My Experience…when I ‘Experience(d) Certainty’…
Hello everyone!
I am about to share my experience of getting placed at Tata Consultancy Services while I was pursuing Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science and Engineering.
Before I start I would like to clarify one thing – there is no blueprint or pre-defined rules as such for a company which is conducting campus recruitment drive. The pattern, questions, topics, etc are solely dependent on the company people and they keep on changing these things. So be mentally prepared.
Each and every individual you’ll ask will give you a different opinion and experience. Here, I’ll be narrating my own experience.
In our times TCS visited our institute from 26th – 28th August 2011.
On 26th August a general presentation was delivered by TCS people. On 27th the aptitude test was conducted and on 28th the technical and HR interviews were held and finally the result was declared on 28th night itself.
On 26th TCS people delivered a mammoth presentation about the organization and also entertained few queries from the crowd. It was very informative. I would advice you to listen carefully to those details and note down as much information as you can because few questions are asked during the interview based on the presentation they give.
On 27th the aptitude test was conducted. In our times, TCS had a rule that top 5 students of a branch were exempted from giving the aptitude test. Those five had to directly face the technical interview followed by the HR interview. I was in the fortunate five students who were not required to appear for the aptitude test. So that day I was just roaming here and there in the college premises. Regarding aptitude preparation I would suggest you to follow the “Quantitative Aptitude” book by Dr. R. S. Aggarwal.
On 28th the interview was scheduled. We were being called one by one in different cabins where the interviewers were sitting. Finally, it was my turn.
:Technical interview:
I entered the interviewer’s cabin. I greeted him and stood by the chair. He responded to my greeting and asked me to sit into the chair. (You may find these details boring and superfluous but mind it, these are very crucial and important.)
The very first question he asked me was to introduce myself. I replied stating my name, my branch, my aggregate percentage, my hometown, my nuclear family details (father, mother and siblings (if any), DON’T mention cousins and others) and my hobby. I would suggest you to stick to these details only. Don’t go any further.
The next question he asked – “Which are your favourite subjects?”
I replied – “Computer Networks and Operating Systems” (I would suggest you to mention one subject only. It was outright stupid of me to mention two subjects.)
He then proceeded right away with the technical questions. I’ll be narrating this part in a dialogue form.
(I would be giving the answers to only critical questions. I won’t be giving answers for the straightforward questions.)
Interviewer: “What is the difference between TCP/IP and OSI model?”
Me: I responded to this question very well. Refer to any networks textbook and you’ll find at least 4-5 differences.
Interviewer: (Passing me a blank sheet of paper) “Draw the diagrams of TCP/IP and OSI model and mention in which layers do segments, frames, packets and bits exist?”
Me: I drew it satisfactorily and mentioned the 4 entities appropriately.
Interviewer: “What is the difference between IPv4 and IPv6?”
Me: There are many differences but I told him 2 differences only. (1) IPv6 has large address space. (2) IPv6 is more secure.
(Of course I elaborated these two points by explaining that how these two are achieved.)
Interviewer: “Is IPv6 implemented and working? If yes, then where have you heard/used it?”
Me: Yes it is implemented and working. It is used by many (or majority) of the ISP in the United States. I read it in a technical journal somewhere.
Interviewer: “Is it available in India?”
Me: Maybe at some places Sir. But I’m not sure.
Interviewer: “Have you used it?”
Me: No Sir.
Interviewer: “Why?”
Me: Because my ISP is currently not supporting IPv6.
Interviewer: “Ok. Doesn’t matter if you haven’t used it. But tell me does your system support it? Is there any provision in your current operating system to support it at a later date?”
Me: Yes Sir. The operating systems which I use do support it.
Interviewer: “How you came to know that?”
Me: While filling in the Internet configuration details like IP address, default gateway and DNS servers for my internet connection I noticed that there was provision to provide the IPv6 address also. Furthermore I also checked it using ipconfig/all command at the command prompt on Windows OS.
Interviewer: “Ok. Which OSs do you use? Tell me specific versions.”
Me: Currently I have Linux Ubuntu Hardy Heron, BackTrack, Windows 7 Ultimate and Windows XP SP2.
Interviewer: Ok.
Interviewer: “Tell me what an IP address is?”
