First Job ..... Cognizant

 


It was 8th morning (Tuesday). By that time, 4th year Students in IT-BHU are really frustrated with the placements especially Electrical because I am from Electrical. According to our seniors, Electrical has best placements & there were some students who secured both a software job in companies like De Shaw, Morgan stanley, Goldman sachs,etc. & at the same time a job in PSU companies like IOCL, BHEL, NTPC, CIL, BEML, etc. But in our placement session, it is completely opposite. We are having PSUs visiting for campus placements but they are open to all other branches except Electrical. Thanks to NTPC,CIL. At least they took 6 students each from electrical.


So Cognizant was the first MR(Mass-Recruiter) visiting the campus. Their PPT(Pre-Placement Talk) was at 9.00 a.m. It was open to all (B.Tech/M.Tech/IDD). People were really excited about the company because of it's profile. It's a MNC (Multi-national company). There was also an expectation that the company will take above 100 students in this placement session because in 2007-2008 session, it took nearly 193 students. So it's certain that it will short-list above 150 students. If that's the case, I was sure that I will be short-listed for interview.

I and Lala reached the G-14 at 9.30 hoping that the PPT has already began. But after getting there, we came to know that the PPT got postponed to 10.00 a.m. We didn't want to get back to hostel for half an hour. So we went to TPO (Training & Placement Office) to see if there is any news about the companies that are about to come in the near future. There was no update about the future companies as expected.

Lala said that "Let's go to the examination hall (F-6, F-16, F-17) where the written test will be taken. "

As we both are examination-partners for this company, I said "Let's go".

We went to F-16. We both were first to reach the hall. As time passed , rest of our branch mates came to the hall. Our branch reaches the examination hall first before any other branch. I think you can understand the reason behind it. As the PPT finished, other branches also came at the hall.

There are 3 sections in the written test.

1.Quantitative aptitude(25)
2.Verbal ability(25)
3.Attention to detail(20)

There is no negative marking.

After completing one section, other section will be given to you. Quantitative aptitude and attention to detail were really easy for me. It's the verbal ability that caught me. My english is really poor(you can understand how poor it is by reading this post).

Anyhow the exam was over. We went back to the hostel & were waiting for the results. At 5.00 p.m results were announced. 270 members got selected for interviews totally. I was shocked literally to see such a plethora of selections. I was also selected for interview. From Electrical, 29 members got selected including me. There were 18 panels for conducting the interviews simultaneously. The interviews were scheduled based on the panel they will be interviewed and the time slot in that panel. Mine was in the panel-14 ( Administrative Office ) at 7.00 p.m.

There was plenty of time for me to prepare for the interview. Ankitji provided me with his white shirt & tie. I had my own black pants & belt. Avinash provided me with his shoes. It's size is 8 and mine is 9.I had to adjust as there is no option for me. I had my own pair of socks (sold to me by Rajeev ). Prepared my file with certificates, grade sheets & a resume. I reached the administrative office by 7.00 p.m but the 6.00 p.m batch didn't get completed. There were many people (3-4) in that queue. So I had to wait. There , I met Katta and Vinod. We had some discussion (confidential :) ). My turn came up.

INTERVIEW:

Interviewer: So you are Yarlagadda Umesh Ram ? ( It's obvious that he found difficulty in reading my name)
Me: Yes sir
Interviewer: How are you today?
Me: Actually I am not fine sir. Yesterday I met with an accident (cycle collision :) ). My right hand got hurt. It's really hurting right now.
Interviewer: Oh...So tell me about yourself? ( Most common question in the interviews )
Me: ( I gave him a glimpse of my autobiography ) .
Interviewer: Why software? ( Common question in interviews for non-CSE branches )
Me: ( I explained him about my colour blindness reason and my interest in the networking. I also said that I am a CCNA. He was quite impressed.)
Interviewer: So you did your CCNA...
Me: Yes sir
Interviewer: Tell me about router and switch?
Me: (Explained it very clearly)
Interviewer: Tell me about OSI layers?
Me: (Explained it very clearly)
Interviewer: Difference between TCP and UDP?
Me: (Explained it very clearly)
Interviewer: Ok...If a person wants to send a message to a particular user then which protocol he has to use...? Is it TCP or UDP?
Me: I said it's TCP ( explained it's reason )
( I noticed that he gave me a remark as "very good in N/W" in some evaluation sheet.)
Interviewer: Are you ready to work in any part of India?
Me: Of-course sir. (Of-course because there is no branch in U.P or Bihar)
Interviewer: Thanks Umesh...

After seeing the remark, I was totally confident that I will be selected. Around 10.30 p.m, all the interviews are over. They said that the results will be declared by 12 'o clock midnight. At 1.00 p.m , people started shouting that we have to go to G-14 to know our results and receive our offer letters. How can students come out of their hostels in such a cold weather? That was weird. Nobody expected such a call . Some even slept expecting that results will be declared tomorrow. Most of us went over there. They declared that 150 students got selected. He started to announce the names. I was also selected as expected. 22 were selected from electrical. A person from Cognizant addressed the gathering and congratulated everybody who got selected. They had flight to catch so they left us early.

This is the experience of my FIRST JOB...

Thanks to Prits & Mots ( TPRs of Electrical ) for all their hard work especially to MOTS. He struggled a lot on that day.
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