Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur
Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh
Your seniors at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur were your true well-wishers, they shared their placement interview questions for you. 🙏
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Filter interviews byIndian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur Placement Interview Questions
Updated
27 Dec 2024
408 interviews found
2 Interview Rounds
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Test
Experience: I was also shortlisted for Schlumberger but could not make it through the interviews. But, was finally placed in Coca-Cola.
Tips: If you are preparing for a core job then make sure you revise your core courses either in the summers or before because you might not get sufficient time during the semester and do it thoroughly as they would be highly beneficial for the technical interview.
General Tips: From the beginning itself I was involved a lot in extracurricular activities:
1. I was involved in Roboclub,
2. Coordinated Robogames in Techkriti,
3. Was a part of Boeing Abhyast Phase 2 and 3,
4. Did 2 summer projects under roboclub, also organized robotics workshop in schools as a representative of a startup in robotics.
I did an internship in Nokia Research Centre, University of California Berkeley.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
Experience: I was also shortlisted for Schlumberger but could not make it through the interviews. But, was finally placed in Coca-Cola.
Tips: If you are preparing for a core job then make sure you revise your core courses either in the summers or before because you might not get sufficient time during the semester and do it thoroughly as they would be highly beneficial for the technical interview.
General Tips: From the beginning itself I was involved a lot in extracurricular activities:
1. I was involved in Roboclub,
2. Coordinated Robogames in Techkriti,
3. Was a part of Boeing Abhyast Phase 2 and 3,
4. Did 2 summer projects under roboclub, also organized robotics workshop in schools as a representative of a startup in robotics.
I did an internship in Nokia Research Centre, University of California Berkeley.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
Anonymous
posted on 18 Jan 2015
5 Interview Rounds
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: Coca Cola first asked us to submit resumes on the portal. Then shortlisted 40 based on resume.
Tips: Resume should be of a page or two depending on the company you are applying for with everything properly specified. Make sure you have something to elaborate about the points mentioned in your resume. There are 10 resumes to be uploaded on the SPO website before a certain deadline. Get the resume reviewed by seniors and it would be highly beneficial if you are applying for a certain company, then get the resume verified by the senior placed in that company as he could give you the best possible advice.
Round: Group Discussion
Experience: The GD was organized in the groups of 10 and 8 was shortlisted for the final interview.
Tips: I joined Career launcher for the preparation of Aptitude tests and went to some GDs organized by the department. I prepared for Rio Tinto which helped me during the placement season.
Round: HR Interview
Experience: Interview was of about half an hour comprising of mainly HR questions. I wrote TA201 as a part of projects in my resume.
Tips: Thus there could be questions on any point on the resume and you should be able to explain those.
General Tips: If targeting Day 1 or Day 2 companies, prepare very well and have a good knowledge about the company you are applying for. As the days pass one gets demoralized but don’t lose hope as there were some good companies that turned up on Day 4 and 5 and for example, a reputed consulting firm PriceWaterhouse Coopers came on Day 11.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
Experience: Coca Cola first asked us to submit resumes on the portal. Then shortlisted 40 based on resume.
Tips: Resume should be of a page or two depending on the company you are applying for with everything properly specified. Make sure you have something to elaborate about the points mentioned in your resume. There are 10 resumes to be uploaded on the SPO website before a certain deadline. Get the resume reviewed by seniors and it would be highly beneficial if you are applying for a certain company, then get the resume verified by the senior placed in that company as he could give you the best possible advice.
Round: Group Discussion
Experience: The GD was organized in the groups of 10 and 8 was shortlisted for the final interview.
Tips: I joined Career launcher for the preparation of Aptitude tests and went to some GDs organized by the department. I prepared for Rio Tinto which helped me during the placement season.
Round: HR Interview
Experience: Interview was of about half an hour comprising of mainly HR questions. I wrote TA201 as a part of projects in my resume.
Tips: Thus there could be questions on any point on the resume and you should be able to explain those.
General Tips: If targeting Day 1 or Day 2 companies, prepare very well and have a good knowledge about the company you are applying for. As the days pass one gets demoralized but don’t lose hope as there were some good companies that turned up on Day 4 and 5 and for example, a reputed consulting firm PriceWaterhouse Coopers came on Day 11.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
2 Interview Rounds
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Test
Experience: I had a target of gettng placed in Qualcomm from second year itself. It came on Day 2 and I got a call from Qualcomm in the middle of the interview of Coca Cola so I could not take their call. Immediately after this I went for the Qualcomm interview but they were not happy and asked me to leave without much interrogation. The results of Day 2 came and I got placed in Coca Cola.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
Experience: I had a target of gettng placed in Qualcomm from second year itself. It came on Day 2 and I got a call from Qualcomm in the middle of the interview of Coca Cola so I could not take their call. Immediately after this I went for the Qualcomm interview but they were not happy and asked me to leave without much interrogation. The results of Day 2 came and I got placed in Coca Cola.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
4 Interview Rounds
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: I started my placement journey by getting shortlisted in Capital One on Day 1. They shortlisted 125 candidates on the basis of resume.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Then, they took a case study interview and reduced the number to 30.
Round: Test
Experience: Then, they again took an aptitude test and selected none of them. But, on the day 2, I sat for the GDs and interviews of Coca Cola and got selected.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
Experience: I started my placement journey by getting shortlisted in Capital One on Day 1. They shortlisted 125 candidates on the basis of resume.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Then, they took a case study interview and reduced the number to 30.
Round: Test
Experience: Then, they again took an aptitude test and selected none of them. But, on the day 2, I sat for the GDs and interviews of Coca Cola and got selected.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
3 Interview Rounds
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Group Discussion
Experience: There were groups of ten each.
Round: HR Interview
Experience: The interview lasted about 30 minutes. The interview mainly focused on the commitment to work with them and asked whether I did any activity depicting leadership skills
Tips: Coca Cola shortlisted candidates with medium profile like moderate CPI with few extra-curricular activities.
General Tips: 1, When it came to resume building, I mentioned my internship (which was in Samsung), projects I did and the co-curricular activities.
2. I was confident about my aptitude and was focusing mainly core and analytic.
Skills: Extra-curricular activities
College Name: IIT KANPUR
Experience: There were groups of ten each.
