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HCL Interview Procedure:
At the moment we do not have much information about the interview though the candidate may be required to go through both technical and HR interviews. The written test consists of 60 questions which are divided into 4 sections .The total duration of the test is 90 minutes. There is negative marking. The section-wise distribution of the questions is as follows:

Section#1
This section consisting of 15 questions is based on general computer awareness.
In this section: A correct answer carries 1 mark 1/4 marks will be deducted for a wrong answer.

Section#2
This section also consists of 15 questions. Questions based on C language are asked.
In this section:
A correct answer carries 1 mark 1/4 marks will be deducted for a wrong answer.

Section#3

A total of 10 questions based on pointers and structures in C are asked in this section.You can also be asked one or two questions on JAVA also.
In this section: A correct answer carries 2 marks 1 mark will be deducted for a wrong answer.

Section#4
This is the aptitude section consisting of 20 questions. Simple maths questions are asked which are very easy. The logical questions asked are
similar to the ones given in the Barron's GRE book.
In this section: A correct answer carries 2 marks 1/4 mark will be deducted for a wrong answer. 

Verbal

February 2010
ENGLISH COMPREHENSION
In the following question select the word which is OPPOSITE in the meaning of the given word.
Q1. INDISCREET
a.reliable
b. honest
c.prudent
d. stupid

Q2. SOLICITUDE
a.insouciance
b. ingenuity
c.propriety
d. austerity

Q3. In the sentence there is a bold word or phrase. One of the words or phrases given in the options conveys almost the same meaning as the bold word or phrase in the sentence. Select that option which is nearest in meaning. It is preposterous on your part to look for a job without first completing your education.
a.Wise
b. Imperative
c.Advisable
d. Most admirable
e. Very absurd

In the following questions, fill in the blank space.
Q4. The success that he has gained, though striking enough, does not, however, commensurate . . . . the efforts made by him. 
a.About
b. From
c.With
d. Beside
e. Over

Q5. Vinod took his meals after he . . . .
a.Had completed his work
b. Had been completing his work
c.Was completing his work
d. Had been completed his work
e. Had got completed his work
In the following questions, select the word or phrase that is similar in meaning to the given word.

Q6. Nonchalance
a.Neutrality
b. Indifference
c.All-knowing
d. Ignorance
e. Untimeliness

Q7. Conceal
a.Hide
b. Seal
c.Ceiling
d. Horrifying

Q8. Read the sentence to find out whether there is any grammatical error in it. The error, if any, will be in one part of the sentence. The letter of that part is the answer. If there is no error,the answer is 'D'. (Ignore - the errors of punctuation,if any)(A) The whole thing moves/ (B) around the concept of building a smalldynamic/(C) organisation into a larger one./(D) No error.
a.(A)
b. (B) 
c.(C )
d. (D)

Q9. In the question a part of the sentence is italicised. Alternatives to the italicised part is given which may improve the sentence. Choose the correct alternative. In case no improvement is needed. Option 'D' is the answer. She gave most of her time to music.
a.spent
b. lent
c.devoted
d. No improvement

Q10. The given sentences when properly sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Each sentence is labelled with a number. Choose the most logical order of sentences from among the four given choices to construct a coherent paragraph.
1 He was so busy with them that he did not get time to eat. 
2. Thousands of people came to him and asked different types of questions. 
3. No one cared to see that he had his food or rest that night. 
4. Swami Vivekanand once stayed in a small village.
a.2341
b. 3214
c.4213
d. 4231
Answer the question based on the given passage
Management is a set of processes that can keep a complicated system of people and technology running smoothly. The most important aspects of management include planning, budgeting, organising, staffing, controlling, and problem-solving. Leadership is a set of processes that creates organisations in the first place or adapts them to significantly changing circumstances. Leadership defines what the future should look like, aligns people with that vision, and inspires them to make it happen despite the obstacles. This distinction is absolutely crucial for our purposes here: Successful transformation is 70 to 90 per cent leadership and only 10 to
3 0 percent management. Yet for historical reasons, many organisations today don't have much leadership. And almost everyone thinks about the problem here as one of managing change. For most of this country, as we created thousands and thousands of large organisations for the first time in human history, we didn't have enough good managers to keep all those bureaucracies functioning. So many companies and universities developed management programs and hundreds and thousands of people were encouraged to learn management on the job. And they did. But, people were taught little about leadership. To some degree, anagement was emphasised because it's easier to teach than leadership. But even more so, management was the main item on the twentieth-century agenda
because that's what was needed. For every entrepreneur or business builder who was a leader, we needed hundreds of managers to run their ever-growing enterprises. Unfortunately for us today, this emphasis on management has often been institutionalised in corporate cultures that discourage employees from learning how to lead. Ironically, past success is usually the key ingredient in producing this outcome. The syndrome, as I have observed it on many occasions, goes like this: success creates some degree of marked dominance which in turn produces much growth. After a while keeping the ever-larger organisation under control becomes the primary challenge. So attention turns inward and managerial competencies are nurtured. With a strong emphasis on management but
not leadership, bureaucracy and an inward focus takeover. But with continued success, the result mostly of market dominance, the problem often goes addressed and an unhealthy arrogance begins to evolve. All of these characteristics then make any transformation effort much more difficult. Arrogant managers can over-evaluate their current performance and competitive position, listen poorly and learn slowly. Inwardly focused employees can have difficulty seeing the very forces that present threats and opportunities. Bureaucratic cultures can smother those who want to respond to shifting conditions. And the lack of leadership leaves no force inside these organisations to break out of the morass. 

