What subjects have u studied till now?  Name them

o         Which one of these is your favourite subject?

o         Tell me about COCOMO model?

o         Tell me about SRS and phases of SDLC?

o         Questions related to some basic concepts of C and C++ like friend function, pointers, strings

o         Write a program for calculating factorial using recursion?

o         Have you read data structures?

o         Few questions related to linked lists and sorting

o         Tell me about your projects?

I being a computer science engineer was supposed to know in detail the concepts of data structures and the software design life cycle. Aspirants from other streams must prepare one of their core subjects in details.

 I felt that the panel was satisfied with my response to the questions asked. They shook my hand and asked me to wait for the next round. After half an hour I got a call for the second round of interview the Management Round. 

2. Management Round Interview

Management Interview by TCS is used to test the interpersonal skills of an applicant. The questions in this round are vague. The key is to be confident about of your abilities. You should be able to strike a balance and should not sound too bombastic.

Career Infoline Word of Advice: People generally believe that they should answer each and every question and hence sometimes start guessing or lying. Remember that you should never leave an impression in the mind of the interviewer that you are making things up or bluffing just to get some extra marks. This generally happens unintentionally, but you should be proactive enough to understand that you are starting to cross the line. For damage control you can generally say that “Sir/Madam, I frankly don’t know the answer but have tried my best to put my thoughts into words”

Some of the questions asked to me by the TCS panel were 

o         Tell me something about yourself?

o         What are your strengths and weaknesses?

o         Do you work for any social organization? If yes, which one and why?

o         Tell me about your academic projects?

o         Have you read DBMS? Tell me some concepts related to database management?

o         Why you want to join TCS?

o         What do you know about TCS as a company?

o         Some situational questions were asked too.

The interviewer was happy with my response and asked me to wait outside for the next round. After ten minutes, I got a call for HR Interview. 

3. HR Interview

The HR interview was very similar to the Management round with many questions being repeated. Some of the questions asked in the HR round were:

o         Introduce yourself?

o         Why do you want to join TCS and not any other company?

o         Why do you want me to select you in TCS?

o         Where you find yourself in TCS after 5 years?

o         Tell me something about your family?

o         Will you be comfortable if you get posted in Trivandrum or Coimbatore?

o         Are you aware of the two year bond period?

I was able to answer the questions comfortably. After the MR round I had started feeling very comfortable about the process which made the HR interview like a cakewalk for me. The Interviewer was very happy with my answers and asked me to wait for the result.

The D-DAY

The results were announced the next day. Finally after waiting for a long time the process for all the students was completed. Around 3.45 P.M the results were announced and I was among the selected people. I was extremely delighted to find my name in the list. It took the announcer less than one second to utter my name, but that fraction if a second made the day truly memorable for me. I am happy to be a part of such a prestigious company. If you believe in yourself and have faith, you too can be part of your dream organization.

Here’s wishing ALL THE BEST to the future aspirants…..

www.careerinfoline.com is a mentorship forum, where one can get access to professionals from various domains. You too can get benefited.

Infosys Interview Experience

Hello Friends

I got placed in Infosys few months back straight from college, and in this post I’m going to share my INFOSYS Interview experience with the readers.

Before I begin I want to clarify a few things

 I’m from electronics background and technically not very strong in programming, yet pretty strong in 2 subjects of mine courses. I love reading and I was aware of everything mentioned in my resume and everything means everything here.

Infosys Process

Infosys process for fresh hiring in colleges include

  o       A Written exam

   §         Aptitude

   §         English

  o       A HR Interview

Technical discussion in the process is very limited and is primarily confined to interview. If one is able to clear to the written exam, one has a strong chance of clearing the interview.

The logical section of test was easy to do. English was a bit tricky but my reading helped me in cracking the questions will relative ease. I was among the people who were able to crack the test.

Now came my turn for the much revered Infosys Interview. I was all high on confidence and was the first one to be interviewed by my interviewer. As I entered I found a charming lady in her early 40’s sitting there.

Infosys Interviewer: Welcome Gentleman!

She asked for my CV and asked me to take a seat. I kept my file on my lap and sat looking straight into her eyes eagerly anticipating the question “INTRODUCE YOURSELF”

Infosys Interviewer: Well, so how has been the journey so far

Myself: I couldn’t understand for a second how to start? “Is it about the Infosys process journey or about my life in general” Hesitantly, I guessed and started to talk about my life in general.