Round: HR Interview
Experience: The interview lasted about 30 minutes. The interview mainly focused on the commitment to work with them and asked whether I did any activity depicting leadership skills
Tips: Coca Cola shortlisted candidates with medium profile like moderate CPI with few extra-curricular activities.
General Tips: 1, When it came to resume building, I mentioned my internship (which was in Samsung), projects I did and the co-curricular activities.
2. I was confident about my aptitude and was focusing mainly core and analytic.
Skills: Extra-curricular activities
College Name: IIT KANPUR
3 Interview Rounds
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Interview
Experience: The interviewer was Rohit Vohra, Partner and Director.
Round: Interview
Experience: The Case Study was a ‘Market Entry’ problem. An office-furniture company wanted to enter into home-furniture business. I had to evaluate whether it should do so or not. I asked for some time to structure my answer. He was very helpful during the entire case study and guided me whenever I went in a direction where I wasn’t supposed to go. I also asked a lot of questions. The entire interview lasted for about 40-45 minutes. The interviewer was very pleasant in his manner and the interview went off quite well. After about 10-15 minutes, I was sent for my second interview.
Round: Interview
Experience: This interview was taken by Shweta Bajpai, Project Leader who was also the Recruitment Head. She was an IIT K alumnus. This interview took around 35-40 minutes.
Round: Interview
Experience: The Case Study was a ‘Growth Strategy’ question.
A metal casing manufacturer wants to double her revenues over the next 5 years. What should she do? I began by asking a few pertinent questions about the company’s product and customers. I then listed out a few growth strategies. She pointed out that she wanted more possible approaches. I pointed out a few but the general nature of our exchange was that the moment I would sum up a strategy, she would drop a hint for another. I would latch on to it and this process went on for about 2 or 3 times. She then asked me that in light of the initial question, which strategy would be best-suited for our client. I answered the same. I came out of the room thinking that I had messed up really badly because she had practically solved the entire case herself. I had a very strong inkling that that interview was my last with BCG. By this time, BCG people had started asking some of us to go if we had interviews with any other company which was a kind way of saying that you are not selected in BCG. I politely inquired one of the consultants whether I was supposed to stay or go. He checked with his colleagues and replied with a very warm smile that I was supposed to stay on.
Round: Interview
Experience: This interview was taken by Saurabh Tripathi, Partner and Director. He was also an IIT K alumnus, the President Gold Medalist of his batch. He was the one who had given us the PPT at Taj. Moreover, I also had the opportunity of having a long conversation with him because we were seated at the same table during dinner. He began the interview by pointing out the same. He then asked some very tricky and pointed PI questions:
Round: Interview
Experience: The Case Study that followed was again one of its kind, to say the least. It involved a hypothetical bank that had just 6 products: 3 kinds of fixed deposits (maturity period of 1 year, 2 years and 3 years) and 3 kinds of loans (again 1, 2 and 3 year maturity period). The rates of interests on the fixed deposits were 3, 4 and 5 % p.a. respectively and on loans were 5, 6 and 7 % p.a. respectively. The owner wanted to increase the bank’s profitability. What should she do?
I would be paltering with the truth if I don’t admit that I was a little taken aback by the question. I took some time and then asked him some questions to which he gave a very brief (though not curt at all) ‘yes’ or ‘no’ as an answer. In fact, during the entire case, he was busy on his Blackberry paying no attention to what I was doing. One of the first things that I asked was whether the objective was to increase ‘profits’ or ‘profitability’ because the technical definition of the two was different. He smiled (I think in appreciation) and replied that he wanted me to focus on ‘profits’. After that, I gave a few recommendations. He complicated the case further by saying that the principal amount of 1-year products was same. This constraint was applicable for 2-year and 3-year products as well. That is, the principal amount of fixed deposit and loan of 1-year was same, and so on.
Again, I gave a few recommendations. After a while, he said that he was in a bit of a hurry and that that was all as far as the interview was concerned. I felt as if nothing concrete had come out as the solution to the case. I asked him how I had done in the case. As was his wont, he answered with a very brief - ‘‘Given the time available, you did fine’’.
I was a little confused after this interview. I had no idea about the last case study. However, I knew that the PI part went off well. After about 10 minutes, I was asked to go and meet Saurabh Tripathi again. I went into his interview room and he gave me a job offer!
General Tips: Between July 2007 (when I joined the institute) and May 2011, I had considered and pursued IAS, MBA and research as potential career options at various points of time. But in May ‘11, I decided that the safer thing to do would be to take up a job and think about the various existential questions later. As far as my personal preferences go, I liked what I read about consulting. But being from a department where core companies are non-existent for all practical purposes; I was aiming for most of the non-core companies. I
was conscious of one thing though, viz. I did not want to work for a company that was catering to overseas
clients or to its own overseas office. The idea was that I did not want to join a company which was employing me just because I was cheaper than the Westerners. So, although after BCG, the second best choice for me in the first slot was Opera, I was not excited about it at all.
My entire preparation, especially the part related to resume and interview was done under the guidance of
Ashwini Dikshit (career counsellor, IITK). I think what worked for me was that I was quite organized in my
preparation. At no stage was I hurried into mistakes. By September, I had prepared the final draft of my 1-page resume. If you think you have a good profile and you can get a shortlist, then you should devote a lot of time to your resume. I would suggest that resume preparation should be started in summers itself. It is also very important to take help and guidance because there is a certain way to make a resume which does not come naturally to most of us. I prepared for aptitude tests by solving the CAT previous years’ question papers. If you are preparing for non core companies, one of the things which you should do is preparing for CAT. Most companies other than consulting firms and core companies, take an aptitude test (including the analytics-consulting firms) and contrary to the common notion, most of them ask English questions as well. Moreover, a good score in CAT will only open up options. I did not prepare for GD because out of all the companies that I was aiming for, very few had GD as a part of their process.
For case study preparation, I was a part of the Case Study Club of SPO which met around thrice in September October period. Apart from that, I practised with my friends. Some good casebooks in decreasing order of their usefulness are Case in Point, Indian School of Business’s casebook and Kellogg’s casebook. It is highly advisable to get hold of various IIMs’ casebooks if you can. While practising a case, the emphasis should be on what new you learn from that particular case. So, more than the mock case study sessions themselves, the analysis that you do afterwards is important.