Q11. Why did companies and universities develop programmes to prepare managers in such a large number?
a.(A) Companies and universities wanted to generate funds through these programmes
b. (B) The large number of organisations were created as they needed managers in good number
c.(C) Organisations did not want to spend their scarce resources in training managers
d. (D) Organisations wanted to create communication network through trained managers 

Q12. How has the author defined management?
a.It is the process of adapting organisations to changing circumstances.
b. It is the system of aligning people with the direction it has taken.
c.It refers to creating a vision to help direct the change effectively.
d. Creating better performance through customer orientation.

Q13. What is the historical reason for many organisations not having leadership?
a.A view that leaders are born, they are not made
b. Leaders lack managerial skills and organisations need managers
c.Leaders are weak in carrying out traditional functions of management
d. Leaders allow too much complacency in organisations

Q14. Which of the following characteristics help organisations in their transformation efforts?
a.Emphasis on leadership but not management
b. A strong and dogmatic culture
c.Bureaucratic and inward looking approach
d. Failing to acknowledge the value of customers and shareholders

Q15. Which of the following is similar in meaning of the word 'smother' as used in the passage?
a.Suppress
b. Encourage
c.Instigate
d. Criticise

QUANTITATIVE ABILITY
Q1. In a kilometre race, if A gives B a 40 m start, A wins by 19 s. But if A gives B a 30 s start, B wins by 40 m. Find the time taken by B to run 5,000 m?
a.15 0 s
b. 450 s
c.750 s
d. 825 s 

Q2. Pipe A takes 16 min to fill a tank. Pipes B and C, whose cross- sectional circumferences are in the ratio 2:3, fill another tank twice as big as the first. If A has a cross-sectional circumference that is one-third of C, how long will it take for B and C to fill the second tank? (Assume the rate at which water flows through a
unit cross-sectional area is same for all the three pipes.)
a.6 6/13
b. 40/13
c.16 /13
d. 32/13

Q3. Three consecutive whole numbers are such that the square of the middle number is greater than the product of the other two by 1Find the middle number.
a.6
b. 18
c.12
d. All of these

Q4. The arithmetic mean of 2 numbers is 34 and their geometric mean is 16. One of the numbers will be
a.4
b. 16
c.18
d. 

Q5. If x% of a is the same as y% of b, then z% of b is :
a.(xy/z)% of a
b. (yz/x)% of a
c.(xz/y)% of a
d. None of these

Q6. The letters of the word WOMAN are written in all possible orders and these words are written out as in a dictionary ,then the
rank of the word 'WOMAN' is

a.11 7
b. 120 
c.118
d. 119

Q7. What least number must be subtracted from 9400 to get a number exactly divisible by 65?
a 40
b. 20
c. 80
d. none of these

Q8. If 2505 / 0.5 = 5010 then 25.05 / 0.5 = ?
a.5.010
b. 50.10
c.501. 0
d. None of these

Q9. Which pair of rational numbers lie between 1/5 and 2/5 -
a.262/1000, 275/1000
b. 362/1000, 562/1000
c.45
1/1000, 552/1000
d. 121/1000,131/1000
Q10. What is the value of the following expression: 2 log 10 5 +log 104 ?
a.2
b. 2.5
c.3
d. None of these

