TCS on-campus experience 2014

TCS arrived my college this year on 8 Nov 2014. I wanted to share  my experience with all of u , so here it is..

Eligibility Criteria is:

1. 60% in SSC, Intermediate and B.Tech.
2. Not more than a gap of 2 years between above mentioned courses. 
3. More than one active backlog is not allowed.

The selection is made on the basis of 4 rounds and every round is a elimination round.

1. Online Aptitude test.
2. Technical Interview.
3. MR Interview.
4. HR Interview.

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Tips to prepare:

1. Prepare your portfolio beforehand(though nobody has time to take a look of it, as they have your data on their database and keep laptops during interview). Take a file with transparent leafs inside to put the documents in them in following order:-
• C.V. signed and dated as the date on which interview is going to take place. (not more than 2 pages) (You can view sample C.V. from here:- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1m8MQlWki_UZiJ6_hrI4gGwG4BkG7uDsSfgRQ8bhmMXc/edit?usp=sharing
• 4th year marksheet(if grauated), then 3rd year marksheet(if you do not have it just take out its printout from university website and insert it.), then 2nd year's and then 1st yr's mrksht.
• 12th Marksheet and then certificate.
• 10th Marksheet and then certificate.
• Industrial Training Certificate and other course's certificates(if any)
• Other Certifiates comprising of Workshop certificates, Certificates of participation in co-curricular activities, etc.
2. Keep a separate copy of your C.V. along with you signed(by you) and dated(interview date). (Again nobody demanded it for taking a look of it during my campus drive, but still keep it prepared just in case ..!!) 
3. Keep a printout of application form of TCS which you have to download from nextstep.tcs.com after applying for drive. (Download it in Mozilla Firefox, Chrome may not work). Application Forms would be submitted at the time of Round1 and would be used in all successive rounds to have a look of the interviewee.

Round 1: E-mail writing and Quantitative Aptitude

Students  were divided in 2 slots(actually not divided, it was told that whoever wanted to give in 1st slot may give) . Then we were sent to Computer Labs for taking Round1. I was in Slot 1.

There are 2 sections:-

First section comprises of E-mail writing and next is Quantitative Aptitude. Remember you cannot go back to 1st section if you have already exited it(although there is much time for it -10 minutes are sufficient for an e-mail).

Quantitative Aptitude comprise of 30 questions with negative marking. Starred questions will be of higher marks. The set I got had 10-12 easy questions, 4-5 tough questions, and rest medium level. Try to do atleast 18 out of them to clear the round. (If there is not much time left as compared to the number of questions you may take help of yur neighbor as many people in my slot did, though its better to do it on your own as you can't trust others.)

Questions comprised of following areas:-

Time and Work (Questions related to calculation of Wages for work),
Number System,
Functions and Series,
Geometry,
Probability(Total Probability and Bayer's),
Time, Speed and Distance,
Ages,
Permutations and Combinations.


We also had a PPT in after this round in which TCS declared results of 1st round and told about the company, objectives, statistics, mission, values, etc.

Tips:

1. Take the mock test before the drive which is provided on https://nextstep.tcs.com/ available after logging in. 
2. Whether you write the subject in e-mail or not, is completely your choice. It won't matter much(I wrote the subject and my friend didn't, we both cleared the round with 10th and 9th position, respectively)
3. Use exact words and phrases which are provided in the question( like:- passing out---ordered-- should not be used as :- Your order dated 24 July is passed out. , Correct form of using it is:- Passing out the project which you had ordered on 24 July ...) Sequence is not important.
4. If you have practiced Time and Work, Number System, Permutations and Combinations, then its enough. Just look out the simple formulas(or one-two questions) of other chapters like Total Probability Theorem, Bayer's formula, an upstream-downstream question, Sum of A.P and G.P. and their General Terms). Don't waste time on chapters like Alligations, Logarithms, Ratio, Percentages, Profit, Loss, etc. Remember alligations are just a shortcut method of solving some type of questions , generally useful for CAT/XAT students where CalCulators are not allowed.
5. Only pencils and calculators are allowed. Rough sheets would be provided by them which would be sufficient. Don't forget CalCs as they are more sppedy to work on rather than e-calculator.
6. Note down everything told in the PPT. It can be asked in successive rounds.

Round 2: TR (Technical Interview Round)

Out of 300 students, about 200 cleared the 1st round and were divided in 10 panels for Round 2. Only one interviewer was there in each panel, so not to worry too much.

Regarding the questions they asked in this round, it totally depended on them.