For the Personal Interview preparation, I had prepared the answers for most of the commonly asked questions and more importantly had given around 5 mock interviews before December. One should sit and right down the answers of the various commonly-asked questions and go through these answers again and again to hone them. If possible, get these answers checked by someone experienced in interview preparation. The idea is not to memorize the answers, but to have a fairly good idea about what points you are going to cover. As a thumb rule, all companies are looking for ‘high energy’ and ‘low maintenance’ guys. Make sure, you sound like one!
Apart from the above mentioned preparation, I read ‘The Indian Express’ and ‘Economic Times’ regularly
(wasn't able to do it daily though) to get a feel of current and business affairs. One final pointer as far as placement preparation is concerned, DO NOT WORRY and do not indulge in useless placement-related gossips. They only eat away your time and energy.
I think what worked well for me in all the interviews was that I was listening very attentively to what theinterviewers were saying or asking. That meant that I was always answering the right questions and was also responding to the hints and clues which the interviewers were giving. In all the interviews, I had a good discussion with the interviewer. A lot of people say that a good interview is the one which is more of adiscussion rather than a question-answer session. By that definition, my interviews went off well. As I hadmentioned earlier, some people claim that the case study workshop which was held on November 16th wasevaluative. If it was so, then I would have got some extra points since I was able to do well in the case that I was asked.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
Experience: The interviewer was Rohit Vohra, Partner and Director.
Round: Interview
Experience: The Case Study was a ‘Market Entry’ problem. An office-furniture company wanted to enter into home-furniture business. I had to evaluate whether it should do so or not. I asked for some time to structure my answer. He was very helpful during the entire case study and guided me whenever I went in a direction where I wasn’t supposed to go. I also asked a lot of questions. The entire interview lasted for about 40-45 minutes. The interviewer was very pleasant in his manner and the interview went off quite well. After about 10-15 minutes, I was sent for my second interview.
Round: Interview
Experience: This interview was taken by Shweta Bajpai, Project Leader who was also the Recruitment Head. She was an IIT K alumnus. This interview took around 35-40 minutes.
Round: Interview
Experience: The Case Study was a ‘Growth Strategy’ question.
A metal casing manufacturer wants to double her revenues over the next 5 years. What should she do? I began by asking a few pertinent questions about the company’s product and customers. I then listed out a few growth strategies. She pointed out that she wanted more possible approaches. I pointed out a few but the general nature of our exchange was that the moment I would sum up a strategy, she would drop a hint for another. I would latch on to it and this process went on for about 2 or 3 times. She then asked me that in light of the initial question, which strategy would be best-suited for our client. I answered the same. I came out of the room thinking that I had messed up really badly because she had practically solved the entire case herself. I had a very strong inkling that that interview was my last with BCG. By this time, BCG people had started asking some of us to go if we had interviews with any other company which was a kind way of saying that you are not selected in BCG. I politely inquired one of the consultants whether I was supposed to stay or go. He checked with his colleagues and replied with a very warm smile that I was supposed to stay on.
Round: Interview
Experience: This interview was taken by Saurabh Tripathi, Partner and Director. He was also an IIT K alumnus, the President Gold Medalist of his batch. He was the one who had given us the PPT at Taj. Moreover, I also had the opportunity of having a long conversation with him because we were seated at the same table during dinner. He began the interview by pointing out the same. He then asked some very tricky and pointed PI questions:
Round: Interview
Experience: The Case Study that followed was again one of its kind, to say the least. It involved a hypothetical bank that had just 6 products: 3 kinds of fixed deposits (maturity period of 1 year, 2 years and 3 years) and 3 kinds of loans (again 1, 2 and 3 year maturity period). The rates of interests on the fixed deposits were 3, 4 and 5 % p.a. respectively and on loans were 5, 6 and 7 % p.a. respectively. The owner wanted to increase the bank’s profitability. What should she do?
I would be paltering with the truth if I don’t admit that I was a little taken aback by the question. I took some time and then asked him some questions to which he gave a very brief (though not curt at all) ‘yes’ or ‘no’ as an answer. In fact, during the entire case, he was busy on his Blackberry paying no attention to what I was doing. One of the first things that I asked was whether the objective was to increase ‘profits’ or ‘profitability’ because the technical definition of the two was different. He smiled (I think in appreciation) and replied that he wanted me to focus on ‘profits’. After that, I gave a few recommendations. He complicated the case further by saying that the principal amount of 1-year products was same. This constraint was applicable for 2-year and 3-year products as well. That is, the principal amount of fixed deposit and loan of 1-year was same, and so on.
Again, I gave a few recommendations. After a while, he said that he was in a bit of a hurry and that that was all as far as the interview was concerned. I felt as if nothing concrete had come out as the solution to the case. I asked him how I had done in the case. As was his wont, he answered with a very brief - ‘‘Given the time available, you did fine’’.
I was a little confused after this interview. I had no idea about the last case study. However, I knew that the PI part went off well. After about 10 minutes, I was asked to go and meet Saurabh Tripathi again. I went into his interview room and he gave me a job offer!
General Tips: Between July 2007 (when I joined the institute) and May 2011, I had considered and pursued IAS, MBA and research as potential career options at various points of time. But in May ‘11, I decided that the safer thing to do would be to take up a job and think about the various existential questions later. As far as my personal preferences go, I liked what I read about consulting. But being from a department where core companies are non-existent for all practical purposes; I was aiming for most of the non-core companies. I
was conscious of one thing though, viz. I did not want to work for a company that was catering to overseas
clients or to its own overseas office. The idea was that I did not want to join a company which was employing me just because I was cheaper than the Westerners. So, although after BCG, the second best choice for me in the first slot was Opera, I was not excited about it at all.
