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
3 Interview Rounds
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Test
Experience: Test ( Quant, English, DI, Attention to detail) + Group discussion
Round: Interview
Experience: I was given a booklet describing a case involving a shoe manufacturer and his supply chain system. In addition there were a few other glitches in his profit generation. A total of 30 mins was allocated to solve the case, followed by an interview to discuss the case and suggest changes. In the second round of the same section basic math puzzle involving the surface area and volume concepts of a cube was asked. In round 3 of the same section. A role play wherein I was meeting a potential customer in an elevator and had 60 secs to inform him about what ‘We at ZS’ do. I lacked proper knowledge of the firm and had to do with limited information I had. I ensured I don’t go wrong on the little information I knew.
Round: Interview
Experience: The interview was by and large about my experiences in campus and how I had responded to different situations. Questions like “3 instances wherein you worked in a disordered environment and came out with flying colours“ , “ What is the most important quality in a team leader and why” etc . The round lasted for around 40 mins.
The interview was again primarily about my experiences in campus and how I had managed time etc. Questions like “ Why ZS” , “ 3 most valued principles of your life” etc were put forward. The round lasted for about 30 mins. At the end I was given time to ask questions and clarify my doubts about the kind of work, culture etc at the firm
General Tips: Make sure you read the cases VERY carefully. I learnt that a couple of my fellow students messed up the understanding part. Make sure you relate each and every significant achievement of yours to a particular quality or trait that defines you. This would help you answering HR questions effectively. Be thorough with each and every line of your master resume. HR interviews are all about knowing yourself and what you have done so far in life.
Skill Tips: My calculations were neat and I invested more time in understanding the problem which made the Q/A session with the interviewer a cake walk. I was relaxed during the entire conversation and was able to substantiate my answers with examples from my life experiences.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
Experience: Test ( Quant, English, DI, Attention to detail) + Group discussion
Round: Interview
Experience: I was given a booklet describing a case involving a shoe manufacturer and his supply chain system. In addition there were a few other glitches in his profit generation. A total of 30 mins was allocated to solve the case, followed by an interview to discuss the case and suggest changes. In the second round of the same section basic math puzzle involving the surface area and volume concepts of a cube was asked. In round 3 of the same section. A role play wherein I was meeting a potential customer in an elevator and had 60 secs to inform him about what ‘We at ZS’ do. I lacked proper knowledge of the firm and had to do with limited information I had. I ensured I don’t go wrong on the little information I knew.
Round: Interview
Experience: The interview was by and large about my experiences in campus and how I had responded to different situations. Questions like “3 instances wherein you worked in a disordered environment and came out with flying colours“ , “ What is the most important quality in a team leader and why” etc . The round lasted for around 40 mins.
The interview was again primarily about my experiences in campus and how I had managed time etc. Questions like “ Why ZS” , “ 3 most valued principles of your life” etc were put forward. The round lasted for about 30 mins. At the end I was given time to ask questions and clarify my doubts about the kind of work, culture etc at the firm
General Tips: Make sure you read the cases VERY carefully. I learnt that a couple of my fellow students messed up the understanding part. Make sure you relate each and every significant achievement of yours to a particular quality or trait that defines you. This would help you answering HR questions effectively. Be thorough with each and every line of your master resume. HR interviews are all about knowing yourself and what you have done so far in life.
Skill Tips: My calculations were neat and I invested more time in understanding the problem which made the Q/A session with the interviewer a cake walk. I was relaxed during the entire conversation and was able to substantiate my answers with examples from my life experiences.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
1 Interview Round
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Group Discussion
Experience: I was not selected in this company but I would like to share my experience.
The first round was a group discussion and failed at the first hurdle only. The topic was censorship; I knew that if a person starts a GD he gets a head start over others. So I started the topic and also chipped in a few times with some good points. Once the result was out I asked one of the panelists about the mistakes I committed. They told me that in a hurry to start you didn’t understand the topic fully and wasn't holistic in your approach. As a consultant one needs to be exhaustive in his thinking which wasn't evident in my GD.