“Well, madam my life has been pretty good, full of experiences yet overall I’m enjoying this life of mine. I have a wonderful supporting family and a group of great friends. I have had my share of bad experiences in life too, yet I have learnt from them and they have made me mentally tough n balanced.”

Infosys Interviewer:  What experiences are you talking about?

Myself: So my guess was correct. I had a sigh of relief!! With this the next answer came out. I mentioned about some of my big failures, one being unable to get into a good engineering college.

While I was blurting out my answer, the pretty lady was busy browsing through my resume. She interrupted and asked

Infosys Interviewer: You have mentioned guitar as a hobby. So, which guitar do you play?

Myself: I have been learning to play the guitar for quite sometime now. I instantly answered. “Acoustic”

I frankly think she had no clue about what I was talking, but the confidence in my eyes ensured that I was speaking the truth and so she changed the topic instantly.

Career Infoline Word of Advice:  Never mention anything in the resume that you have not done on your own. The interviewers have the knack of picking up these things and grilling the interviewee on that. Howsoever you try, they will in the end be able to catch you lies. One lie caught and your interview is over. Nothing else matters, Integrity and truthfulness are the characteristics an interviewer will never compromise on.

Infosys Interviewer: What type of books you read?

Myself: My eyes lit up. I wanted this question as I am an avid reader and have read many good books.

“Madam, of the last few books, I read some are India Imagining by Nandan Nilekani’s (Infosys founder), It’s not about the bike- Lance Armstrong’s biography, The Google Story” I made her realize that reading is a part of my daily routine.

Infosys Interviewer: What has reading taught u? How has it enriched u?

Myself: Now this was a googly. I wasn’t expecting anything like this. I tried to articulate my feelings, but fumbled in my sentence formation. Yet I stayed calm. Slowly some ideas struck me and I told her, “Madam, I have gained knowledge about various domains of life like sports and cycling in particular from Lance Armstrong’s book. It is a truly inspiring story. The Google Story gave me an insight about how the entire search cycle on the internet is controlled. It gave me an insider perspective of what google is all about”

Career Infoline Word of Advice:  This question was implanted to test the knowledge about the books that were mentioned. Avid readers generally have an opinion about their reading and also are vocal about what they have learnt. If one is really a passionate reader, one can continue for hours describing this answer, if one is faking, then most likely one will stop after a line or two.

Infosys Interviewer:  So, You had training at CDAC. What did you learn over there?

Myself: I had my training in CDAC on networking some one and a half years back, but while preparing for the interview I had spent some time on the projects that I did over there. I was expecting this question. I told her some details about the project and mentioned about Packet Tracer (the s/w I used there).

I knew she was a HR manager so I used many technical terms here to show my inclination to technology, I was sure that chances of getting cross questioned were less so I went on and on.

Infosys Interviewer:  “That is great, but why did you do training with a manufacturing firm after 3^rd year?”

Myself: Luckily something which has bugged us all in the last one-two years came to my rescue. THE RECESSION!!

“Madam as you very well know, last year was a time of peak recession. MNC’s were not accepting students as interns and due to family reasons I wasn’t interested in paying hefty sum to a training center like CDAC again.”

She was happy that I was being honest. Frankly, I was preparing for MBA entrance and did not want to reveal this in a job interview.

Career Infoline Word of Advice:  Never mention your plans of pursuing a higher education if you are preparing for them. Companies come looking for people who will remain stable with the organization. They do not want to invest their resources on people who will leave them in a year or two. You must sound like you are very stable and this is like a dream come true.

Infosys Interviewer:  You are from Electronics. How will you work in IT?

Myself: “Madam I’m desperately looking for a job. Recession took its toll on our seniors and I do not want to be without a job after my college gets over. It can be Infosys or TCS or Wipro, all these companies are good in their own ways and provides the student community a platform to launch themselves in the corporate world.”

I also mentioned that my college is a C grade college where we don’t get enough sector specific companies like Freescale, Intel, Nokia etc for electronics so we need to keep ourselves open to all opportunities that are provided to us. After some time I felt that I was speaking unnecessarily extending my answer, so went mum.