My entire preparation, especially the part related to resume and interview was done under the guidance of
Ashwini Dikshit (career counsellor, IITK). I think what worked for me was that I was quite organized in my
preparation. At no stage was I hurried into mistakes. By September, I had prepared the final draft of my 1-page resume. If you think you have a good profile and you can get a shortlist, then you should devote a lot of time to your resume. I would suggest that resume preparation should be started in summers itself. It is also very important to take help and guidance because there is a certain way to make a resume which does not come naturally to most of us. I prepared for aptitude tests by solving the CAT previous years’ question papers. If you are preparing for non core companies, one of the things which you should do is preparing for CAT. Most companies other than consulting firms and core companies, take an aptitude test (including the analytics-consulting firms) and contrary to the common notion, most of them ask English questions as well. Moreover, a good score in CAT will only open up options. I did not prepare for GD because out of all the companies that I was aiming for, very few had GD as a part of their process.
For case study preparation, I was a part of the Case Study Club of SPO which met around thrice in September October period. Apart from that, I practised with my friends. Some good casebooks in decreasing order of their usefulness are Case in Point, Indian School of Business’s casebook and Kellogg’s casebook. It is highly advisable to get hold of various IIMs’ casebooks if you can. While practising a case, the emphasis should be on what new you learn from that particular case. So, more than the mock case study sessions themselves, the analysis that you do afterwards is important.
For the Personal Interview preparation, I had prepared the answers for most of the commonly asked questions and more importantly had given around 5 mock interviews before December. One should sit and right down the answers of the various commonly-asked questions and go through these answers again and again to hone them. If possible, get these answers checked by someone experienced in interview preparation. The idea is not to memorize the answers, but to have a fairly good idea about what points you are going to cover. As a thumb rule, all companies are looking for ‘high energy’ and ‘low maintenance’ guys. Make sure, you sound like one!
Apart from the above mentioned preparation, I read ‘The Indian Express’ and ‘Economic Times’ regularly
(wasn't able to do it daily though) to get a feel of current and business affairs. One final pointer as far as placement preparation is concerned, DO NOT WORRY and do not indulge in useless placement-related gossips. They only eat away your time and energy.
I think what worked well for me in all the interviews was that I was listening very attentively to what theinterviewers were saying or asking. That meant that I was always answering the right questions and was also responding to the hints and clues which the interviewers were giving. In all the interviews, I had a good discussion with the interviewer. A lot of people say that a good interview is the one which is more of adiscussion rather than a question-answer session. By that definition, my interviews went off well. As I hadmentioned earlier, some people claim that the case study workshop which was held on November 16th wasevaluative. If it was so, then I would have got some extra points since I was able to do well in the case that I was asked.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
2 Interview Rounds
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: INterview 1
Experience: They didn't asked much as I already had a decent Research profile. They only asked something about my thesis work. They were very impressed by my profile and my academics. No Technical questions or puzzles were asked, there was no HR interview. The way I explained my Thesis work went really well.They said that one day surely I will become a professor :P. I think the probable reason for my selection was my research Profile and my Academics
General Tips: Please always assess yourself. See your profile and interest, then only target for a particular sector.
Targeting each and every sector is a very bad idea. Not every one can go in a consultancy firm.See your profile then only prepare for it. Preparation is a very very important thing for coming out big in the placement process. So prepare well. Always maintain your cool during you interviews.
Skill Tips: You can include stuff like how did you narrow down to your career plans, the sectors which you were targeting and the rationale behind choosing them, difference between your expectations from the placement process and what you encountered finally, what you did to prepare, what you missed out on, what you think should be done, about the tests and GDs that the companies took, your thoughts before the final placements, about CAT, GRE, GMAT etc. and other fun stuff.
I was first of all preparing for each and every sector including Core, Finance, Analytics, Consulting. But at the last month of preparation i.e. November I realized when I was not getting shortlisted in finance or consulting firms that I didn’t had a profile for consulting, So I left the preparation and starting preparing only for analytics (basically doing some aptitude practice) and core preparation. For gds every alternate days we department mates used to practice Gds in our reading room.This really gave me a good flavor for the GD.
I never expected the placement process to be very tough , But actually it is and maintaining cool throughout the process is quite a difficult job. Everyday there is a new dream company and according to me whichever company takes you is the best company for you . I also was preparing for CAT, so I already had a good flavor of the aptitude exams.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
Experience: They didn't asked much as I already had a decent Research profile. They only asked something about my thesis work. They were very impressed by my profile and my academics. No Technical questions or puzzles were asked, there was no HR interview. The way I explained my Thesis work went really well.They said that one day surely I will become a professor :P. I think the probable reason for my selection was my research Profile and my Academics
General Tips: Please always assess yourself. See your profile and interest, then only target for a particular sector.
Targeting each and every sector is a very bad idea. Not every one can go in a consultancy firm.See your profile then only prepare for it. Preparation is a very very important thing for coming out big in the placement process. So prepare well. Always maintain your cool during you interviews.
Skill Tips: You can include stuff like how did you narrow down to your career plans, the sectors which you were targeting and the rationale behind choosing them, difference between your expectations from the placement process and what you encountered finally, what you did to prepare, what you missed out on, what you think should be done, about the tests and GDs that the companies took, your thoughts before the final placements, about CAT, GRE, GMAT etc. and other fun stuff.
I was first of all preparing for each and every sector including Core, Finance, Analytics, Consulting. But at the last month of preparation i.e. November I realized when I was not getting shortlisted in finance or consulting firms that I didn’t had a profile for consulting, So I left the preparation and starting preparing only for analytics (basically doing some aptitude practice) and core preparation. For gds every alternate days we department mates used to practice Gds in our reading room.This really gave me a good flavor for the GD.