Me: (I responded to this satisfactorily. Refer book.)
Interviewer: “What is a MAC address?”
Me: (I responded to this satisfactorily. Refer book.)
Interviewer: “What is a port?”
Me: (I responded to this satisfactorily. Refer book.)
Interviewer: “What is a socket?”
Me: (I responded to this satisfactorily. Refer book.)
(Then he magnificently switched over to operating systems…)
Interviewer: “You just said about the operating system which you use. Tell me the difference between Linux and Windows. Don’t give layman differences. Give the technical differences.”
Me: (This was a very long answer. I am not able to recall in exactly which sequence I told the differences. But one thing is certain that I told him 5-6 differences and they were related to kernel, architecture, security features, etc etc. Refer book or just Google to find the precise answers.)
Interviewer: “What is a kernel?”
Me: (I responded to this satisfactorily. Refer book.)
Interviewer: “What is the difference between process, thread, task and job?”
Me: I don’t remember whether I responded to this question correctly or not but I knew very well that he was convinced with *whatever* I told. 😛
Interviewer: “What is multiprocessing and multitasking? How they are different?”
Me: (I responded to this satisfactorily. Refer book.)
Interviewer: “What is a thread?”
Me: (I responded to this satisfactorily. Refer book.)
(After that I am not able to recall exactly what happened but he somehow switched over to programming languages and its intricacies. I think I said something in the previous answer which was directly or indirectly related to it.)
Interviewer: “Which method is suitable – Recursive function call or Iterative function call?”
Me: Iterative method is better. Because recursive versions of many routines may execute a bit more slowly that the iterative equivalent because of the added overhead of the additional function calls. Many recursive calls to a method could cause a stack overrun. But…at the same time recursive calls are useful sometimes e.g. quicksort is very easy to implement while using recursive calls.
Interviewer: “Ok. Do you know anything about access control methods?”
Me: Yes Sir. They are Public, Private and Protected.
Interviewer: “Explain each in detail.”
Me: Public member – that member can be accessed by any other code.
Private member – that member can be accessed by other members of its class.
Protected member – useful when inheritance is involved.
(I did elaborate each of these. Refer book for details.)
Interviewer: (Giving me a paper with a code snippet written on it) “I am not asking what this code is all about. But will this code work properly? If not, find out both syntactic and semantic errors in the code.”
Me: (It was a Fibonacci series generation program written in C and it was correct.) Yes Sir, it will work.
(Then again he switched over to operating systems…)
Interviewer: “Tell me how a computer system boots up?”
Me: Sir, the booting process will vary from OS to OS. Furthermore it will also depend on the fact that which is the main OS (in case of a multi-boot OS). So, I can elaborate the process by considering an example.
Interviewer: “Yes. Go ahead.”
Me: Sir, I am considering the example of Windows XP operating system on a multi-boot system.
- First is POST (Power On Self Test). This process tests memory and other peripherals whether they are properly connected or not.
- Then the BIOS (Basic Input-Output System) takes over. BIOS will attempt to read the MBR (Master Boot Record). This is usually the first sector of the first hard drive (called the master).
- The MBR looks for the boot sector (the first sector of the active partition). That is where NTLDR is located. NTLDR is the boot loader for Windows XP. NTLDR allows memory addressing, initiate file system, read “boot.ini” file and load the boot menu.
- Once XP is selected from the boot menu, NTLDR will load NTDETECT.COM, BOOT.INI and BOOTSECT.DOS to get the proper OS loaded.
- NTLDR will then load NTOSKRNL.EXE and HAL.DLL. These two files are located at Windows/System32 folder. (Here, I did not use the exact filenames during the interview. Instead, I used terms like “Kernel” and “Hardware Abstraction Layer”. So, I actually said – NTLDR will load the OS kernel and Hardware Abstraction Layer routines.)
- NTLDR reads the registry, choose hardware profile and authorizes device drivers, in that exact order.
- At this point NTOSKRNL.EXE takes over. It starts WINLOGON.EXE that in turn starts LSASS.EXE. LSASS.EXE is the program which displays the Logon screen so that one can logon.
Interviewer: “Ok. Good. Where did you get this information from?”
