Creator of the world-famous cartoon strip 'Dilbert' - The author and cartoonist Scott Adams writes in his book ‘How To Fail At Almost Everything And Still Win Big’ - “I made a list of skills in which I think every adult should gain a working knowledge. I wouldn't expect you to become a master of any, but mastery isn't necessary. Luck has a good chance of finding you if you become merely good in most of these areas (…) here's the preview list - public speaking, psychology, business writing, accounting, design (the basics), conversation, overcoming shyness, second language, golf, proper grammar, persuasion, technology ( hobby level), proper voice technique.”
I know, you’re thinking “How does that help me get multiple offer letters in campus drives?” Allow me to explain. Every company in campus drives has different criteria for selecting candidates. Some select on the basis of academics, some on communication skills, some on technical skills and some on specific mixes of various skills. However, if you could identify the one company that selects for most of the traits listed by Scott Adams, you can be fairly confident of getting offer letters from multiple companies.
So which is the company that selects for most of these skills? Chances are, you're already familiar with the name. It's none other than our old friend TCS. In the recent years, TCS has changed the recruitment approach radically to choose the most well-rounded candidates. As opposed to the generic 'written test-GD-technical interview-HR interview' format, they've come up with a test plan which looks something like this:
1) E-Mail Writing Test
2) Aptitude Test
3) Technical Multiple Choice Questions
4) Programming
Let us see how this test structure helps a student acquire multiple offer letters. If you refer back to Scott Adam's list of necessary skills in the first paragraph, you'll find that language skills (both written and spoken) feature heavily. Business email writing in a second language (English) with proper grammar within the given word limit is a great way to select for 3 out of 13 skills listed by Scott Adams.
The aptitude test consists of Verbal Ability (Again!), Quantitative Ability and Logical Reasoning which are pretty much universal subjects for IQ tests.
Technical MCQs test your basic coding knowledge, thereby ensuring you have at least a hobby level expertise in technology, especially C.
This is followed by a coding test that requires you to produce the desired output using command line arguments. This tests your basic coding skills without a helpful developer user interface. More than the knowledge of programming commands, it tests your grasp of coding logic. To be sure, it's more than hobby level tech but come on, you're interviewing for an IT company here.
If you successfully clear all these levels you get to the interview. I will cover interview skills in a different post but make no mistake, you will have to utilize elements of basic psychology, persuasion, second language, good grammar skills and overcome your shyness to ace the interview.
So get ready for TCS and you'll never be short of offers from mass recruiters.
Piyush Tainguriya
An engineer by education, writer by profession and a stand-up comic by vocation. I'm only half joking though.
January 25, 2018
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