Finally the much awaited campus recruitment drive took place in my college. I had appeared for the persistent open campus in which I could not clear even the written exam but that was alright given that it was a completely technical exam and undoubtedly there are people who have prepared for GATE and are better than me in the technical domain(Although just a few days ago I came to know that all the papers were not even checked in Persistent Campus).Anyways after the Persistent exam I made a promise to myself that I must get selected for each and every company that comes for closed campus in my college.
So finally the “D Day” was 14th of January 2011. The first company that came was Cognizant Technology Solutions offering an annual salary package of 3.35 lacs per annum .It was a closed campus drive and nearly 1400 students from my college were appearing for it, given the relaxed criteria by cognizant. We were all sitting in the auditorium anxiously waiting for the Pre Placement Talk to begin and I remember telling my friend Pankaj, ”Pankaj bhai ghar waloon ne kharcha to kar diya par agar campus nahi hua to waat lag jayegi”(I spent 8000 rupees buying my first ever formals that just included two shirts, a pair of trousers, neck scarf and shoes) and Pankaj kept silent for sometime then replied “ Bhai mein to sochna hi nahi chahta is bare mein”.
Anyways after the PPT we were finally guided to our written test rooms and were asked to switch off our mobiles which I obediently did ,given that I have a very bad track record of not being able to cheat in exams(My friend Sukrity knows it better :D).Wait…before this goes any further I must tell you that I forgot my cell phone at home that day, so I just borrowed my dad’s cell, diverted all his calls to my cell and asked my friends to forward me any sms they get on his number.Anyways this turned out to be of no use as I eventually switched off my mobile.So,finally back to the exam room we got the question paper and to my utter shock it was a completely different pattern from what we had known and practiced for cognizant.Anyways there wasn’t any time to brood over it in a 65 minute test, so I just stuck to the task. At the end of the test I had no idea how I had performed (although I screwed up the verbal section little bit and was unable to attempt a complete RC due to lack of time), but when I came out I got to know that people had got sms and they had marked the answers.We were told that the results will be announced by evening and the interviews will be on next day.
Pankaj said”bhai ghar chalte hein aur Infosys ki tayyari karte hein…ismein to nahi ho raha…logon ko to sms aa gaye..apan ne to khud hi solve kiya hai” and I was like”yaar confident to mein bhi nahi hoon par zaroori nahi hein ki sms ke answes sahi hi hon,atleast verbal section mein to mujhe apne par zyada bharosa hai..aur DI section era theek hi hua hai”. So we all came back home and started to prepare for Infosys closed campus which was scheduled on 16th of January. At 8 in the evening I was sitting at my study table and analyzing some questions when my cell phone rang, and it was Tarang on the call.
Tarang:Aur bata kya kar raha tha ??
Me:Bas yaar baitha hi hua tha.
Tarang:Result nahi dekha kya??
Me:Aa gaya kya??
Tarang:Haan…maine socha tumhe badhai de dein…
Me:(My years grew double the size )Aisa kya ho gaya yaar???
Tarang:Apan sab ka written clear ho gaya hai..
Me:kya???...sahi bata yaar…sach bol raha hai ….(and I just jumped out of my chair closing my analytical ability book)
Tarang: bas Niket ka rah gayaL…
Me:Ohhh….aise kaise ho gaya yaar…usne to poora vaibhav ka chapa tha..vaibhav ka nikla to uska bhi nikalna chahiye tha.
Tarang:Pata nahi yaar….samajh nahi aa raha…chal fir check kar le tu..bye.
Me:Bye.Thanks.
I immediately booted my computer and checked the result. It was an excel document with 20 sheets..each sheet consisting of 30 names. About 600 people had cleared the written out of 1400 that appeared.I started checking all the sheets but my name was nowhere to be found. I called Tarang again:
Me:Tarang ..kaun si sheet mein naam hai mera??
Tarang:yaar number yaad nahi hai..dekh le tu…but hai tera..tension mat le.
Me:kk…chal dekhta hoon ek baar aur.
