Hi everyone,
There was a list of around
200 eligible students that was send to infosys HR panel by our TPO.
And my name was not in that list(ill tell u later why). But I wanted
this job whether I was invited for the selection process or not. So
I packed my bag and reached the BADDI colg at around 8 am.
Upon reaching there I found
out that our TPO was already there (to my surprise) and there were around
20 students of my colg. who had gathered around him. Later on I found
out that those students were eligible for the job but they hadn’t
got there mark sheets updated in the TPO cell so their names were also
not in the list. So I joined that group in order to cajole our TPO to
allow us to sit for the job process.
Luckily for us out of the 200
students whose names were in the list only 80 arrived at the venue (the
rest were cramming in hostel as we had our semester xam of microcontroller
the very next day on the 18th). And as infosys was looking to higher
a large pool of students we were allowed to sit for the job process
due to lack of number of candidates.
Before the job process started
head of infosys HR team gave a presentation. And he kept on saying that
infosys is a value based company so don’t fake your marks, if u are
not following the eligibility criteria please leave the room. But I
was absolutely unmoved by his request.
I have to say that before that
presentation I didn’t care whether it was infy or TCS or accenture
or wipro I just wanted a JOB. But that guy gave such a fantastic presentation
that I felt like if there’s a company that I want to join, its infosys.
The process of job selection
(or rejection depending upon your result) began with a usual written
test with 2 sections with no negative marking Analytical
& Logical reasoning :(30 question : 40 minutes)and English section:
(40 question : 30 minutes). I have to say when the invigilator said
that the test is of 70 mins, it reminded me of the 70 minute speech
of SRK in chak de India. J.
The logical
section of this test a cakewalk I did all the 30 questions with a few
minutes to spare. But the verbal section was a little tricky. I suggest
you guys to practice sentence correction questions before the xam if
you haven’t prepared for CAT or any such entrance exam that requires
good verbal skills and do not attempt reading comprehensions in the
test unless u have some time to spare as rc`s takes a lot of time(at
least in my case).
The results
were announced luckily I had cleared the cutoff for both the sections
and I was called for the interview process.
To my surprise
my interviewer was a charming lady in her late 30`s and seeing her relieved
all the tension I had.
Before I tell
you about my interview let me tell you the only tension I had was that
I dreaded that the interviewer would calculate the percentage of my
b-tech degree from my mark sheets and it was 64.6% and not 65% as per
their requirement.
Now lets carry
on with my interview (which was a long interview of about 30+ mins)
She asked me
to fill the attendance sheet and then she asked for my CV. And for the
next 3 to 4 minutes she studied my CV in detail(which was very amusing
for me as there was hardly anything in my CV worth reading because I
hadn’t done any real good activity during my colg time except for
having lots of fun in hostel )
After that
she threw a volley of questions at me about which I had never ever thought
about :-
Q-so ayush
you have done trainings from BEL and BSNL. Which one did you enjoy more?
A-mam I enjoyed
BEL training more.(I wanted to say that both the trainings were really
boring but I couldn’t show my true colors there J)
Q-and why would
that be?
A-mam I like
telecom sector a lot more than core electronics one and that’s why
I did both my trainings in this sector. But in the BEL training I learnt
a lot about secure communication as it is a company that manufactures
communication instruments for defense purposes so the mode of communication
has to be with top notch safety. And then I said something about frequency
hopping and some other technical jargon.
Q-ok tell me
what else did you learn other than the technical stuff?
A-(I had never
thought about this angle so after thinking about a couple of moments
I said) Mam as I said BEL is a defense related company so there was
a lot of stress on punctuality. Although I was not used to being very
punctual I learnt this quality there.
Q-ok good.
so do u still follow this practice in your routine now(she asked with
a smile)?
A-mam I wouldn’t
say I do it 100% of the times but yet most of the times I follow it.
Q-ok ayush
you have also organized a robotics workshop in your college tell me
about it?
A-now I faked
a long story with full confidence (as I had not actually organized this
workshop but had to write it as I didn’t have anything else to fill
my CV with)
Q-(to my surprise
she asked again) what did you learn from this experience?
A-(I don’t
know why these HR guys think that we learn something from whatever we
do but anyways) Mam my duty in the organizing committee was to
get the entries of the students interested in the workshop so I had
to take care of a lot cash with me about 30000/- in hostel which is
not that safe. It was a new and a learning experience for me.
Q-ok so you
have also played cricket and football in your colg. (As I mentioned
it in my CV). So which game you like more?
A-I like football
more.
Q-why?
A-I said something
that it involves a lot of running and I love to run and also something
about teamwork and all.
Q-so what is
the major difference you find in cricket and football?
A-I said something
about all the players playing for complete 90 mins in football but in
crick only 2 player are playing when your side is batting and some more
useless stuff.
Q-okay and
tell me the things that you learnt from these sports?
A-(and now
I started to hate this question about learning but with a smile on my
face I said) mam I consider sports to be analogous to our lives. In
sports as in life not everyday is d same, you have failures and successes
but you have to make sure you don’t get bogged down by your failures
and that you have to try better next time. And also I said something
about it improving your focus, concentration and ability to work in
a team.
