Candidate-Experiences
Hey, there! I'm Mithun Chuckraverthy from Kongu Engineering College, Vijayamangalam. I'm currently doing final year of M.Sc., Software Engineering (5 years integrated). I am very happy that I'm placed in my dream company, Cognizant. Cognizant came to my college for recruitment on December 9th (Written Test) and December 10th (Technical & HR). I wanna share my experiance to FW users as it might help them to figure out what Cognizant's selection process actually is.
On Day 1, you will have a written test. Before actually start writing the test, you will be asked to give the following info (Time: 15 mins):
1. Name, Date of Birth, Sex, Age, Permanent Address, Current Address.
2. 10th percentage and 12th percentage.
3. Cumulative and individual percentage of the semesters.
4. Software Orientation (Programming languages known, projects done etc.)
5. Hobbies and extra curricular activities?
6. Strengths and weakness?
7. Expectations from Cognizant?
8. Long term and short term goals in Cognizant.
9. Qualities required for a software professional.
10. Why do you think that you are qualified for IT companies?
(Note: This info is more powerful than your résumé. Please, prepare it well and write things very very clearly. Because, this info will be forwarded to your HR!)
The written test comprised of 2 sections: Analytical and Verbal. The details are given below:
* Analytical Section (30 questions, 30 minutes)
Q(1): Choose the different figure
Q(2-3): Logic
Q(4-5): Logic
Q(6-7): Logic
Q(8-9): Logic
Q(10-13): Puzzle
Q(14-17): Encoding & Decoding
Q(18-21): Figure Sequence
Q(22-24): Choose the similar figure
Q(25-28): Data Intrepretation
Q(29-30): Logic
* Verbal Section (25 questions, 20 minutes)
Q(31-32): Identify correct sentence
Q(33-37): Reading Comprehension I
Q(37-42): Reading Comprehension II
Q(43): Identify the correct sentence
Q(44-46): Identify the incorrect sentence
Q(47-51): Sentence re-arrangement
Q(52): Identify the correct sentence
Q(53-55): Identify the incorrect sentence
(Note: Totally 55 questions. You gotta finish it in 50 minutes. This pattern is very new. This pattern may be valid for the next two years. For section 1, refer R.S. Aggarwal's Verbal & Non-verbal Reasoning and R.S. Aggarwal's Quantitative Apptitude only for questions 25-28. For section 2, you need to be more thorough in English Grammar. This section would be tough for those who aren't good in English.)
The result will be announced on the same day (probably at night). If you are selected, your name will be called out and you will be given your panel number.
On Day 2, you will have both technical and HR in the same panel. I'm sharing my own experience below.
Me: (I opened the panel room and said.) May I come in, sir?
HR: Yeah come on in, Mithun!
Me: Good afternoon, sir!
HR: Good afternoon. Have your seat, Mithun! Had lunch?
Me: Yes sir! (I smiled)
Me: Thank you, sir. (I sat down)
HR: Can you tell about yourself?
Me: (I told and I was interrupted within a minute by him)
HR: Okay. Can you tell about your family?
Me: (I told my parent's name and bro's name. He didn't seem to be listening me.)
HR: Okay. I give you two database tables and an SQL output. You need to give appropriate SQL query.
Me: Sorry, sir! I am not aware of SQL queries for now.
HR: It's Okay. Just give it a try.
Me: (I said okay and wrote a query. He didn't say if it is correct or not)
HR: Okay, can you tell me what Dijkstra's algorithm is?
Me: Sorry, sir! I didn't study about this subject.
HR: Man, you are kidding! This is the very basic question. It is found in all courses.
Me: Oh I'm really sorry, sir! I don't know the answer.
HR: It's okay. Give your résumé. (He saw some info in it and asked about my AI project) What are chatterbots and what is Loebner prize?
Me: Chatterbots are the computer programs which immitate human conversation. The best example of a chatterbot is ELIZA. And, Loebner prize is like a Nobel prize for Artificial Intelligence.(He was impressed)
HR: Very good. How can you spot the last node in a linked list?
Me: The last node in a linked list has the LINK pointer assigned with NULL.
HR: Good. Do you have any idea of doing a research or to work?
Me: Sir, I'd like to work in Conizant!
HR: Hmm. How long will you be working in Cognizant?
Me: Life long, sir!
HR: (He smiled slightly as he was looking at me)
Me: I'm not joking, sir! Cognizant is my dream company! I really like to.
HR: Cool! Cool! Cool, Mithun! Okay, which is better, C# .NET or Java?
Me: Java, sir! Because, it is distributed in public domain and we need not buy license from Sun Microsystem.
HR: You missed an important point. Java is platform independant!
Me: Yes, sir! (I smiled)
HR: Okay, well said! Which is better, Windows or Linux?
Me: Windows, sir!
HR: What? Don't you think Linux is better because it is an open source?
Me: Sir, Linux is better only when you see it in programmers perspective. But, when you look Linux as a non-technical person, it is very messy. Because, Linux is distributed by many companies where Windows in distributed by only one. So, for a non-technical person, Windows is more user friendly, because it has standard GUI, than Linux!
HR: Well said, Mithun! But, Linux is more secured than Windows! Okay, can you list some of the protocols you know?
Me: Sure, sir. HTTP, HTTPS, FTP.
HR: Okay, what is the difference between HTTP and HTTPS?
Me: HTTP is a text based protocol to implement data transfer between client and server. HTTPS is just a secured version of HTTP which implements SSL protocol.
HR: Well said, Mithun! Can you tell me what recursive functions are?
Me: Sure, sir! Recursive functions are the functions that call themselves.
HR: Good. What are constructors?
Me: Constructors are intializers of the objects, sir.
HR: Good. How will you allocate a block of memory in C?
Me: Using malloc, sir.
HR: Hmm. How will you free an allocated memory in C?
Me: Very simple, sir! free().
HR: Okay, there is an operator in C++ which does the same job of C's free(). What is it?
Me: delete, sir!
HR: Good. You may leave now. Let me estimate your performance with our HR teams.
Me: I'am very eager to work with you in Cognizant, sir!
HR: (He didn't seem to care my words and just said 'okay' as he was preparing for the next candidate)
HR: (I said thank you and went out as I was slowly closing the panel room's door)
Useful Tips:
1. Prepare 'Tell about yourself' very clearly.
2. Know about Cognizant.
3. Always keep your weekness very mild.
4. Always speak in English. If your HR speaks in local language, you can anyways speak in it.
5. Always say Cognizant. Do not say CTS.
6. Keep smiling.
All the best!