Me: Sir we actually had a subject called Computer Workshop during the 3rd semester where-in we had practical related to BIOS, Unix, Booting, etc. So while studying the practical mentioned there-in I read it somewhere over the net or in some book.
Interviewer: “Ok. Explain BIOS in detail. I want to know more about it. Is it hardware, software or something else?”
Me: Sir, BIOS is a firmware. (I stated few more lines about BIOS and what it does).
Interviewer: “OK. Where do you find the BIOS chip?”
Me: On the motherboard.
Interviewer: “Motherboard? I think it is incorporated into the processor chip…? Isn’t it? Have you seen it separately?”
Me: Sir, as far as I know it is on the motherboard. It may be possible that the latest processor designs must be having BIOS inbuilt. But I don’t know anything regarding those. And yes I have seen it physically.
Interviewer: “You said that you have seen the BIOS chip. Right? How did you recognize it?”
Me: Sir, there is a chip on the motherboard which has labels over it like “American Megatrends” or similar which are BIOS manufacturing companies. And we get the same company name written at the top of the BIOS screen. So, it is possibly the BIOS chip.
Interviewer: “Ok. Right. I am also not sure about this. But maybe newer processor designs must be having inbuilt BIOS?”
Me: Maybe Sir.
Interviewer: “Ok. Now tell me something latest in technology which has changed the life around you in the past few years?”
Me: (Well this question can have numerous answers. But I decided to mention the Indian Railways website – irctc.co.in)
Sir, irctc.co.in. (And then I enumerated a few of its advantages like less hassle, easy ticketing, convenient, easy to use, etc etc)
Interviewer: “Yes. Right. Can you give me a rough idea about the structure of the database which is maintained at the irctc servers?”
Me: (Here, I drew few tables. One containing train info, one containing passenger info, etc etc. I mentioned that there might be attributes like Train no, No of coaches, seating capacity, pantry car available or not, train touching which particular stations, etc etc. Then there might be a stations table as well, which will contain the train numbers of the trains which are going to touch that station and their arrival and departure times, etc. Then I illustrated all this by giving examples of few sample tuples.)
(I may not have been absolutely correct but that was not what he was looking for. He wanted to know whether I know the basics of databases or not and whether I am able to at least visualize any real world situation to some extent.)
Interviewer: “What was your project in the final year? Was it related to databases?”
Me: No Sir. It was not a database project. I did two projects in the final year. One is a national level project and is also my final year project which is called <I mentioned the name of my 1st project> and another project is at <I mentioned the company’s name where I was a project trainee>. I am a project trainee there. The name of the project is <I mentioned the name of my 2nd project>.
Interviewer: “Ok. Good.” (He jotted down something in my assessment sheet.)
(He didn’t ask me any further questions regarding my projects. This is something unique. Many students will tell you that questions related to projects are bound to be asked. Even I would recommend that you must be well aware of your project. What it does and how it does.)
Interviewer: “Ok. Tell me something about the competitors of TCS.”
Me: I mentioned Infosys, Wipro, Microsoft and few others. I just mentioned what type of firms they are and few of their products. I may have given some more details but I can’t recall at this point of time.
Interviewer: “Ok. Fine. I am done with your interview. It was nice talking to you.”
(He then shook hands with me).
Interviewer: “If you have any questions for me then you can ask otherwise you may leave.”
Me: Yes Sir, I have a couple of questions. First, I want to know what are the immediate responsibilities of a fresher joining the TCS family?
Interviewer: He gave some response in a very friendly mood.
Me: Secondly, Sir, I want to know, are there any pre-requisites for any individual before joining TCS? Because we often hear that the things being taught in the curriculum are hardly of any use in the real world and in the industry.
Interviewer: Again he gave a friendly response. The crux of his response was – Don’t worry we’ll handle everything at the Initial Learning Program at TCS training centre.
😛
Me: Thank you Sir. I don’t have anymore questions at this point of time.
Interviewer: Ok. You may leave.
(We again shook hands.)
Me: Thank you Sir.
Well, this was all about my technical interview. My technical interview lasted for about 1 hr 15 minutes. I may have skipped few questions here and there but its more or less complete.
:HR Interview:
My HR interview call came after half an hour of the technical interview. It was held in a separate room and by a separate person. My HR manager was a lady.