Q-and then
she asked that you have also organized a seminar by careerinfoline in
your colg(which I had actually J). So tell me about
it?
A-(this was
the only time I spoke truth in my interview) mam I honestly believed
in the cause for this seminar as in India we have very few opportunities
for career guidance. Even in my case, I have done ECE for 4 years but
I have very less interest in core electronics and that’s why I want
to join IT industry.
Q-don’t you
think this seminar would have been more beneficial at lets say a school
level?
A-I agree with
you mam, may be at school level this seminar may have been 10 times
more beneficial but even at colg level most of the students don’t
know what they want to do after college. For example students in my
class don’t know whether they want to join semiconductor industry
or microcontroller field or IT or whether they want to do MBA or MS.
(and she seemed to be very convinces by my answer)
Q-(then she
said with a smile) I hope this is not the effect of three idiots.
A-no no mam,
may be 3 idiots has boosted my belief in this but certainly its not
because of that.
Q-okay ayush
that’s all. Thank you.
A-thank you
mam.
After about
a couple of hours when the results were just about to be announced,
the students whose name was not in the list of eligible candidates were
asked to get their mark sheets verified. And they got to know that I
was one of the defaulters who had faked his marks.
And when the
results were announced, out of 35 students (who cleared the written
xam) 28 got selected and no marks for guessing I was one of the unfortunate
7.
Later on I
got to know from my TPO that the infy HR guy told him that I fulfilled
all their criteria’s(yes that I did clear my interview) but they rejected
me because I lacked 0.4% marks(and their CEO says he is not a big fan
of India’s education system).
And the day
infosys rejected me I had only 3 letters in my mind T.C.S.
Those who have
read this experience might be feeling that I am a big fool who went
to try his luck despite knowing the fact that I was not eligible. But
I can say one thing that this experience was instrumental during my
interviews for TCS(whose selection process is deadly if you compare
it with infy) as it bolstered my confidence.
And if you
have, thanks for reading this my experience.
AYUSH RAJ MADAN
MY TCS EXPERIENCE
Hi everyone
So
after doing some assessment and reading a lot of TCS interview experiences
I had realized that the only thing that was there between me and a TCS
job offer was the technical interview. And it never looked like an easy
task for me to complete.
My semester xams ended on 2nd
feb and TCS job process was scheduled to start on 9th feb.
that left me with only six days to study the TECHNICAL stuff. I knew
I couldn’t study all of the subjects so I concluded that I have to
do C programming thoroughly (ECE students have this advantage that they
need to do only one language which is there in their curriculum) along
with some relevant subjects from computer engg. like data structures
(and if possible networking as well) and also a couple of subjects of
my branch (and I decided for optical communication and television engg.
as they are 2 of the easiest subjects and I had studied them very recently
in 7th sem).
And by the night of 8th
feb, I had done most of C programming and optical communication subject.
Also I had studied complete company profile of TCS(this is very important
to do) including the kinds of projects it undertook, key clients of
TCS , major sectors that it worked in(like bfsi) , I thoroughly studied
the previous quarter result of TCS from the press release that included
its revenues, profits , key deals in last quarter etc. and also I made
sure that I knew the names of all the important people in organization
including its chairman, vice chairman, CEO, CFO , head of global HR
etc.
So on 9th I was
all prepared and gave the written xam which was quite easy actually.
especially the quant part was a cakewalk I managed to do 34 out of 38.
critical reasoning part was also easy, it had 3 sets of 4 questions
each but in my paper I had one set with data missing(I can say this
with surety as I checked it from barrons 12th edition after
the xam as all of the sets were from that book only) so I could attempt
only 8 questions in this section. Fortunately verbal sections had many
of the antonyms and synonyms questions that i knew meanings of with
surety.
At around 9 pm results were
announced and I was amongst the fortunate 169 out of a total of 380
candidates. And now the true test began and I felt like revising all
of the subjects of my engineering as I wanted to make sure that I left
no stone unturned for this job. And I began with basic electronics that
included clippers , clampers ,transistor devices like jfet, mosfet etc
then I studied basics of communication that included both analog and
digital comm. Then I did some important parts of digital electronics
and microprocessor. And finally I studied data structures with C. it
was almost 5 am and I could not keep my eyes open any longer so I decided
to go to sleep.
On 10th feb we were
given a very boring presentation by the TCS panel but we had to listen
to it very carefully as it had nuggets of information about company
profile that would help us in interview. And then after a long wait
I was called for the TECHNICAL interview at around 6 pm.
After giving the interview
I felt like I had been through a nightmare as I don’t think I gave
a satisfactory answer to any of the questions that were asked of me.
Here is how the nightmare goes :-
Q-tell me something about yourself.
A-I told him about my education,
a bit about my family background and as I was about to tell him my interests
and hobbies some stupid volunteer shouted on the mic and the speaker
was placed just outside my interview room and due to that huge shout
I almost blanked out for a couple of moments. But then I continued and
completed my introduction.