Q11. If x increases linearly, how will a - x behave (a>1) ? 
a. Increase linearly
b. Decrease linearly
c.Increase exponentially
d. Decrease exponentially

Q12. What is the probability of getting the sum 5 in two throws of the dice? 
a.1/12
b. 1/5
c.1/9
d. None of these

LOGICAL ABILITY
Q1. The question shows a pair of words in which the first is relatedto the second in some way. It is followed by a single word which bears a similar relation to one of the given alternatives. Find the correct alternative to complete the analogy.
Melt:Liquid::Freeze: ?
a.Ice
b. Condense
c.Solid
d. Crystal

Q2. Fill in the blankGuilt is to Past as Hope is to ......
a.Present
b. Future
c.Today
d. Despair
e. Hopeless

Q3. From the given choices select the odd man out:
a.Bird
b. Kite
c.Crow
d. Pigeon
e. Sparrow

Q4. Find the missing pattern BOQD : ERTG :: ANPC : ?
a.DQSF
b. FSHU 
c SHFU
d. DSQF

Q5. Find the missing number 5 : 24 :: 8 : ?
a.65
b. 63
c.62
d. 64

Q6. From the given choices select the odd man out 
a.DFHEG
b. TWXUV
c.OQSPR
d. JLNKM

Q7. If HARD is coded as 1357 and SOFT is coded as 2468, what will 21448 stand for?
a.SHAFT
b. SHORT
c.SHOOT
d. SHART

Q8. Find the next number in the series 1, 6, 13, 22, 33, ......
a.44
b. 45
c.46
d. 47

Q9. The question contains some statements followed by some conclusions. Decide which of the given conclusions logically follow from the given statements, disregarding commonly known facts. 
I)All tomatoes are red.
II)All grapes are tomatoes.
Conclusions:
I)All grapes are red.
II)Some Tomatoes are grapes.
a.Only conclusion I follows.
b. Only conclusion II follows.
c.Neither I nor II follows
d. Both I and II follow.
e. Either I or II follows

Q10. Old woman's son is my daughter's uncle, then what relation has the old woman to me ?
a.Sister
b. Mother
c.Grandmother
d. Mother - in - law

Q11. Ramu was facing East.He walked 4 km forward and then after turning to his right walked 6 km. Again he turned to his right and walked 7 km. After this he turned back.Which direction was he facing at the time?
a.East
b. North
c.South
d. West
e. North-East

Q12. Raman is not wearing purple and Aman is not wearing black.Raman and Sahil wear different colours.Avinash alone wears green.What is Sahil's colour, if all four of them are wearing different colours.
a.Green
b. Black
c.Purple
d. Can't Say 

Q13. The question is followed by two arguments numbered I and II. You have to decide which of the arguments is a strong argument and which is a weak argument.
Statement : Should a total ban be put on trapping wild animals?
Arguments : I.Yes, Trappers are making a lot of money.
II.No, bans on hunting and trapping are not effective.
a.Only argument I is strong.
b. Only argument II is strong.
c.Either I or II is strong.
d. Neither I nor II is strong.
e. Both I and II are strong

Q14. The question contains a statement followed by two Assumptions I and II. Find out which assumption(s) is implicit.
Statements:Vitamin E tablets improve circulation, keep your complexion in glowing
condition.Assumptions :I.People like glowing complexion.
II.Complexion becomes dull in the absence of circulation.
a.Only assumption I is implicit
b. Only assumption II is implicit
c.Both assumption I and II are implicit.
d. Neither assumption I nor II is implicit

Q15. Study the statement(s) and the conclusions and select the correct option.
Statement :No country is absolutely self - dependent these days.
Conclusions :I.It is imposible to grow and produce all that a country needs.
II.Countrymen in general have become lazy.
a.Only Conclusion I follows
b. Only Conclusion II follows 
c.Both the conclusion I and II follow
d. Either conclusion I or II follows
e. Neither conclusion I nor II follows

Q16. In the question a statement is followed by some courses of action . A course of action is a step or administrative decisions to be taken for improvement, follow-up, or further action in regard to
the problem, policy, etc.You have to assume everything in the statement to be true and then decide which of the given suggested course(s) of action logically follows for pursuing.
Statement: 'The World Bank has approved a $ 300 million loan to finance a project to construct coal ports by Madras Port Trusts.
Courses of Action :I.India should take financial help from other international financialinstitutions to develop such ports in other places.
II.India should not seek any help from the international financial institutions.

a.Only I follows
b. Only II follows
c.Either I or II follows
d. Neither I nor II follows
e. Both I and II follow.