Tips: The point to think about is initiating a GD is good but only if you 100% sure about the topic. If you have the slightest of doubt about the topic its better not to start and pitch in between with some strong points. This advice is limited to GD’s for consulting firms only as companies like Schlumberger, ITC, HUL etc have a different criteria for GD’s and they mayn’t be looking for the same set of qualities as the consulting firms.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
Experience: I was not selected in this company but I would like to share my experience.
The first round was a group discussion and failed at the first hurdle only. The topic was censorship; I knew that if a person starts a GD he gets a head start over others. So I started the topic and also chipped in a few times with some good points. Once the result was out I asked one of the panelists about the mistakes I committed. They told me that in a hurry to start you didn’t understand the topic fully and wasn't holistic in your approach. As a consultant one needs to be exhaustive in his thinking which wasn't evident in my GD.
Tips: The point to think about is initiating a GD is good but only if you 100% sure about the topic. If you have the slightest of doubt about the topic its better not to start and pitch in between with some strong points. This advice is limited to GD’s for consulting firms only as companies like Schlumberger, ITC, HUL etc have a different criteria for GD’s and they mayn’t be looking for the same set of qualities as the consulting firms.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
1 Interview Round
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Technical Interview
Experience: I was not placed in this company but would like to share my experience.
They asked me a guesstimate and wanted to calculate number of tyres used in india annually. I wasn't comfortable with guesstimates as my preparation was a bit weak in this area. I tried my level best to take into account various sectors using tyres. I also kept in mind the general rule of a case study to interact with the interviewee and explain my assumptions. I was quite happy with my interview. But to my surprise I wasn't selected for the next round. I solved that case study by myself after that and realized I missed an important point of replacement of tyres so my rejection was justified as you can’t afford to do such a blunder
College Name: IIT KANPUR
Experience: I was not placed in this company but would like to share my experience.
They asked me a guesstimate and wanted to calculate number of tyres used in india annually. I wasn't comfortable with guesstimates as my preparation was a bit weak in this area. I tried my level best to take into account various sectors using tyres. I also kept in mind the general rule of a case study to interact with the interviewee and explain my assumptions. I was quite happy with my interview. But to my surprise I wasn't selected for the next round. I solved that case study by myself after that and realized I missed an important point of replacement of tyres so my rejection was justified as you can’t afford to do such a blunder
College Name: IIT KANPUR
2 Interview Rounds
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Technical Interview
Experience: In this interview they asked me questions about how e-commerce works and how flipkart can strengthen its position in the market. The answers which I gave were very general with common sense coming into play. The interviewee was impressed my answers and selected me for the next round.
Round: HR Interview
Experience: The next interview was an HR one and the panel grilled me on my resume. He also asked me questions about my
future goals, my strength and weaknesses etc. I was fully prepared for them and was very confident. Finally they offered me the job. The important point here was that one must be very much sure about the points written on his resume and should be to speak for 1-2 minutes about each sentence if asked for.
General Tips: Learnt from seniors and alumni what companies from different sector (Consulting, finance, core etc) looks for and prepared my resume accordingly. This also helped me to realize that my profile was weak for finance sector which requires a lot of preparation and hence I was less focused on this sector. Next I started preparing for aptitude test and practiced with the Career Launcher CAT test material (any coaching institute material would suffice). Next I started preparing for case studies through various books listed on SPO’s website. With the help of friends/wingmates I practiced different types of case studies in a proper interview like environment. Newspaper (economic times, hindu) reading were also an important part of my preparations, they kept me inform on various issues and they also gave me an idea of facts and figures essential for consulting firms. At the same time I also started preparing for HR interviews. After the results of various companies aptitude test were declared I fine tuned my preparations accordingly.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
Experience: In this interview they asked me questions about how e-commerce works and how flipkart can strengthen its position in the market. The answers which I gave were very general with common sense coming into play. The interviewee was impressed my answers and selected me for the next round.