I never expected the placement process to be very tough , But actually it is and maintaining cool throughout the process is quite a difficult job. Everyday there is a new dream company and according to me whichever company takes you is the best company for you . I also was preparing for CAT, so I already had a good flavor of the aptitude exams.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
3 Interview Rounds
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Test
Experience: It was DB. They first took PPT in main Audi. Audi was completely filled with students and I was sitting on the last seats still thinking about my GS test. When they told in PPT that they had taken only 8 students last year, it made me realize that out of about 600 students currently present in Audi (I thought 600 was good estimate for students present in Audi),my chances are 0.01 % approx.. It made me shivered and I stopped thinking about anything even the job and became casual. This casualness worked. So, I suggest you to be normal and don’t panic. Because, nervous is going to make your situation only worse. DB took two tests. First test was normal aptitude testing mainly your speed in which I had solved 22 questions out of 25 when people on an average had solved only 14-15 questions and even lesser. Second test was quant based test which had 6 questions-two from probability, two from linear algebra, one from class 12 ( I don't why they gave this question ) and one from algo. Thanks to MIT OCW and Pratik poddar, I did very well in it and solved all of them. Only question which I did wrongly was of class 12 because of overconfidence. After that test, I regained my confidence and did well in all other written tests. Most of these tests were simple aptitude tests but with lesser time. So, you need to have good speed to solve these questions. Finally on announcement of short listing results, I was shortlisted into both of my dream companies even after screwing In GS test. Moreover, I was one of the two guys in whole IITK , who was shortlisted for DB quant profile. It made my day. I talked to our seniors working at both these companies and started preparing for interview.
Round: HR Interview
Experience: First one was on the phone by a DB guy on HR interviews. He asked me why not higher studies, why DB, if asked by both GS and DB, which one would you prefer and some others. Believe me if you are having a high CPI, you have to prepare for the question “why not higher research” definitely.
Second was on the skype. He asked me puzzles related to algorithms, probabilities for one and half hour. Again,
thanks to Pratik poddar, Baswana sir and some hints from the interviewer, I did well in it. Whenever you have any problem, do ask for hints to interviewer.
On the D-day, I had been shortlisted into 4 companies in which two were DB and GS– my dream. First one was with DB and I had same interviewer from the skype. As, I had already met him, I became casual with him. He took my interviews for almost two and a half hour. Fortunately, it was my day. I solved all the problems with some hints from him. Then, came HR interview at DB. He asked about my family, parents, relatives, my childhood, my dream and some basic finance questions.Thanks to SPO volunteer Saurav at DB (something happened which you need not know), I was called. I went there leaving my 3rd round of GS. Again, DB guys asked me few questions on exchange rate which I answered perfectly. Finally, they offered me the job. To be frank, I wanted DB job more than GS, but seniors suggested me to go to 3rd round of GS too. When I went there for my 3rd round, I don't know why but they asked me to leave. Anyway I was happy as I had gotten job in one of my dream companies .
General Tips: Overall I can say that you must hope for the best and prepare for the worst. So make sure that you are prepared on all counts. You never know what might go wrong (I have taken it from Abhinav Jain) and do try to make every single event of placement favorable to you. Who knows which event is going to make your day. In case, you have any query related to DB or quant profile, you can ask Saurav Yashaswee, Y8 batch of Maths Dept.. He helped me a lot during preparation and undoubtedly, is one of the best persons to ask questions on quant profile and DB, who is going to be present in the campus during your placement session. In any case, you can contact me on facebook.
Skill Tips: Before starting, I want to clarify that this feedback is only an indicator of things which I believe about
placements and have tried to do during placement session. It has helped me but you should choose it only if you feel that it is going to help you too. You can include stuff like how did you narrow down to your career plans, the sectors which you were targeting and the rationale behind choosing them, difference between your expectations from the placement process and what you encountered finally, what you did to prepare, what you missed out on, what you think should be done, about the tests and GDs that the companies took, your thoughts before the final placements, about CAT, GRE, GMAT etc. and other fun stuff.
1. Making Resume:
Your resume is, if not the most then, definitely one of the most important things to decide your future career. It doesn't only help companies to shortlist you but also help you to decide your future path, inpreparation of HR interviews and knowing you better. If you have made your resume correctly, then itclears most of the doubts related to your carrier like whether you are made for job or research, if job thenfinance, consulting or core and if research, then which field. So, do devote a lot of time in making your resume. Proper way to make a good master resume is sit down alone for few hours, try to recall all the big,good or small (believe me even a small achievement can help you to get a good job or university as it hashappened in my case in getting into Deutsche Bank) achievements of yourself and make a list of all thosethings in good words. Show this resume to your friends, seniors and incorporate their feedbacks. Give thisiteration for at least 3-4 times. If your master resume is made perfectly, then making the resume for company specific is very easy. Oneimportant thing which you should note is if you feel that you resume is overqualified for a company; try tocut a few points from your resume. I have seen that few of my friends have put the same resumes for companies of the first day to last day and even when they were selected for the first day company, theyweren't even shortlisted for the 3rd or 4th day companies as companies felt that they were overqualified.
Please try to avoid this mistake.
2. Attending PPTs:
Attending PPTs and workshops of companies help you make a decision about selecting the companies inwhich you want to go. Do attend PPTs of companies about which you have no idea or the companies you are aiming. As, in my case, attending PPTs helped me to reject few companies which I was aiming. Try to be attentive during PPTs and do take notes of some special characteristics of a particular company (likestructure, compensation, work, seniors present in that company) as it will help you in some HR questionslike why this company, why not others, where do you see yourself in this company after five years and itwill also reflect your interest in the company to interviewer.
3. Selecting sectors or companies:
Your resume, work of a company and your interests help you decide the companies which you dream of and the companies which you feel that you are sure to get into. Try to make two list-first -of your dreamcompanies and second-of companies which you think you have a chance given your profile, your CPI, yourextra-currics, internships etc.. People generally try to prepare for their dream companies and not for otherlist of themselves. So, what happens is that if you are not getting into your dream company (Your dreamcompany in most of the cases is going to be dream of about 80% of batch of IITK), you have also reducedthe chance of getting into a company of your second list as you haven't prepared for that. Also, prepare for the worst. If you aren't getting into any company of both the list (which generally won’t happen ), thenwhat next (CAT, MS/PhD, IES, IAS or opening your band etc.).In my case, it was clear to me that my dream job was getting into DB quant or GS. On rejection, try for IBM,Adobe, Qualcomm, Intel ( as a wireless and signal processing engineer, you don't have much choice even in core), Erricson. On rejection even in these companies, try for MS or PhD in any university.
4. Talking to your seniors:
It is one of the sections in which IIT Kanpur lacks from other IITs. Try to contact seniors of the companies of your lists. Show them your resume, ask them how to prepare for the company, ask whether you are suitable for the job. They have experience of the company as you and also as an insider in the company and in some cases, they may recommend you for the job.