I checked again..but still could not find my name. I tried (cntr+f)..and typed my name..but it returned no result. I tried it again, this time checked ”all sheets” box as well and clicked find….and there it was…sheet No 6.I was finally relieved..and let me tell you..this was this frst time that the( cntr+f) function appeared to be so sweat and effective to me J . Neeraj called me to congratulate and gave some tips for PHP .Guggi called and congratulated in his own way..:D.So finally I started preparing for the interview next day and completely revised C++ and PHP…and brushed up Network Management,Computer Networks and Data Structures a little bit. It was 12 at night so I called Vaibhav and wished him happy birthday…set my alarm to 4:30 and retired for the night. Again got up at 4:30 in the morning revised some concepts, got ready and reached college at 8:00 A.M in the morning.
The interview process began from 10:30A.M and there were 20 panels taking interviews in parallel. I kept waiting eagerly for my turn while observing juniors who were the volunteers that day ..and were looking very happy and content bossing over seniors with instructions. My name was finally called out at 1:00 P.M and I along with Sonal and Amisha were guided to our Panel room no.6.When I reached there I found out that Pankaj was sitting in front of my panel room waiting for his turn in Panel No. 7 while Tarang was already inside the interview room in my panel. I inquired Pankaj about my HR and he told me that you will be facing core technical questions. This panicked Sonal and Amisha even more.Sonal kept on turning the pages of her registers trying to revise stuff while repeatedly asking me “why is Tarang taking so long, what is he asking him??And as clueless as I was I just told her that “when you go inside the time passes very quickly, you will take 10-12 minutes telling about yourself only..So just take it easy..because anyways even if you could not clear this interview it will be a good experience and you will anyhow crack the other companies…so just chill and you will automatically do good when you go inside”. I don’t know how much it helped her but she did close her books after that and sat waiting for her turn.
Sitting in front of me..I could see Pankaj getting a little nervous so I just asked him to believe in himself and reassured him that if he could not clear it then no one else can. Finally Pankaj’s turn came and he went inside the interview room.But Tarang seriously was taking very long. My friend Anjul was waiting for his turn in the panel that was diagonally across mine and kept on doing actions suggesting “what is my HR doing??”.Nearly 3 people have had their interviews done in other panels and Tarang was still inside. I asked the volunteer for my Panel “How much time is he taking for one person??” and he said” on an average 30-35 minutes”. Finally Tarang came out and it was Sonal’s turn next.Tarang told me that he had been literally bludgeoned inside and the HR was specifically very critical abut PHP language which I had also mentioned in my profile, as my final year project is also in PHP.Tarang looked extremely dejected and this made Amisha panic even more..God..I can still emember the look on her face. Now it was her turn to ask me the same queston that sonal had asked me when Tarang was inside the room. She literally made me count each and every minute for which Sonal was inside. I just remembered a line from Jagjit Singh’s ghazal and told her"Kyoun dare zindagi mein kya hoga??Kuch na hoga to tajarba hoga”.I didn't know what else to tell her.
Finally Sonal came out after 30 minutes and it was my turn next. I was just about to enter the room when the HR himself came out in order to take a break. So I sat down back at my place. Meanwhile Amisha asked Sonal what had happened while she was putting her file back in her folder. After sometime the HR came back and I was asked to go inside the room by the volunteer. Now what happened next is very interesting
Me: May I come in sir??
HR: Yes, Please come in.
(I went inside and walked up to his desk)
HR: Please sit down.
(I wished him good afternoon and sat down)
HR: Give me your resume.
Me: Sir I don’t have an extra copy of the resume, I have only one copy and it is in my file.
HR: Hun???....
(I repeated the same sentence again and his reaction was again the same so I finally repeated it for the 3rd time and showed him my file)
HR: How will I see it in the file??Give it in my hands.
(I took out my 3 page resume and handed it to him. )
HR: Why were you so reluctant in handling me the resume?
Me: Sir actually I was not reluctant, I thought it would be more comfortable from the file but if you wanted it in hand..You can please have it.
HR:OK..tell me about yourself.
Me: Sir I am pursuing my engineering in computer science branch at OIST Bhopal……………………………..Sir I also have an elder sister who is working as a software analyst for one of the leading MNC.
(Stopped in between)
Hr: Which company??
ME:Tech Mahindra, Sir.
Hr: TechMahindra is a very bad company …they have very bad working environment……………….
ME: Yes sir..even my sister is not very satisfied working there…..she tells me that they don’t appreciate your hard work.
HR: yes..there is a lot of politics there. I am also from telecomm domain ..the work is good there but the environment is not(then after a break)Anshul tell me…do the people who go out from the interview discuss what I have asked them??