Round: HR Interview
Experience: The next interview was an HR one and the panel grilled me on my resume. He also asked me questions about my
future goals, my strength and weaknesses etc. I was fully prepared for them and was very confident. Finally they offered me the job. The important point here was that one must be very much sure about the points written on his resume and should be to speak for 1-2 minutes about each sentence if asked for.
General Tips: Learnt from seniors and alumni what companies from different sector (Consulting, finance, core etc) looks for and prepared my resume accordingly. This also helped me to realize that my profile was weak for finance sector which requires a lot of preparation and hence I was less focused on this sector. Next I started preparing for aptitude test and practiced with the Career Launcher CAT test material (any coaching institute material would suffice). Next I started preparing for case studies through various books listed on SPO’s website. With the help of friends/wingmates I practiced different types of case studies in a proper interview like environment. Newspaper (economic times, hindu) reading were also an important part of my preparations, they kept me inform on various issues and they also gave me an idea of facts and figures essential for consulting firms. At the same time I also started preparing for HR interviews. After the results of various companies aptitude test were declared I fine tuned my preparations accordingly.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
3 Interview Rounds
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Test
Experience: Online test consists of 3 parts:
1) Aptitude
2) programming (C/C++, Data Structures)
3) Technical.
No negative marking. Apti and programming parts were easy. There were three different technical sections forthree different profiles: 1) Hardware 2) Communication/DSP 3) Software.I appeared for 2nd profile. In this, the technical section had question mostly from DSP, few from communication, analog circuits, digital circuits etc. Each section was given different amount of time. Time for the Technical section was less and I felt that this section was the deciding factor in short listing. There was a CGPA cutoff of 7.5 . My CGPA was 8.75.
Round: Interview
Experience: There were 3 rounds of interview out of which 2 were technical and 1 was HR round. Asked about thesis, term papers, trainings, and question on Digital logic circuits: to design FSM, designing simple logic circuits, delay & its calculation in the digital circuit, MOS etc. Few communication related questions, some puzzles and apti questions. In HR, they asked common HR questions like about yourself, Why qualcomm, training experience, any specific location preference etc. both the technical rounds were almost 40 minutes long and HR was 20 minutes.
General Tips: 1) Should be clear about your M.Tech thesis, B.Tech project, summer training, Term papers. Understand their terminologies and concepts since almost all companies ask about it.
2) For aptitude preparation, solve the material available in preparation portal, can see for online aptitude tests and puzzles and along with that appear honestly in the mock tests organized by SPO. Aim on accuracy and speed.
3) For Programming preparation, revise basic concepts of C and DS, you can use book by Denis Ritche, Yeshwant Kanetkar. Solve online mock programming tests, so you get aware of standard questions andmost common mistakes. Try to write some codes while preparing so that you will be confident writing infront of interviewer, especially of DS like linked list, trees, sorting, searching etc. I did not prepare for OS,but most of the software companies do ask questions on it. Galvin is the standard book for OS.
4) Technical: very vast field includes all the course and practical knowledge you have been studying. Basicconcepts should be clear. Prepare Digital circuit design, Communication, Wireless Communication, DSP,
Computer networks, and most importantly subjects of your interest
5) Do prepare in groups, it will help you in clearing your doubts and also it will improve your interview skills. Mock interviews are also organized for your confidence building.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
Experience: Online test consists of 3 parts:
1) Aptitude
2) programming (C/C++, Data Structures)
3) Technical.
No negative marking. Apti and programming parts were easy. There were three different technical sections forthree different profiles: 1) Hardware 2) Communication/DSP 3) Software.I appeared for 2nd profile. In this, the technical section had question mostly from DSP, few from communication, analog circuits, digital circuits etc. Each section was given different amount of time. Time for the Technical section was less and I felt that this section was the deciding factor in short listing. There was a CGPA cutoff of 7.5 . My CGPA was 8.75.