5. Written test:
Believe me even if you don't have good extra currics or a good CPI, even if you have done well in writtentests of companies, you will be in the race of your dream company. This is one of the areas in which IITKanpur always lacks. I have seen few of my batch mates having higher CPI, good internships, good extra currics but couldn't make into even shortlist because of written tests. Do prepare for it seriously. Even if you aren’t preparing for the CAT exams, try to practice time or CL’s study materials, most importantly of Probability, Permutations and DI section. Some companies put direct questions from previous CAT exams. Remember one thing that most of the times, it isn’t test of knowledge but of speed. Speed will come only on practice, not by only knowing things. Also, some consulting companies ask questions related to English Grammar, Vocabulary, so take a look at this section too from CAT study materials, if you feel that your English is weak.
6. Quant and Core Preparation:
If you are looking for quant companies, then you also need to revise your basic maths (like linear algebra,probability, some common distributions like uniform, normal, binomial), basic data structures and algorithms from DS and some puzzles from different websites and books (like of Pratik poddar, 40 puzzlesin probability, CMU toad). If you aren’t finding good study materials for maths or algorithms, use MIT OCW(it has helped me a lot). Make sure that you understand the basic concepts behind these things because they may ask any type of questions related to these topics and you will be answer only if you know theconcepts. For core companies, you need to revise some of basic core courses. For EE guys, if you are looking for VLSI, brush up EE 370 (most imp.) and EE 210. If you are looking for signal processing/communication profile, brush up basic DSP and communication concepts. Some questions were also asked from Kalman filter and wavelet transforms which I had no clue. So,be prepared for surprises. Also brush up C coding and basic data structures as it is generally asked in most of the EE core companies. Do note that you need to prepare seriously for your core companies too as after the interviews of first and second day’s companies and their rejection, you don’t have both time and mind to prepare for them. Finally note that these tests are not tough. These are the students who make it tough. So, never panic in the tests and try to give your 100%.
7. HR interview:
After being shortlisted into a company, Do not take HR questions lightly. You should prepare for somequestions like tell me about yourself, why this, three strengths and weaknesses. Practice these questionswith your wing mates and try to make proper eye contact while answering these questions.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
Experience: It was DB. They first took PPT in main Audi. Audi was completely filled with students and I was sitting on the last seats still thinking about my GS test. When they told in PPT that they had taken only 8 students last year, it made me realize that out of about 600 students currently present in Audi (I thought 600 was good estimate for students present in Audi),my chances are 0.01 % approx.. It made me shivered and I stopped thinking about anything even the job and became casual. This casualness worked. So, I suggest you to be normal and don’t panic. Because, nervous is going to make your situation only worse. DB took two tests. First test was normal aptitude testing mainly your speed in which I had solved 22 questions out of 25 when people on an average had solved only 14-15 questions and even lesser. Second test was quant based test which had 6 questions-two from probability, two from linear algebra, one from class 12 ( I don't why they gave this question ) and one from algo. Thanks to MIT OCW and Pratik poddar, I did very well in it and solved all of them. Only question which I did wrongly was of class 12 because of overconfidence. After that test, I regained my confidence and did well in all other written tests. Most of these tests were simple aptitude tests but with lesser time. So, you need to have good speed to solve these questions. Finally on announcement of short listing results, I was shortlisted into both of my dream companies even after screwing In GS test. Moreover, I was one of the two guys in whole IITK , who was shortlisted for DB quant profile. It made my day. I talked to our seniors working at both these companies and started preparing for interview.
Round: HR Interview
Experience: First one was on the phone by a DB guy on HR interviews. He asked me why not higher studies, why DB, if asked by both GS and DB, which one would you prefer and some others. Believe me if you are having a high CPI, you have to prepare for the question “why not higher research” definitely.
Second was on the skype. He asked me puzzles related to algorithms, probabilities for one and half hour. Again,
thanks to Pratik poddar, Baswana sir and some hints from the interviewer, I did well in it. Whenever you have any problem, do ask for hints to interviewer.
On the D-day, I had been shortlisted into 4 companies in which two were DB and GS– my dream. First one was with DB and I had same interviewer from the skype. As, I had already met him, I became casual with him. He took my interviews for almost two and a half hour. Fortunately, it was my day. I solved all the problems with some hints from him. Then, came HR interview at DB. He asked about my family, parents, relatives, my childhood, my dream and some basic finance questions.Thanks to SPO volunteer Saurav at DB (something happened which you need not know), I was called. I went there leaving my 3rd round of GS. Again, DB guys asked me few questions on exchange rate which I answered perfectly. Finally, they offered me the job. To be frank, I wanted DB job more than GS, but seniors suggested me to go to 3rd round of GS too. When I went there for my 3rd round, I don't know why but they asked me to leave. Anyway I was happy as I had gotten job in one of my dream companies .
General Tips: Overall I can say that you must hope for the best and prepare for the worst. So make sure that you are prepared on all counts. You never know what might go wrong (I have taken it from Abhinav Jain) and do try to make every single event of placement favorable to you. Who knows which event is going to make your day. In case, you have any query related to DB or quant profile, you can ask Saurav Yashaswee, Y8 batch of Maths Dept.. He helped me a lot during preparation and undoubtedly, is one of the best persons to ask questions on quant profile and DB, who is going to be present in the campus during your placement session. In any case, you can contact me on facebook.
Skill Tips: Before starting, I want to clarify that this feedback is only an indicator of things which I believe about
placements and have tried to do during placement session. It has helped me but you should choose it only if you feel that it is going to help you too. You can include stuff like how did you narrow down to your career plans, the sectors which you were targeting and the rationale behind choosing them, difference between your expectations from the placement process and what you encountered finally, what you did to prepare, what you missed out on, what you think should be done, about the tests and GDs that the companies took, your thoughts before the final placements, about CAT, GRE, GMAT etc. and other fun stuff.