I knocked at the door and asked the permission to get in. She was sitting on a sofa and in front of that a chair was kept (which was probably for me). I walked towards her and stood near the chair. I greeted her and waited.
She first asked me to introduce myself. I repeated the same reply which I gave in my technical round.
She then asked me to sit into the chair.
The rest is as follows:
HR: “So <She said my name>, how are you?”
Me: I am good ma’am.
HR: “How was your technical interview?” (She was holding my assessment sheet from the technical interview round.)
Me: It was good.
HR: “Just good…???” (She looked surprised)
Me: It was very good ma’am. (I smiled and she smiled too… :-P)
HR: “Ok. Fine. Tell me why you chose TCS?”
Me: I replied by stating that TCS is ranked #1 in Asia as far as IT companies are concerned, opportunities at TCS, and my interest in Computer Science field and so on. (In my opinion this is the most difficult and irritating question for any candidate. Because whatever you’ll tell the HR will not pay attention and will interrupt you in between as he/she has got tired of hearing the same answers again and again. And the same happened to me. She interrupted me in the middle.)
HR: “Yeah…yeah…Ok…tell me your weaknesses?”
Me: My weakness is that when I am stuck on a problem I leave it.
HR: “So, how would you overcome that?”
Me: I am still working on it. I try my best to have patience when I am stuck on a problem.
HR: “Ok…tell me the values of TCS?”
Me: (This is a question directly related to the presentation which they gave on the first day. They mentioned it on one of their slides. I was able to recall only 3 out of 5 values of TCS. I told the 3 values and tried to manipulate my answers my stating any two other terms as the remaining 2 values of TCS.)
HR: “You are partially correct. Go out and find out from your friends what are the values of TCS?”
(I went out of the room and inquired about it from some of my friends. After receiving the answer I returned back to the room.)
I knocked at the door, again asked permission to enter and walked towards the chair and stood next to it.
HR: “Yes. Go ahead.”
Me: Ma’am the five values of TCS are – Leading change, Integrity, Respect for the individual, Excellence, Learning and sharing.
HR: “Ummm…no I don’t think so…It seems that you have missed one of the important values…This is the last chance I’m giving you. Go out and find out from your friends.”
(She was trying to test my patience and confidence. I had replied correct but still she asked me to get it confirmed again. I again went out and inquired from few others. I returned back and knocked at the door, asked for permission and went and stood by the chair.)
HR: “Yes…”
Me: Ma’am the five values of TCS are – Leading change, Integrity, Respect for the individual, Excellence, Learning and sharing. (I said it confidently.)
HR: “Ok…take your seat…”
Me: Thank you ma’am.
HR: “So what did you learn just now…?”
Me: I learned that when we try repeatedly for a thing we get success eventually. So we should not give up and keep on trying.
HR: “Yes, right. Good. Ok…now consider a situation that you married a girl of your choice. Earlier your parents liked your choice but now they are having problems because of her. What would you do?”
Me: I’ll try to convince my wife to change her ways and adapt herself in a way that my parents want her to be.
HR: “No…your wife is also very adamant and she is not willing to compromise on any grounds…So it is all left to you to decide. So whom do you favour? Your parents? or your wife?”
Me: I’ll go with my parents.
HR: “Ok…fine…”
HR: “Now consider a situation that we have posted you at Bangalore and your parents are terribly ill at your hometown. What will you do?”
Me: I’ll immediately apply for a leave and leave for my hometown to take care of my parents.
HR: “No…your project manager is very strict and is not permitting you to leave…”
Me: I’ll try to convince him in the best possible way I can and I hope that the organization will understand my needs and problems.
HR: “Actually the project manager is also having deadlines. So he can’t permit you to leave.”
Me: Ok. Then I’ll try to bring my parents to Bangalore and take care of them there.
HR: “No…your parents have an attachment with your hometown and they are not willing to leave it…”
Me: “Ok… (I took a short pause) then I’ll go with my parents.”
HR: “Are you sure? I am asking you one last time. Think carefully and answer as your final selection into TCS will depend on your response. Parents or TCS?
Me: I’ll go with my parents.
HR: Ok. Fine. Alright I’m done with your interview. If you have any questions you can ask otherwise you may leave.