Round: Interview
Experience: There were 3 rounds of interview out of which 2 were technical and 1 was HR round. Asked about thesis, term papers, trainings, and question on Digital logic circuits: to design FSM, designing simple logic circuits, delay & its calculation in the digital circuit, MOS etc. Few communication related questions, some puzzles and apti questions. In HR, they asked common HR questions like about yourself, Why qualcomm, training experience, any specific location preference etc. both the technical rounds were almost 40 minutes long and HR was 20 minutes.
General Tips: 1) Should be clear about your M.Tech thesis, B.Tech project, summer training, Term papers. Understand their terminologies and concepts since almost all companies ask about it.
2) For aptitude preparation, solve the material available in preparation portal, can see for online aptitude tests and puzzles and along with that appear honestly in the mock tests organized by SPO. Aim on accuracy and speed.
3) For Programming preparation, revise basic concepts of C and DS, you can use book by Denis Ritche, Yeshwant Kanetkar. Solve online mock programming tests, so you get aware of standard questions andmost common mistakes. Try to write some codes while preparing so that you will be confident writing infront of interviewer, especially of DS like linked list, trees, sorting, searching etc. I did not prepare for OS,but most of the software companies do ask questions on it. Galvin is the standard book for OS.
4) Technical: very vast field includes all the course and practical knowledge you have been studying. Basicconcepts should be clear. Prepare Digital circuit design, Communication, Wireless Communication, DSP,
Computer networks, and most importantly subjects of your interest
5) Do prepare in groups, it will help you in clearing your doubts and also it will improve your interview skills. Mock interviews are also organized for your confidence building.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
4 Interview Rounds
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Test
Experience: They have a long short listing process. Online aptitude test, 3 short essays etc but mostly, short listing is resume based. There is a telephonic round as well but questions for the same are known well in advance. Few keywords for short listing are
1 .Technical Skills
2. POR
3. Cross - Cultural Experience
4. You get bonus points if you have done some project related to energy, environment etc and have been exposed to an atmosphere where safety practices were critically followed.
Round: HR Interview
Experience: I had 2 round of interviews. Few people had even more than 3 rounds. I was told that I am being given an offer during my 2nd round itself.
Round 1. – Interviewers- Three in no., 1 Australian, 2 Indians.
Round 2. Interviewers- Five in no.- Three Australian. 2 Indian( Don’t know if anyone of them was an engineer. Mostly HR people.)
Because few of the interviewers were Australians, it became all the more important that I spoke slow and it should be clear to everyone.
General Tips: If you are targeting day one companies than you need to have certain spikes in your resume. These spikes can be academic, research based, internships, POR, extra currics etc. What most of us do not realize is that interview preparation in itself is a very good spike which can definitely get you shortlisted in more no. of companies and increase your chances of getting selected in each of them. I would just suggest. Take good amount of time in deciding what you really want to do. If you decide that you want do a job after your education at IITK, then prepare well for it and earn it.
Skill Tips: The thing that went well was that most of the questions I was asked were expected so I had already prepared for them. They look for certain traits in individuals.
1 .Technical Skills
2. POR(not necessarily in extra currics, even a good project management counts)
3. Cross - Cultural Experience(Adaptability-because you are placed in Australia)
4. Confidence
5. Outgoing Nature
6. Interest in energy/environment etc.
I could present that I have most of these traits. I could not prepare well for aptitude during my placement preparation which I should have. I gave few aptitude test but did not get selected. I had some amount of bad luck in BCG and Diamond both in pre interview process and during interview, but that is something which can happen so it is advisable to be mentally prepared for it and try and get shortlisted in as many companies as you can.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
Experience: They have a long short listing process. Online aptitude test, 3 short essays etc but mostly, short listing is resume based. There is a telephonic round as well but questions for the same are known well in advance. Few keywords for short listing are
1 .Technical Skills
2. POR
3. Cross - Cultural Experience
4. You get bonus points if you have done some project related to energy, environment etc and have been exposed to an atmosphere where safety practices were critically followed.