Me: Not really sir. Actually the meritrack volunteers don’t allow them to discuss once they are out of the room.
HR: Then why was that girl discussing outside??
ME: Sir actually she was keeping her file in her bag so may be only for that time.
HR: How long does it take to put a file in the bag??
ME: sir actually something fell out of her bad so it took her a little longer.
HR: Ok…you people are not supposed to discuss what we ask you..because you are freshers and we can ask only the same basic questions from all of you. I understand how much knowledge freshers have… if I ask you questions according to my knowledge you won’t be able to answer a single one of them.
ME: Yes sir,you are right.
HR: I am also from MANIT, I passed 10 years back.
ME:Ok sir..It was GEC then.
HR: Not GEC ..REC.
ME: Right…right sir.
HR: Asked 3 technical questions and I answered them. (I told him I referred Robert Lafore for C++ and it turned out that he had also read the book..and even remembered which concept was on which page.*he was very knowledgeable …I literally had my tongue out when we discussed Robert Lafore)
HR: You have got very good communication skills. or are the best person uptil now in terms of communication and knowledge.
Me: Thank you Sir. I owe it to my school teachers.
HR:I am done with your interview.
Me:ok sir.
HR: Anshul, didn’t you feel that your interview was a little abrupt??
ME: Yes sir…you were taking at least 30-40 minutes for each interview and it has only been 10-15 minutes uptil now..So I am a little bit surprised.
HR: (smiling-started going through my resume) You have all your marks in 60%..What’s the reason?
ME: (wondering 68.67% in engineering is not that bad) Yes, sir I have an aggregate of 68.67%, actually I have been involved in a lot of co-curricular activities and extracurricular activities so that takes up some time. Moreover in the initial semesters I used to write answers to the point and hence scored less…now I have realized it…so in the later semesters my score is good.
HR: Yes…I get your point..this happens. Started checking my extracurricular activities in the resume and asked regarding the bridge design competition of IIT Kanpur.
ME: Told him that we were among the 20 teams selected on the national level and all..(he looked convinced).
HR:I am done with your interview yaar….aacha tell me if I relocate you ..Will you be willing to come to Chennai??
ME: Yes sir..I can do that.
HR: Many people say yes but eventually it turns out that they don’t want to go to Chennai. Do you know the full form of CTS??
ME: Yes sir..Cognizant Technology Solutions.
HR: Actually it is Chennai Technology solutions.
(Again my tongue was out..loll!)
HR: Chennai office has nearly 50,000 employees of cognizant. But people from north find it difficult to adjust there given the language problem, and humidity, food..etc.
ME; Sir I am comfortable with English ..so I guess language won’t be much of a problem..and given my complexion it will be easier for me to adjust there.
(We both laughed at this)
HR: That was a very nice answer.
(Finally four years practice of PJ’s was put to good use by me.Aakhir shauk badi cheez hai :D)
HR: Why do you want to join cognizant??
ME: Sir it is my dream company.
HR: (Started Smiling) Tell me if you don’t get selected for cognizant and tomorrow Infosys is coming for recruitment..then in the interview if HR asks you the same question will you say that cognizant was my dream company but because I could not clear it I am appearing for Infosys??
ME: Sir I have my own reasons for cognizant being my dream company and sir I so much want ot be a part of cognizant that if you assure me right now that I will get selected in cognizant I assure you that I will not even appear for the Infosys campus given that Anuj Sir allows me to.
(He then asked for my reasons. I gave my justifications and he looked satisfied.)
HR: Do you want me to ask anything??
ME: Yes sir. Suppose I get selected in cognizant how much time will it take me to achieve a leadership role??
HR: It depends on your performance and leadership roles require you to first attain some skills in the company.
ME: Sir that fine …I want you to assure me that if work hard my efforts will be recognized.
HR: That depends on your Team Manager and the effort you put in but it is good in CTS as compared to other companies. Anything else??
ME: No sir. Thank you.
So this was the interview. After coming out I realized that after 15 minutes in the interview the HR said that he was done but when I came out and looked at my watch 40 minutes had passed. Before I left the room, I also observed him put my form and resume separately on the stool to his left.
I will regard this as a very good experience because not only did I give HR intervier to a technical panel but I also managed to impresses him.
Next was the Infosys campus the very next day…I will discuss about it in my next post….and also about something that I realized when I was in the waiting room after giving the interview …which made me rethink and reanalyze certain situations.
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