I did ask one question to her also but right now I’m not able to recall that.
After that I just thanked her and left the room.
This was all about the HR interview. It lasted for about 15-20 minutes.
I then had to wait till the interviews of all the students were over.
The result was going to be announced the same day. So we waited and waited with palpitating heart and nervousness.
Finally that moment arrived. The Director of our institute, training and placement officer and training and placement coordinators of all the branches were present till the end. We all were then asked to assemble in the auditorium of our institute. We assembled there and soon after we were joined by the whole team of TCS which was there for the campus recruitment drive. They started calling out the names one by one and we started hearing happy gestures and taunts from the students as the names were called out. Very soon, I heard my name being called out. I was on the 7th heaven of delight once I heard my name. No sooner did the last name in the list was announced than the atmosphere was reverberated with thunderous applause and joyous shouting by the students. All those who got placed were very happy and congratulated each other. TCS people also congratulated us. We were then congratulated by the Director of the institute and training and placement officer.
In the end we were told by the TCS people that by the time we’ll reach our homes we’ll be having the offer letter in our mailboxes!!!
😀
Well, this was my experience regarding getting placed at TCS. I hope this will help you to mentally prepare yourself for job interviews. But at the same time I would like to repeat that there is no hard and fast rule or blueprint that this is the only way in which an interviewer can ask questions. It can vary and each and every placed student will have his/her own story. Few students faced technical interview for only 15-20 minutes and few students had to face a 1 hour interview and so on.
The conclusion is that your interview will proceed depending upon how you respond and what you respond. But that doesn’t mean that out of fear if you don’t say anything then also you’ll get placed. Don’t hesitate to answer a question if you know the answer, without thinking of what will be the next question.
Just have faith in yourself and be confident.
All the best!
Regards,
Mr. Elusive
Fold-able Battery!!!
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) researchers have developed a super-thin, flexible, all-solid-state battery that could one day lead to phones and gadgets that can be folded. “The technological advance of thin and light flexible displays has encouraged the development of flexible batteries with a high power density and thermal stability,” the KAIST researcher says. The advent of a high-performance, flexible, and thin film battery will accelerate the development of next-generation fully flexible electronic systems in combination with existing flexible components such as display, memory, and light-emitting diodes, the KAIST team notes. The KAIST researchers are currently studying a laser lift-off technology to facilitate the mass production of flexible lithium-ion batteries and three-dimensional stacking structures to enhance charge density of batteries.
Read the full article here.
Mr. Elusive
The Password You Can Use Without Knowing It
Stanford University researchers have developed a password-creating technique based on implicit learning that combines cryptography with neuroscience. The researchers developed a game in which players intercept falling objects by pressing a key. The objects appear in one of six positions, each corresponding to a different key. However, the players are unaware that the positions of the objects are not random. The game is equipped with a sequence of 30 successive positions that are repeated more than 100 times during the 30- to 45-minute game. Players made fewer errors when presented with this sequence in successive rounds. The results suggest the game could form the basis of a security system in which users would learn a sequence unique to them in an initial session and later prove that they know it by playing the same game. The researchers estimate that testing 100 users non-stop for a year would result in less than a one in 60,000 chance of discovering the sequence. Stanford’s Hristo Bojinov notes the system needs to be more user-friendly, and because it could still be hacked, he says it is more likely to be used in high-risk settings in which the code holder needs to be physically present.
Here‘s the full article.
Mr. Elusive
NASA 3-D App Gives Public Ability to Experience Robotic Space Travel
The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has developed an application that uses animation to show how spacecraft maneuver and manipulate outside components in three dimensions (3D). Spacecraft 3D, an augmented-reality app for Apple devices, makes use of computer models of spacecraft that were originally generated for the space agency’s “Eyes on the Solar System” Web app. The 3D environment contains NASA mission data that enables users to explore the cosmos from their computer. “Like Hollywood directors sizing up their next shot, you move your camera-equipped iPad or iPhone in and out, up and down, and the spacecraft perspective moves with you,” says NASA’s Kevin Hussey. “It is a great way to study the 3D nature of NASA spacecraft.” The Spacecraft 3D app currently features the Curiosity rover and the twin GRAIL spacecraft missions, but there are plans to add the Cassini spacecraft, Dawn spacecraft, and the Voyagers. NASA intends to make the free app available for other formats in the near future. “With Spacecraft 3D and a mobile device, you can put high definition, three-dimensional models literally into the hands of kids of all ages,” says the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Stephen Kulczycki.