Round: HR Interview
Experience: I had 2 round of interviews. Few people had even more than 3 rounds. I was told that I am being given an offer during my 2nd round itself.
Round 1. – Interviewers- Three in no., 1 Australian, 2 Indians.
Round 2. Interviewers- Five in no.- Three Australian. 2 Indian( Don’t know if anyone of them was an engineer. Mostly HR people.)
Because few of the interviewers were Australians, it became all the more important that I spoke slow and it should be clear to everyone.
General Tips: If you are targeting day one companies than you need to have certain spikes in your resume. These spikes can be academic, research based, internships, POR, extra currics etc. What most of us do not realize is that interview preparation in itself is a very good spike which can definitely get you shortlisted in more no. of companies and increase your chances of getting selected in each of them. I would just suggest. Take good amount of time in deciding what you really want to do. If you decide that you want do a job after your education at IITK, then prepare well for it and earn it.
Skill Tips: The thing that went well was that most of the questions I was asked were expected so I had already prepared for them. They look for certain traits in individuals.
1 .Technical Skills
2. POR(not necessarily in extra currics, even a good project management counts)
3. Cross - Cultural Experience(Adaptability-because you are placed in Australia)
4. Confidence
5. Outgoing Nature
6. Interest in energy/environment etc.
I could present that I have most of these traits. I could not prepare well for aptitude during my placement preparation which I should have. I gave few aptitude test but did not get selected. I had some amount of bad luck in BCG and Diamond both in pre interview process and during interview, but that is something which can happen so it is advisable to be mentally prepared for it and try and get shortlisted in as many companies as you can.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
3 Interview Rounds
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Round 1
Experience: My first interview started off with a quick chat with a VP on Ideatrics (which was indeed a confidence-booster, showing that they had done their homework). There were 2 other interviewers on the panel, one of which didn’t pose any questions throughout the interview. Thereafter, a couple of quick questions were asked on cities which I enjoyed travelling to while I was in Europe. This was followed with a composition of a 30-second ad campaign for Tourism Barcelona. Hence, I was all softened up for the rigors ahead. What followed was a barrage of puzzles from an IIT-K alumnus, who fired approximately 10-12 puzzles in a 7-8 minutes span. She made sure to test most of the areas. Though I was able to do them, the time given to come up with a complete solution was pretty short. Hence, it was imperative to give a gist of the solution and explain the approach in a concise manner. One thing which was visible was that the puzzles had some variations or provided incomplete information (though I am not very sure that was intentional or not). So, you are required to ask questions which fill up the gaps. This also acts as a check to see whether the candidate is reproducing mugged up solutions or not. I was well prepared for this, hence this round passed off on a positive note despite its pace. With things such as current affairs and finance still untested, I was pretty upbeat.
Round: Round 2
Experience: I waited a bit for my second round and interviewed with Opera in the meantime. The panel at DB this time comprised of 4 people, with another one who kept moving in and out. This round was on basic prob. and statistics, with questions on skewness and kurtosis, wherein I was asked to draw and compare their plots for securities with different characteristics. A couple of puzzles were asked as well, though there was nothing out of the blue regarding puzzles. A 4-person panel was indeed daunting, with constant challenges being raised on the solutions provided by me, probably to ruffle me up a bit. Again, working up from the basics helps in this case to illustrate the correctness of your solution.
After this round, I was slightly less confident. I was informed that I would not be having any more interviews
and I approached to interview with Diamond.