Career Infoline Word of Advice:  Never say anything bad about your present. Even if your college, surroundings or in that matter anything is bad, do not say it is bad. Mention that there are some inefficiencies, but I’m hopeful that we will be able to address them in sometime soon. You must always come out as an optimistic person who has the capacity to fight it out even from the toughest of the conditions.

 She was satisfied with my responses and said she was done with me and I could leave. I was keen to ask her a question. I was asked by the Career Infoline mentors to do so as it shows your interest in the company. I also wanted to know her name atleast, yet I decided to walk out. I stood up and said “thanks, it was a pleasure talking to you” and left.

Showdown Time:

Finally after a very long process of some 100 odd interviews, the list came out. I was extremely delighted to be among the successful candidates. I finally had a job. All these years of painful study of the concepts of engineering finally bore fruit.

All I can suggest to people who might end up reading my story to have confidence in your abilities and develop decent communication skills so that you can convey your viewpoint across the table. If you can get some good mentors to guide you well, you will be able to capitalize the limited opportunities you get to become an IT Professional.

www.careerinfoline.com is a mentorship forum, where one can get access to professionals from various domains. You too can get benefited.

EYE of an Interviewer

Imagine yourself sitting in a dark room, with a bulb hanging on top of your face, and someone shooting questions at you.... Scared are you!!

Well an interview is much easier and simpler than this. An interview is usually conducted in a calm and friendly environment to release the stress for a candidate.

 

The objective of an interview can be broken down to the below mentioned points:

1. Technical Round

1)      How much you have learned?

2)      How much you tend to learn beyond what almost everyone knows?

3)      Do you actually apply what you have learned?

2. HR Round

1)      How friendly you are?

2)      How well you gel?

3)      Team spirit?

4)      Do you participate in extracurricular activities also? (Important for maintaining a good working environment in company)

3. MR Round

1)      How well you handle tricky situations?

2)      How loyal and honest you are?

3)      How well you balance between personal and business situations?

A senior member from Motorola’s recruitment panel says "Apart from the desired technical skill in a candidate, they also look for the desire to solve the new and unknown problems. If the candidate has the zeal to solve a problem, then a little hint in the right direction can result in a good and innovative solution."

These days’ companies are coming with innovative ideas to judge the suitable candidates for a required job and also to measure the willingness and the reasons as to why a candidate wants to join a particular company. A mix of technical and managerial skill is what companies look out for; after all they need to make sure that the future of a company goes in safe hands.

Foreign Universities in India

The cabinet has approved the entry of Foreign Universities in India. There is increasing interest by foreign universities to engage with Indian higher education, however, the form and nature of their interests are different. There are three distinct segments of universities interested in India

• Prestige-enhancing (top-50 universities)
• Prestige-seeking (next-tier of 100 universities)
• Revenue/profit maximizing universities.

Good foreign universities coming to India will make a great difference to our education sector. Every year thousands of students apply for foreign Universities, some get through and some don’t. Applying in foreign universities is also limited by the individual’s capacity to pay. Currently, although foreign universities are allowed to conduct classes in India, they cannot grant degrees; for that Indian students have to go to the institution's origin. Imagine what greater opportunities would be available to Indian students if accredited foreign institutions offere degree programs in India to expand access to higher education to Indian students.

Graduates of accredited foreign institutes play important role in the development of India upon their return home. Imagine what if these graduates remain in India after completion of their education and they can contribute in the development of their motherland. This bill is certainly going to improve the quality of Indian education and a large number of privately held educational institutions that are not top class will be forced to shape up.

The universities will be forced to develop their ambiance, introduce better faculty and pump in more funds for their research facilities as foreign universities pay a lot to their researchers. This step will open the platform for a healthy and mindful forum. Indian educators recognize the need to bridge the gap between education and industry. The time is right to prepare graduates for tomorrow’s careers.

Whos & Whys of MBA ?

Today, MBA is probably the most sought after and most marketed degree in the world. So lets try to find out why there is so much hype and urgency for doing an MBA. Well among the various reasons most common is being an “engineer”; a breed of talented individuals with great quantitative skills, who do not want to waste their precious time writing a piece of junk code when they can make millions.. not literally.. two years after cracking CAT. Mathematically, this makes sense as one is able to maximize income in a given amount of time.