1. Making Resume:
Your resume is, if not the most then, definitely one of the most important things to decide your future career. It doesn't only help companies to shortlist you but also help you to decide your future path, inpreparation of HR interviews and knowing you better. If you have made your resume correctly, then itclears most of the doubts related to your carrier like whether you are made for job or research, if job thenfinance, consulting or core and if research, then which field. So, do devote a lot of time in making your resume. Proper way to make a good master resume is sit down alone for few hours, try to recall all the big,good or small (believe me even a small achievement can help you to get a good job or university as it hashappened in my case in getting into Deutsche Bank) achievements of yourself and make a list of all thosethings in good words. Show this resume to your friends, seniors and incorporate their feedbacks. Give thisiteration for at least 3-4 times. If your master resume is made perfectly, then making the resume for company specific is very easy. Oneimportant thing which you should note is if you feel that you resume is overqualified for a company; try tocut a few points from your resume. I have seen that few of my friends have put the same resumes for companies of the first day to last day and even when they were selected for the first day company, theyweren't even shortlisted for the 3rd or 4th day companies as companies felt that they were overqualified.
Please try to avoid this mistake.
2. Attending PPTs:
Attending PPTs and workshops of companies help you make a decision about selecting the companies inwhich you want to go. Do attend PPTs of companies about which you have no idea or the companies you are aiming. As, in my case, attending PPTs helped me to reject few companies which I was aiming. Try to be attentive during PPTs and do take notes of some special characteristics of a particular company (likestructure, compensation, work, seniors present in that company) as it will help you in some HR questionslike why this company, why not others, where do you see yourself in this company after five years and itwill also reflect your interest in the company to interviewer.
3. Selecting sectors or companies:
Your resume, work of a company and your interests help you decide the companies which you dream of and the companies which you feel that you are sure to get into. Try to make two list-first -of your dreamcompanies and second-of companies which you think you have a chance given your profile, your CPI, yourextra-currics, internships etc.. People generally try to prepare for their dream companies and not for otherlist of themselves. So, what happens is that if you are not getting into your dream company (Your dreamcompany in most of the cases is going to be dream of about 80% of batch of IITK), you have also reducedthe chance of getting into a company of your second list as you haven't prepared for that. Also, prepare for the worst. If you aren't getting into any company of both the list (which generally won’t happen ), thenwhat next (CAT, MS/PhD, IES, IAS or opening your band etc.).In my case, it was clear to me that my dream job was getting into DB quant or GS. On rejection, try for IBM,Adobe, Qualcomm, Intel ( as a wireless and signal processing engineer, you don't have much choice even in core), Erricson. On rejection even in these companies, try for MS or PhD in any university.
4. Talking to your seniors:
It is one of the sections in which IIT Kanpur lacks from other IITs. Try to contact seniors of the companies of your lists. Show them your resume, ask them how to prepare for the company, ask whether you are suitable for the job. They have experience of the company as you and also as an insider in the company and in some cases, they may recommend you for the job.
5. Written test:
Believe me even if you don't have good extra currics or a good CPI, even if you have done well in writtentests of companies, you will be in the race of your dream company. This is one of the areas in which IITKanpur always lacks. I have seen few of my batch mates having higher CPI, good internships, good extra currics but couldn't make into even shortlist because of written tests. Do prepare for it seriously. Even if you aren’t preparing for the CAT exams, try to practice time or CL’s study materials, most importantly of Probability, Permutations and DI section. Some companies put direct questions from previous CAT exams. Remember one thing that most of the times, it isn’t test of knowledge but of speed. Speed will come only on practice, not by only knowing things. Also, some consulting companies ask questions related to English Grammar, Vocabulary, so take a look at this section too from CAT study materials, if you feel that your English is weak.
6. Quant and Core Preparation:
If you are looking for quant companies, then you also need to revise your basic maths (like linear algebra,probability, some common distributions like uniform, normal, binomial), basic data structures and algorithms from DS and some puzzles from different websites and books (like of Pratik poddar, 40 puzzlesin probability, CMU toad). If you aren’t finding good study materials for maths or algorithms, use MIT OCW(it has helped me a lot). Make sure that you understand the basic concepts behind these things because they may ask any type of questions related to these topics and you will be answer only if you know theconcepts. For core companies, you need to revise some of basic core courses. For EE guys, if you are looking for VLSI, brush up EE 370 (most imp.) and EE 210. If you are looking for signal processing/communication profile, brush up basic DSP and communication concepts. Some questions were also asked from Kalman filter and wavelet transforms which I had no clue. So,be prepared for surprises. Also brush up C coding and basic data structures as it is generally asked in most of the EE core companies. Do note that you need to prepare seriously for your core companies too as after the interviews of first and second day’s companies and their rejection, you don’t have both time and mind to prepare for them. Finally note that these tests are not tough. These are the students who make it tough. So, never panic in the tests and try to give your 100%.
7. HR interview:
After being shortlisted into a company, Do not take HR questions lightly. You should prepare for somequestions like tell me about yourself, why this, three strengths and weaknesses. Practice these questionswith your wing mates and try to make proper eye contact while answering these questions.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
2 Interview Rounds
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Interview
Experience: The interviewer was was a B.Tech., CSE, IIT Delhi and had been in Diamond for quite long. Unlike the rest of the interviewers, he was a puzzle freak.
First, he asked me about the work done in my internship. After explaining everything to him about the internship in a concise but fine enough way, I think he was ticked off about the fact that I hadn't mentioned my BTP, no projects in my resume.Rather than the puzzles, he started asking me various data structure and database questions. I told him well beforehand that I hadn't taken any particular interest in my department at all, still he asked me asked the same kind of questions.
He was pissed off a little. He asked me - What do you do in your free time? What do you want to do in 3-4 years. Then he asked me – What, if not consulting? I answered that I would definitely like to go for Sales/Marketing position in some company. He remarked that HUL was the company then. I told him that it wasn't open for CSE guys. Then there was some healthy discussion on the issue that why do companies don’t open such positions for CSE department. After some discussion he made one positive comment – ‘I would definitely ask the HUL guys to open a marketing position for you’ and waved me off. Only the HR questions went well. The last comment did make me stick around for quite a while. Ultimately I was told about my disqualification.I think luck played a huge role. My interviewer was from the same department and therefore had some sort of affinity to ask me the questions related to my courses.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
Experience: The interviewer was was a B.Tech., CSE, IIT Delhi and had been in Diamond for quite long. Unlike the rest of the interviewers, he was a puzzle freak.