COMPUTER PROGRAMMING PRINCIPLES AND APPLICATIONS
Q1. A 8-bit signed integer has the following range:
a.0 to 255
b. -128 to 127
c.-25 5 to 254
d. 0 to 509

Q2. What will be the output of the following code statements?
integer x = 34.54, y = 20, z = -5
print ( y > 50 AND z > 10 or x > 30 ) 
a.0
b. 1
c.-1
d. 10

Q3. Pankaj makes a program to print the product of cubes of the first 10 whole numbers. She writes the following program:
integer x = 0 // statement 1
integer sum = 0 // statement 2
while ( x < 10 ) // statement 3
{
sum = x*x*x // statement 4
x = x + 1 // statement 5
}
print sum // statement 6 Is her program correct? If not, which statement will you modify to correct it?
a.
No error, the program is correct.
b. Statement 1
c.Statement 4
d. statement 6

Q4. I have a problem to solve which takes as input a number n. The problem has a property that given the solution for (n-1),I caneasily solve the problem for n. Which programming technique will I use to solve such a problem?
a.Iteration
b. Decision-making
c.Object Oriented Programming
d. Recursion

Q5. Given: integer x = 40, y = 35, z = 20, w = 10 Comment about the output of the following two statements: print x * y / z - w print x * y / (z - w)
a.Differ by 80
b. Same
c.Differ by 50
d. Differ by 160 

Q6. Data and function in which area of a class are directly accessible outside the class?
a.Public
b. Private
c.Protected
d. None of these

Q7. Here is an infix notation: ((A+B)*C-(D-E))^(F+G) Choose the correct postfix notation of the above from the given options.
a.AB+CD*E--FG+^
b. AB+C*DE--FG+^
c.AB+C*DE-FG-+^
d. A+BC*DE-FG-+^

Q8. If the depth of a tree is 3 levels, then what is the size of theTree?
a.2
b. 4
c.6
d. 8

Q9. One of the following options is a form of access used to add and remove nodes from a queue.
a.LIFO
b. FIFO
c.Both LIFO and FIFO
d. None of these

Q10. What is the time complexity of adding three matrices of size NXN cell-by-cell?
a.O(N)
b. O(N^2)
c.O(N^3)
d. None of these


Aptitude – General 21 January 2011
There were 4 sections in written test. It will be for 2 hours. No gap in between
1English Comprehension
2Quantitative Ability
3Reasoning and Logical Ability
4Computer Programming Principles and Application
1.English Comprehension
Synonyms/Antonyms/Word Meaning (Vocabulary)
*Complete the Sentence (Grammar)
*Spot error/Correct sentence (Grammar/sentence construction)
*Sentence Ordering (Comprehension skills)
*Questions based on passage (Comprehension skills)

2 Quantitative Ability
*Basic Math Understanding and Algebra: Decimals, fractions, powers,
HCF, LCM,Solving equations, etc.
*Word Problems
*Understanding of Logarithms and exponents
*Permutation and Combination, Probability

3Reasoning and Logical Ability
*Analogical Reasoning: Analogy and Classification questions
*Deductive Logic: Statement-Conclusion, Statement-Assumption, Data-sufficiency type, Syllogisms, etc.
*Pattern Recognition: Coding and Decoding Questions, Alphabet Test
* Composition ofComplex relations: Blood Relation, Direction Understanding, Logical Word Sequence
* Reasoning Puzzles, Theme Detection

4 Computer Programming Principles and Application This test is based on no particular programming language. The test is completely language independent and tests the programming and algorithm development concepts of the candidate. The topics include:
1 Structure and constructs of Computer Programs 
* Programming flow, Procedures, Functions and Arguments, Methods
* Data-types, how data is stored incomputers, input/output, manipulation, methods of referencing and assessing data (including pointers).
*Iteration, decision-making, recursions
*Algorithm Complexity: Space and time Complexity, Asymptotic Notation
*Compilation, Linking and Execution; debugging, kinds of errors.