One thing which bothered me was the fact that no questions were asked on current affairs, neither on economics nor on finance. This was my strongest point as I had done enormous amount of research on everything ranging from DB to markets in general. Even the CFA L1 material was hardly touched upon. Before I was presented with the offer, I was asked some questions on my strengths and weaknesses and why I wanted to join DB. I was adequately able demonstrate my interest in DB and that was the end of it.
General Tips: Campus Placements can be an excruciating experience, but an in-depth analysis of your strengths and
weaknesses beforehand can help you focus on your goals. I had an inclination towards Finance since the
beginning of my program at IIT Kanpur, illustrated by the fact that I have done all my internships in related
fields. Time spent in Munich strengthened my belief and I decided to pursue opportunities in Finance, both in campus and off-campus. But as there are a significant number of consulting companies which visit our campus, I decided to undertake a 5-month internship at KPMG, which provided me with a flavor of both the worlds in an international setting.
General Prep.:
Being an economics student, the options have been neatly narrowed down for you. One can apply in companies which are only open for all the students; hence Finance, Consulting and Analytics (as they are known at IITK) were the fields where I had to concentrate upon. I started preparing solely for finance, with Deutsche Bank and Capital One topping the charts on my list. Preparations were focused on preparing for the aptitude tests taken by most of the companies. Reference materials comprised of the CAT preparatory material and a few websites for puzzles. Apart from that, constant feedback and review of the CV was an ongoing process. Appearing for some mock tests arranged for by the SPO was indeed helpful.
Skill Tips: I was interested in DB, having done some research on the company in general and the profile they offered at IIT Kanpur in particular. DB conducted a white-paper challenge by the name of ‘Ideatrics’ during August-September. This provided me with an opportunity to visit CIB Centre, Mumbai in person. I feel that this experience motivated me further towards preparing for placements in general and DB in particular. Being selected as the campus winner proved to be an icing on the cake. I would advise you to actively take part in such activities if time permits. Apart from the obvious brownie points which you earn on winning the
competition, it gives you an insight on the day-to-day work which you may be doing if recruited.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
Experience: My first interview started off with a quick chat with a VP on Ideatrics (which was indeed a confidence-booster, showing that they had done their homework). There were 2 other interviewers on the panel, one of which didn’t pose any questions throughout the interview. Thereafter, a couple of quick questions were asked on cities which I enjoyed travelling to while I was in Europe. This was followed with a composition of a 30-second ad campaign for Tourism Barcelona. Hence, I was all softened up for the rigors ahead. What followed was a barrage of puzzles from an IIT-K alumnus, who fired approximately 10-12 puzzles in a 7-8 minutes span. She made sure to test most of the areas. Though I was able to do them, the time given to come up with a complete solution was pretty short. Hence, it was imperative to give a gist of the solution and explain the approach in a concise manner. One thing which was visible was that the puzzles had some variations or provided incomplete information (though I am not very sure that was intentional or not). So, you are required to ask questions which fill up the gaps. This also acts as a check to see whether the candidate is reproducing mugged up solutions or not. I was well prepared for this, hence this round passed off on a positive note despite its pace. With things such as current affairs and finance still untested, I was pretty upbeat.
Round: Round 2
Experience: I waited a bit for my second round and interviewed with Opera in the meantime. The panel at DB this time comprised of 4 people, with another one who kept moving in and out. This round was on basic prob. and statistics, with questions on skewness and kurtosis, wherein I was asked to draw and compare their plots for securities with different characteristics. A couple of puzzles were asked as well, though there was nothing out of the blue regarding puzzles. A 4-person panel was indeed daunting, with constant challenges being raised on the solutions provided by me, probably to ruffle me up a bit. Again, working up from the basics helps in this case to illustrate the correctness of your solution.
After this round, I was slightly less confident. I was informed that I would not be having any more interviews
and I approached to interview with Diamond.