First, he asked me about the work done in my internship. After explaining everything to him about the internship in a concise but fine enough way, I think he was ticked off about the fact that I hadn't mentioned my BTP, no projects in my resume.Rather than the puzzles, he started asking me various data structure and database questions. I told him well beforehand that I hadn't taken any particular interest in my department at all, still he asked me asked the same kind of questions.
He was pissed off a little. He asked me - What do you do in your free time? What do you want to do in 3-4 years. Then he asked me – What, if not consulting? I answered that I would definitely like to go for Sales/Marketing position in some company. He remarked that HUL was the company then. I told him that it wasn't open for CSE guys. Then there was some healthy discussion on the issue that why do companies don’t open such positions for CSE department. After some discussion he made one positive comment – ‘I would definitely ask the HUL guys to open a marketing position for you’ and waved me off. Only the HR questions went well. The last comment did make me stick around for quite a while. Ultimately I was told about my disqualification.I think luck played a huge role. My interviewer was from the same department and therefore had some sort of affinity to ask me the questions related to my courses.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
1 Interview Round
Interview Questions
- Q1. 1. How was it participating in EXL Excellence Quotient 2011?
- Q2. 2. Tell me something about yourself
- Q3. 3. Tell me about your interest in guitars
- Q4. 4. Anything else you would like to ask me?
- Q5. 1. No. of zeroes in 100!
- Q6. 2. There are 2 cubes. You have to put digits on both the cubes so that one can form all the numbers from 1 to 31
- Q7. Guesstimate case – Estimate the daily revenue of Delhi Metro Service
- Q8. 1. There was some discussion about CSE Department in his days at IIT
- Q9. 2. There are so many CSE companies with great compensation package. Why aren't you going for them?
- Q10. 3. Why did you choose him as your partner for EXL Excellence Quotient’11?
- Q11. 4. Give me 3 reasons why I should prefer you over your partner
- Q12. 5. Would you like to tell me anything that’s not in your resume?
- Q13. 6. Anything else you would like to ask me?
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: HR Interview
Experience: My HR questions went pretty well. She seemed fairly impressed due to my enthusiasm about the competition and my passion about my PORs. My HR questions went pretty well. She seemed fairly impressed due to my enthusiasm about the competition and my passion about my PORs. I was able to solve the puzzles. I think I was able to structure the guesstimate well although my final answer was way inaccurate :D .I paused for sometime during my puzzles, but she encouraged me a lot. I don’t think anything else went wrong
Round: HR Interview
Experience: The interviewer was an IIT Kanpur alumnus. I was told afterwards that he was the senior most guy present in the interview panel. One of my friends didn't have a good experience with him in round 1, so I was pretty attentive and a little scared too.
He was fairly pleased with my case-solving in guesstimate. I didn't get a chance to play with numbers. I juststructured the whole thing and he told me to stop me there and then. As far as the second case is concerned I told him about all the competitors and what their revenue model is. I discussed at length about their pricing model. I then compared the USP of NERD magazine and was able to come up with a pricing strategy. I also added that rather than just the magazine I would like to organize some competitions which would be better source of revenue. Again, he told me to stop there and then.Again, my HR questions went pretty well. This person seemed a little hard to impress. But he always said ‘Good’ or ‘Very Good’ after the questions. That gave me a lot of encouragement (I kept on remembering the bad experience of my friend with this interviewer and that gave me the boost that I was doing pretty well). He asked me some questions like ‘What you are saying is contradicting your previous statement’ but Iremained cool and composed and clarified everything. After the cases, he waved me off. His smile told me that I had nailed the interview. I don't think anything went wrong at all. The interview went great. I didn't have to go for 3rd round
General Tips: Know your resume head to toe. If you are passionate about your PORs, you shouldn't have any problemwith cracking cases based on your resume. Never underestimate the power of HR questions. It was my enthusiasm, hand gestures and passion that she really appreciated. Solving the puzzles and guesstimate was icing on the cake. Pray well before God that you get an interviewer with some common sense :P
College Name: IIT KANPUR
Experience: My HR questions went pretty well. She seemed fairly impressed due to my enthusiasm about the competition and my passion about my PORs. My HR questions went pretty well. She seemed fairly impressed due to my enthusiasm about the competition and my passion about my PORs. I was able to solve the puzzles. I think I was able to structure the guesstimate well although my final answer was way inaccurate :D .I paused for sometime during my puzzles, but she encouraged me a lot. I don’t think anything else went wrong
Round: HR Interview
Experience: The interviewer was an IIT Kanpur alumnus. I was told afterwards that he was the senior most guy present in the interview panel. One of my friends didn't have a good experience with him in round 1, so I was pretty attentive and a little scared too.
He was fairly pleased with my case-solving in guesstimate. I didn't get a chance to play with numbers. I juststructured the whole thing and he told me to stop me there and then. As far as the second case is concerned I told him about all the competitors and what their revenue model is. I discussed at length about their pricing model. I then compared the USP of NERD magazine and was able to come up with a pricing strategy. I also added that rather than just the magazine I would like to organize some competitions which would be better source of revenue. Again, he told me to stop there and then.Again, my HR questions went pretty well. This person seemed a little hard to impress. But he always said ‘Good’ or ‘Very Good’ after the questions. That gave me a lot of encouragement (I kept on remembering the bad experience of my friend with this interviewer and that gave me the boost that I was doing pretty well). He asked me some questions like ‘What you are saying is contradicting your previous statement’ but Iremained cool and composed and clarified everything. After the cases, he waved me off. His smile told me that I had nailed the interview. I don't think anything went wrong at all. The interview went great. I didn't have to go for 3rd round
General Tips: Know your resume head to toe. If you are passionate about your PORs, you shouldn't have any problemwith cracking cases based on your resume. Never underestimate the power of HR questions. It was my enthusiasm, hand gestures and passion that she really appreciated. Solving the puzzles and guesstimate was icing on the cake. Pray well before God that you get an interviewer with some common sense :P
College Name: IIT KANPUR
Interview Questions of Popular Companies
Campus Placement Interview Questions at Top Colleges
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