Second on the list of CAT takers is growing breed of professionals working in IT, BFSI and other sectors. For them, the reason for taking CAT may be different but the underlying cause is the same - growing dissatisfaction with the status quo. Some don’t like the thought of their MBA friends earning more than what they do, some no longer like the work they do, some do it because of the fascination with the word “Manager” and a few appear for CAT just to get away from extremely boring weekends… well for them simple advice would be – find a girlfriend :)

Then there are those who never really wanted to do engineering at first place and never found interest and passion in their branch of study. And those who were too busy enjoying the independence and freedom of college life that they completely became oblivious to the academic part of it. CAT, for them, becomes a safe and successful exit route.

There is a fourth breed too - people who do not have promising career opportunities after graduation. Sadly, for non-engineers in India the awareness about career options is not much. So they appear for CAT not by choice but due to lack of it.

This is just to illustrate how circumstances and peers affect your decisions and change your career trajectory. At www.careerinfoline.com, our aim is to provide you all the support and guidance to enable you to become the master of your destiny.

Start Thinking

In this highly competitive world, more often than not we find ourselves being part of the rat race, running around without having a clear understanding of the end goal.

An average Indian depends on their parents to make important career decisions. This generally starts once someone enters standard VIII. The famous one line guidance by parents to their children is

“Padai kar lo, 10th main ache marks le aao phir toh life ban gayi tumhari”

“Study hard for your 10th standard, score well, and you have a flying career”

With this one liner motivation or threat (whatever you want to name it), three years are spent slogging around mathematics, sciences, social studies, English and other language problems.

No matter what is the result of the standard X board exam is, the next set of advice invariably is..

“Bas 2 saal ki aur padai hai, phir toh duniya tumhare kadmon main hogi”

“Two years of hard work and world will be at your feet”

Students start slogging for two more years in schools, tuitions. Competition among students is not in a game of cricket, but on the number of hours one studied yesterday or in the last week. One is more concerned about one’s marks in a tuition test rather than the next weekend plans.

Post the XII standard board and the entrance exams, we start making plans about

“What next in college?”

After having studied so hard we are no more interested in studies at least for some time. All one wants is to enjoy and chill around in college with plans, making plans to woo the opposite sex, endless planning for making a girlfriend/ boyfriend. Neither are we in mood to listen to our parents nor are they interested in asking us to study more (thank god for once sense prevails). All we want is to have back what has been lost in the tiring five years of studies.

Slowly and steadily as the initial charm of college tends to fade, do we start thinking about:

“What are we up to in life?”

The answer to this question is always complex and generally we are never clear of our aim in life. (To all those who think, earning money is the ultimate goal, I pity you. It never is and it will never be)

So ya, we were at this juncture of deciding about what are we up to in life. I can bet most of us think we are not knowledgeable enough to decide what should our future be, and so enters our next set of mentors- “our college seniors”. You are sure that they are much more intelligent and have lots of wisdom to take decisions and hence they take the role of your career shapers.

We so easily discount the fact that they were at our place a year back and just have as much of understanding as was passed on to them by their seniors and so the legacy continues. Just sit down and analyze the kind of career options they will think for you, invariably most of them will ask you to run away from your current career track and switch to something which is more rewarding (MBA, settle abroad) or something where you get more power (IAS, state admin services).

For once, take a step back and think on your own as to what you want to achieve in life?

You and only you can decide what is good for you and what is not. Don’t let your parents or teachers or seniors play the role of decision makers, just restrict them to the role of counselors. Think on your own, decide on your own but don’t shy away from discussing your issues with other. The more people you interact with, broader will be the set of opinions that you will get. Once you are clear of the goal analyze the ways in which you can achieve that goal. Do think whether your current career track in line with your ultimate goal, if not, then how can you make a seamless transition to align your career track with your goals.

Nevertheless, Constructive thinking is what is required to take sound decisions, but don’t immerse yourself too much in your future that you once again stop living your present.

Enough of gyaan now

“Sit back on your couch, play your favorite music and start making your next weekend plans”

You have a lot to think mate:

• The new movie around
• Weekend hangout with friends
• The girl/ guy next door
• And your career n life in general

Till we meet next..

Start thinking..

Adios

Image Courtesy: http://www.potlee.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/thinking.jpg