Here‘s the full article.
Mr. Elusive
IBM computer is the fastest…
IBM’s Sequoia supercomputer system, based at the U.S. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), recently carried out 16 petaflops per second, breaking the world record set by Japan’s K Computer last year, and claiming first place in the latest TOP500 list, which was released today at the 2012 International Supercomputing Conference in Hamburg, Germany. The supercomputer field has long been dominated by U.S. technology, but recently international challengers have made great strides. “It’s good to see a little competition going back and forth,” says Cray CEO Peter Ungaro. “I fully expect Japan and China and Europe to strike back.” IBM’s Sequoia system is based on a design called Blue Gene/Q, which uses chips the company designed to boost performance while saving energy. Each chip has 16 processors and is based on a technology called Power that has been used in the company’s servers for many years. Supercomputers based on IBM’s Blue Gene/Q design took four of the top 10 spots on the latest TOP500 list. LLNL researchers plan to use Sequoia to improve simulations used to judge the effectiveness and safety of nuclear weapons.
Read the full story here.
Mr. Elusive
Judging the Mood of the Masses
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers are developing MindReader, software that can read the feelings behind facial expressions. The software could result in empathetic devices and is being used to evaluate and develop better advertisements. The researchers say the software is getting so good and so easy to use that it could collate millions of peoples’ reactions to an event as they sit watching it at home, potentially replacing opinion polls, influencing elections, and perhaps fueling revolutions. “I feel like this technology can enable us to give everybody a non-verbal voice, leverage the power of the crowd,” says Rana el Kaliouby, a research scientist at MIT Media Lab’s Affective Computing group. The MindReader software tracks 22 points around the mouth, eyes, and nose, and notes the texture, color, shape, and movement of facial features. The researchers used machine-learning techniques to train the software to differentiate between happiness and sadness, boredom and interest, and disgust and contempt. During testing, the software was better than humans at telling joyful smiles from frustrated smiles.
Read the complete article here.
Mr. Elusive
Google Will Answer Your Questions Directly!
Google recently launched its “knowledge graph,” which displays facts and services in response to search queries. The graph is the most recent step in a process in which search engines are changing into vast brains that respond directly to natural language questions. Google and Microsoft have been compiling vast knowledge databases to help them provide direct answers to search terms. The databases have been built up from publicly available information, such as Wikipedia pages, as well as prices from retail Web sites and user reviews. Google’s graph contains 500 million entities linked by tens of thousands of different types of relationships, according to Google researcher Shashidhar Thakur. “Search does a good job of returning pages,” Thakur says. “But we can go beyond that and return knowledge.” Microsoft’s knowledge graph, known as the Satori database, contains 350 million entities, according to Bing Search director Stefan Weitz. Microsoft’s Snapshot service will use its knowledge graph to display links to services associated with the search item. Weitz says Snapshot’s aim is to guess the real-world action that a user is interested in when they search and to return links that enable them to carry out those actions.
Read the full story here.
Mr. Elusive
MirageTable
Hey everyone!
Microsoft is developing an augmented reality system that allows users in different locations to work together on a tabletop and share and handle objects. Demonstrated at a conference in Austin, Texas, the MirageTable deceives the eye of users into believing they are using a seamless three-dimensional (3D) shared task space. MirageTable uses a 3D-video projector to beam images onto a sheet of curved white plastic placed in front of the user, and at each end, one of Microsoft’s Kinect depth camera sensors is used to track the direction of each user’s gaze, as well as the shape and appearance of objects placed on the surface and the participant sitting behind them. Users must wear shutter glasses to see the projected image in 3D, and the experience is powered by two computers linked by a network connection. Microsoft calls the projector/depth camera system a significant improvement on current videoconferencing technologies, and notes that it could be used to create a single-person gaming experience. “The unique benefit of this setup is that two users share not only the 3D image of each other, but also the tabletop task space in front of them,” says the team.
Here‘s the full article.
Mr. Elusive
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