In some panel they asked questions about family (just total time pass, answer in relaxed way as if talking to some relative)

In my panel the interviewer never asked me about my favorite subject(area of interest) . He asked me questions from various subjects except my area of interest  :(, some of which are as follows:-

• What is your final year project? Tell me something about it. (as we had not even started making our project by that time, I didn't know what we would do in that but neither did the interviewer know. So I told him whatever I wrote in my project synopsis- the modules in the project, the objective, its applications, language used, etc.)
• (As I told that my project was based on JSP so he started asking me questions from it.) What is page directive(I told it)
• What is AJAX (I told it somewhat wrong, and said that I'm not sure)
• Ok. What are servlets? (told it)
• What is the relation between JSP and Servlets( at first I told it wrong, then he gave me a hint and I corrected it.)
• Have you heard about Quick Sort? What is it? (I was not sure. Just knew that it has a pivot element and we have to compare it with some other elements. Told him such things.)
• He handed me the paper and told me to take few numbers and show on them how quick sort is done. (I knew that i couldn't so I just took few numbers, told him the first element is pivot and then we find the element smaller than it from right side)
• He looked at me and said "Do you not think that we take middle element as pivot?" (I in my mind thought that yes he was right we take middle one as pivot , but told him confidently- No sir, we took the first element as pivot in our academics)
• He nodded and then asked which one was efficient( I told him taking middle one as pivot was more efficient)
• He asked me something about RDBMS. (I told him Sorry sir, I have no idea about that.) 

Though my interview went out totally frustrating with the only good thing being my CONIDENCE (even in saying that I didn't know the answer). After 2 hours I got my call for MR round :)

Tips:

1. Be confident. Don't hesitate in saying even that you don't know the answer.
2. They are not looking for students with best technical knowedge, but the students with the medium knowledge, greater potential, and most importantly confidence.
3. Study not focussing only on your area of interest, but just take a look of basic definitions of important topics especially related to your project. (like AJAX, JSP, Servlet, 1NF, 2NF, Indexing, etc. ) Brush up about every type of sorting logics (bubble, selection, quick, insertion), and common programs like palindrome, swapping 2 nodes in a linked list, etc. 
4. Greet Good Morning/Evening with a smile when you enter and sit only when asked to(if not asked, then ask yourself to sit), Talk in a relaxed mood but not too relaxed(don't speak like he is your chuddy-buddy).  
5. To reduce stress after clearing this round, just think about both outcomes (if I'm selected then that would be great but If I'm not then at least I cleared 2 rounds when 100s of people couldn't. :) This worked for me. )

Round 3: MR (Managerial Interview Round)

This was the best round according to me.

There were only 2 panels for this round.

I was called in. I entered , smiled and greeted him .

The interviewer was an aged person and looked much experienced and friendly.

He : (taking a look at the application form) So Ms. Nirmal..

I: Sorry sir, my name is Swechchha Agarwal, That's my mother's name which you are taking.

He: (taking a look again)Ohh (smiling a bit) my mistake, its Swechchha. 

(Some person entered meanwhile for handling him something)

He: So Nirmal, tell me something about yourself.

I: Sir, I am Swechchha Agarwal...(hoping to continue the intro)

He: Ohh again sorry. (smiling)Let me correct it here(working on his laptop for a minute)  Ok now continue.

I: (told my complete intro)

He asked me about my family.

I told him that I had a joint family with 11 members .

He smiled and said that was very good.

He asked me about my hobbies (painting,sketching)

So u make human sketches also?(Sir, I have tried my hand on them, but its just my hobby and not my talent so i'm not good in it)

Don't you do anything else in your hobby like sports(Sorry sir I'm not good in that.)

He asked me about my strategy to achieve success in organization(dont tell only hardwork tell about the smartwork, punctuality, learning from experience, self-teaching, etc.)

He asked me "Why you want to join TCS"(Sir as I know many employees there I have come to know a lot about this company , its good friendly environment, platform to learn, etc. .. )

He asked me about my last project and why I developed it, i.e. its objective(told him)

He asked me what have I learnt in Software Engineering(that softwares are not developed by just coding them . If we want them to be a real success, then there are steps to follow:Reqt specification, analysis, design, testing, review)

He asked me what I have learnt in Industrial Management which was also a subject in my curriculum( I told him importance about human relations in company, stress management...)

He asked me how to manage stress?(I told him what I learnt in that subject like job rotation to reduce fatigue, etc.)

He told me that"You have told me how to reduce other's stress as a manager, now tell me how will you reduce your stress? (I told him through a little chat with peers, taking breaks in work, through hobby practising)

He again reminded me that I must practise something in Sports as my hobby to reduce stress (I know sir i should but just sports are not my type )

Ok you may go. Send the next one inside.(Thankyou sir :) )

It was already 11:30 p.m. Next day results were to be declared of OutOfProcess students (eliminated)

I didn't have my name on that list :)

I was called as the first one to give final round H.R. which ended in 10 minutes .

Round 4: HR Interview

I entered and greeted. He told me to sit. and said "tell me about yourself".I told. Then he asked me an aptitude question : "There is a 20 feet tower. A monkey climbs 3 feet in a second and drops down 2 feet in the same second. when would he reach top?" I asked him to give me a minute to think . He allowed. Then I told him "18 seconds" . He asked me the capital of Telangana. I told him"I know that Currently it is not stable but I don't know the answer" .He asked me "Tell me any 5 points about TCS which were told in PPT and because of which you would like to join TCS"(I told him about the code of ethics, brand popularity, the awards it got,...he then interrupted)
Ok your home is so close from your college. How would you  be able to relocate?(I told him that I had done it earlier after 12th in Kota)
He asked me about the Kota expeerience and then told me to "You may go"


80 were placed and I was also among them :)

Please do comment if you want any other information ..