Q-what is this speed tracker
on highways(this was my minor project)?
A-I gave him the answer which
was not satisfactory at all.
Q-ayush mujhe nahin lagta ki
tumne yeh project khud banaya hai kyunki last year tumhare seniors ne
bhi yeh project banaya tha (he said it in hindi)
A-(I was in a state of shock
as I never expected him to know that I hadent worked on this project
at all but it was the truth L and I tried to defend it) no sir actually
we take guidance and suggestions from our seniors before we make the
project so may be that’s why you feel like that (but he didn’t seem
impressed).
Q-acha tumhe koi programming
language aati hai(he continued in hindi)?
A-(so I also said in hindi
with full confidance) yes sir C programming aati hai.
Q-okay to sorting ka program
banao.
A-( I had done lots of important
programs like prime no.,recursion ,fabonacci series, concatenation of
strings , swapping of numbers using pointers and many more but he had
to ask “SORTING” program and I looked at the ceiling fan as if I
was in deep thought).
Q-nahin aata hai toh batao
main agla question puchun.
A-nahin sir mujhe logic aata
hai iska and then I told him logic of bubble sort.
Q-give me a better sorting
method this one takes a lot of time.
A-sir I know only bubble sort(after
all how much could I have done in a night but who cares)
Q-he asked me a candle puzzle
for time measurement.
A-I couldn’t solve it
Q-he asked me another puzzle
of finding out a heavy ball amongst a group of balls using weighing
balance
A-I could solve it but only
partially.
After this interview I felt
like along with this nightmare my dream of TCS was also over.
But destiny had other plans
for me and I got short listed for MR and HR interview for the next day
and then I thought there was no looking back.
But I was wrong as my MR interview
was also more of a technical interview
I was sent to the head of the
panel for the interview (because of my overwhelming performance the
day before)
And this is how my second interview
fared
Good morning sir
Good morning ayush
Q-how are you?
A-im fine sir
Q-khana kha ke aya hai?
A-yes sir
Q-kya khaya?
A-paranthe khaye sir
Q-konse paranthe?
A-aalo ke paranthe sir
Q-mere liye bhi le aata?
A-mess ke paranthe the sir
zyada ache nahin the.
[by this time I couldn’t
believe I was here for an interview]
Okay have a seat ayush
Q-ayush tu banda toh sahi hai
but kal interview mein kya hua?
A-(I also continued in hindi
with a smile) sir kabhi kabhi kuch bura ho jata hai
Q-kyun kya hua tha?
A-and I repeated nightmare
to him but not with full intensity.
Q-to aaj ka kya plan hai. Sudhar
ke aaya hai?
A-yes sir bilkul.
Q-so kya pad ke aaya hai
A-optical communication
Q-tu bhi wahi padh ke aaya
hai jo mujhe nahin aata
A-(I was on seventh heaven
after hearing this)
Q-acha ATM pata hai kya hota
hai?
A-sir the one that is used
in banks?
Q-haan, are nahin the one that
is used in computers
A-no sir I don’t know about
it.
Q-acha to coaxial cable bata
de
A- and I explained it in full
with diagram.
Q-isse better kya use kar sakte
hain?
A-then I told him about graded
index fibre.
Q-tereko main kyun select karun
kuch ache reasons bata de
A-sir every industry has its
own requirements and so does it industry. An IT professional needs to
have good programming skills which requires very good logics. And I
am logically very sound. Also especially in India as we have to work
for clients abroad, good communication skill is a must and I believe
I have good communication skills and then I said something about team
leadership and confidence.
Thank you ayush
Thank you sir
I never expected TCS guys to
speak so much of hindi in interviews but I also tried to shift from
hindi to English as per the language they asked questions in as I felt
a little strange answering questions in English when the question was
asked in hindi. I don’t know whether it was the right thing to do
or not but it worked for me
After a few minutes I was called
for HR interview and the interviewer looked to be in a bit of hurry
Q-ayush why do u want to join
TCS?
A-i told her that I want to
join IT sector and TCS being the biggest and the best IT company in
India I want to join it. And then I said that it works in a lot of verticals
from retail to bfsi to telecom etc so I will get maximum exposure. And
some more stuff about it having so many offices in so many locations
and as I love to travel so it will be great to work with TCS.
Q-give me your quick family
background
A-i told her about my parents
their jobs and about my sibling
Q-she told me about the package
and that I can be located anywhere and then about the 2 yr bond. Do
you have any problem ayush?
A-absolutely not madam.
Q-do you have any question
to ask?
A-no madam
Thank you ayush
Thank you madam.
Then when the results were
announced I was lucky to have my name in the list of selected students.
Looking back I can say that
I was very lucky that I could clear my technical interview. But then
again it justifies the clichés about IT sector that most of the MNCs
want employees with good communication skills , high confidence, and
pleasing personality and I believe these were the things that got me
in TCS. So all my fellows who are weak in technical part I hope this
interview will give you loads of confidence and encouragement
And if you
have, thanks for reading this my experience.
AYUSH RAJ MADAN
Igniting Minds. Shaping Careers