2Data-structures and Basics Algorithms
*Data Storage Methods: Linked lists, Arrays, Queues, Stacks, Trees, Heaps, Hash tables, graphs; Stress on which data structure to use for a given application
* Data retrieval, Insertion of new data, merging of data from two data structures 
*Data search and sorting, Methods of array sorting and trade-off

3Object Oriented Programming Concepts
*Classes, objects and methods
*Data Encapsulation, Data hiding, Inheritance
*Polymorphism, Overloading, Abstractt

Aptitude - General 15 December 2010
The Written Exam
* AMCAT test module
*Adaptive testing (GRE MODULE)

The HR Round:
The HR round was a group interview cum discussion. There were 10 interviewees per batch. Each participant had to justify why he/she is the ideal choice for the job Participants were
asked to identify amongst themselves the least eligible candidate if only 9 out of the 10 were to be short listed. The interviewer also asked them to list their strengths and weaknesses. The participants were asked to conclude the proceedings in the last 40 seconds. And the most important of all is HCL will never allow any backlog history in your engineering career and the final result. 
*16 2 appeared for written test
*44 cleared written test
* 6 were removed for their backlog history

HCL PATTERN & INTERVIEW - 06 OCT 2010 – BANGALORE
There were 3 rounds for the process
1Computer Based Aptitude Test (AMCAT)
2Group Discussion
3 HR
AMCAT
This is the Computer based aptitude test which is conducted by aspiring minds. If you get a good score in this test you will be selected directly to the second round for the companies who are the clients of aspiring minds. This is the toughest part for the whole selection process. The only way to cross this line is by hard work. You have to prepare really well and the rest of the part will be done by god. I will explain about the test in detail.
The test for HCL had 4 sections
1Verbal Ability (25 Qns 30 Mins)
2Quantitative Aptitude (25 qns 35 mins)
3Logical reasoning (25 Qns 35 Mins)
4Technical Comprehension (8 Qns 8 Mins)

Verbal Ability was an easy part. If possible go through GRE barrons that will help youin all recruitment process.Synonyms Antonyms, grammatical errors detection, comprehension etc was there. More or less easy

Quantitative Aptitude was a bit difficult for me, only because it concentrated more on problems on numbers, surds and Indices and I skipped those portions and concentrated more on trains, work, time and distance, average ratio and all. If you are going for the test, make sure that you are going through all these portions because the questions are chosen random from the database and will depend on how much luck u have on the given day. So make sure that you have gone through all the portions. There is no substitute for hard work. And RS Agarwal will surely help you a lot. 

Logical reasoning was also an easy part, just some family tree problems and puzzles. Technical comprehension consisted of 2 paragraphs with 8 questions. You will surely be able to answer this if you have basic computer knowledge. Mine was something about a linux and a virus. After the test I was really disappointed because I thought I totally screwd up the quantitative part. But still I prayed. on Friday 8th october, I got the
mail that I had cleared the test and my interview was scheduled on 11th Monday @ the same college. The next stage was GD.

Group Discussion
The group discussion was meant to be a technical group discussion, but as I told earlier, the HCL HR was really kind and sweet that he gave us the choice, whether we wanted a technical GD or a general GD, and we opted for a general GD. The topic was "Whether all the rounds were required for the Recruitment process", an easy topic because we all knew what the process was and could talk a lot about it.
Tips for GD:
1 If Possible, start the GD. And before you start, tell something like "With everyones permission, I am starting our discussion" etc.
2 You should be loud and clear.
3 Never get into an argument. If somebody interrupts you, stop and listen and then complete your point of view.
4 If you have any points in the middle, raise your hand and ask something like "Shall I have my view on this" or "I feel I have to put in a point here". Never go to mute in a discussion for long, you should be involved, bus also make sure that you listen to every word that others are saying. To succeed in GD you have to talk as well as listen.
5 Take control of the situation and think like you are conducting a debate, put across questions to your group, like if you were in this position, what would you have done so that the HR comes to know that you have the qualities of a leader too.

6When HR comes and Explains the topic, make good eye contact with him. and during discussion, never look at the HR, but look at all the members of your group. You should be able to do this when you are talking 

7 And last but not least, Conclude the discussions with whatever points that were put across, in a short and crisp way. The GD results came and out of 12 members, 5 of us were selected. If
you pass the GD then you are 99% Placed in HCL

HR Interview
I cannot call this section as an interview, just because it was less than two minutes. I went inside, HR asked me for my resume. He then asked whether I had a problem in relocation. Then explained me about the package that HCL are offering and asked whether I am ok with that. Then he also mentioned about an 18 month bond we have to sign for joining the company. Then he gave me a paper with these things written on it and asked me to sign it. He then told me that we will be getting a mail and told me that I can leave.