TCS January 25,27 2008

Online Test(January 25 2008):

It consisted of three section(there was sectional cutoff):

1. Verbal(32 questions, 20 minutes)

a)10 Synonyms and 10 Antonyms: For this prepare the chapter on antonyms 
from GRE Barrons' 12th edition. And also atleast once solve all the 
exercises given in the complete word list. And lastly the questions from 
the model test papers 1 to 5 given in the end of the book.
b) Reading Comprehension(5 questions): Prepare the chapter on reading 
comprehension from GRE Barrons' 12th edition. And also the one given in 
the model test papers. I got the one already solved by me and it saved a 
lot of time.
c) Fill in the blanks in a paragraph(7 questions): No special preparation 
required for this, just read the options properly.

2. Aptitude(38 questions, 40 minutes)

Just go through the previous papers they are more than enough. It is the 
easiest part of the exam. The questions were just as asked previously. To 
be very confident solve some important chapters of Quantitative Analysis 
by R.S. Aggarwal.

3. Reasoning(12 [3*4] questions, 30 minutes)

For this part solve chapter on reasoning and model test papers again from 
Barrons.
Most frequently asked questions on reasoning:
Model test 1: 
Section5 - qns 1-4 (motorist), qns 13-16 (red and brown) 
Section6 - qns 1-4 (conservative,democratic), qns 8-11 (latin, sanskrit), 
qns 12-18 (joe,larry,ned), qns 19-22 (a causes b) 
Model test 2: 
Section1 - qns 19-22 (wallachia and rumelia) 
Section6 - qns 8-12 ( ashland , liverpool), qns 13-16 (spelunker) , qns 
17-22 (pesth) 
Model test 3:
 Section6 - qns 1-4 (all Gs are Hs) 
Model test 4: 
Section5 - qns 8-11 (horizontal row), qns 19-22 (a,b,c cause d) 
Section6 - qns 8-12 (spanish, italian), qns 13-16 (all As, Bs), qns 17-22 
(progressive federal party) 
Model test 5:
Section3 - qns8-11 (museum), qns 19-22 (A is the father) 
Section7- qns 1-5 (prahtu, brahtu), qns 21-25 (scurvy..) 

The online test is not very difficult to crack just follow the above 
guidelines and you will definitely get through it. Listen carefully the 
instructiong given after the presentation regarding the online test. A 
countdown timer will be present on the screen to inform you about the 
remaining time. After the scheduled time the section will automatically 
change to the next one.

Interview(January 27, 2008):

Technical round:

Prepare well C, Object Oriented Programming, C++, Data Structure and brush 
up the fundamentals of Operating System, Database Management System and 
Data Communication. There were two people both young who took my technical 
interview. Be confident coz they may try to confuse you. I told that my 
favorites are Object Oriented Programming and DBMS. I was asked various 
fundamental questions on DBMS and Operating System(Not a single question 
on OOP), I answered most of them correctly next they asked to normalize a 
table and kept me engaged in it for more than 25 minutes. Atlast i asked 
them about the R&D department of TCS. Be positive and keep on trying, they 
may even make fun of you but dont pay attention to it and keep working. 
Positive attitude and confidence along with knowledge are the key to clear 
this round. The interview continued for about 40 min+.Out of 108 about 55+ 
were selected. I was called for the HR round after 3 hrs.

HR + MR:

For some there were two different rounds but for other like me it was 
combined. Again there were two people one male and the other female. Both 
were young. They began with asking questions about me, my weaknesses and 
all. Then the questions continued from one thing to other. I was also 
given some situations and my action in that particular condition was 
asked. The major thing is be confident and truthful, Don't try to fool 
them, Be ready with facts to support your answers and ya be thorough with 
your Resume. Keep eye contact and keep your face smiling, there is no need 
to panic they just want to test you under certain conditions. My interview 
continued for 50 min+. In the end they discussed about the Bond and other 
things. I asked them that what is their criteria to ask questions. They 
replied that they have a question bank and the questions are asked on the 
basis of our marks, resume, and body language.

Finally the result was out and 33 of us were selected. Luck do matters but 
hard work has no substitution. I invested 20 days+ for the preparation and 
in the end was successful, so guys be confident and prepare well, you will 
definitely be selected.

All the Best..............