One thing which bothered me was the fact that no questions were asked on current affairs, neither on economics nor on finance. This was my strongest point as I had done enormous amount of research on everything ranging from DB to markets in general. Even the CFA L1 material was hardly touched upon. Before I was presented with the offer, I was asked some questions on my strengths and weaknesses and why I wanted to join DB. I was adequately able demonstrate my interest in DB and that was the end of it.
General Tips: Campus Placements can be an excruciating experience, but an in-depth analysis of your strengths and
weaknesses beforehand can help you focus on your goals. I had an inclination towards Finance since the
beginning of my program at IIT Kanpur, illustrated by the fact that I have done all my internships in related
fields. Time spent in Munich strengthened my belief and I decided to pursue opportunities in Finance, both in campus and off-campus. But as there are a significant number of consulting companies which visit our campus, I decided to undertake a 5-month internship at KPMG, which provided me with a flavor of both the worlds in an international setting.
General Prep.:
Being an economics student, the options have been neatly narrowed down for you. One can apply in companies which are only open for all the students; hence Finance, Consulting and Analytics (as they are known at IITK) were the fields where I had to concentrate upon. I started preparing solely for finance, with Deutsche Bank and Capital One topping the charts on my list. Preparations were focused on preparing for the aptitude tests taken by most of the companies. Reference materials comprised of the CAT preparatory material and a few websites for puzzles. Apart from that, constant feedback and review of the CV was an ongoing process. Appearing for some mock tests arranged for by the SPO was indeed helpful.
Skill Tips: I was interested in DB, having done some research on the company in general and the profile they offered at IIT Kanpur in particular. DB conducted a white-paper challenge by the name of ‘Ideatrics’ during August-September. This provided me with an opportunity to visit CIB Centre, Mumbai in person. I feel that this experience motivated me further towards preparing for placements in general and DB in particular. Being selected as the campus winner proved to be an icing on the cake. I would advise you to actively take part in such activities if time permits. Apart from the obvious brownie points which you earn on winning the
competition, it gives you an insight on the day-to-day work which you may be doing if recruited.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
4 Interview Rounds
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: Not very clear but major role players were CPI and Projects.
Tips: Do write your area of interest clearly and your major projects you are highlighting in your resume should be of that area, otherwise they might interview you for wrong area and you might miss out as few students did. So be clear about that. And don’t think you can get away with casual or fuzzy answers.
Round: Interview
Experience: Technical Interview was related to the field they have shortlisted you. There were 3 panel for EE guys,1 for shortlisted candidate for Analog Area, 1 for shortlisted candidate for Digital and 1 for Architecture. For me it was mixed of Analog and digital with some device also. Questions regarding Short channel effects were asked. Then questions related to Diff-Amp were asked. Then there were questions on Digital logic, need of C-Mos , Charge sharing and distribution in C-Mos devices, Capacitance curve and its region. And then there were questions on Timing Issues, skew, jitter and some tricky question revolving around timing analysis. Questions regarding data transfer and propagation and read-write methodology were also asked. It was not about finding an answer it was finding how depth and clear knowledge a candidate has and what is his/her thinking process. If you get stuck somewhere while answering they will give you hints but don't seek hints for every answers.
Round: Interview
Experience: HR questions were the usual questions which are generally asked everywhere, revolving around judging my character. Few scenarios were given which conflicts between ethics and personal gains.
General Tips: I always intended to find a core job in semiconductor industry and for the same I planned my curriculum inaccordance with it. I took all courses related to VLSI area EE dept has to offer which included digital, analog and devices. I learnt some architecture also with the help of my batch-mates who have done CSE architecture course.
For those who are planning to get a core job my suggestions would be: Maintain a good CPI as it is the first criteria they will shortlist you.
Have good understanding of the subject. Do study devices also as companies frequently ask questions based on devices and practice from yourself.
Don't rely on SPO as they will not be preparing you for core companies. Do get information from your seniors about the preparations. If you have done your courses sincerely then it will take about 1-2 months to complete the preparations. And prepare along with your batchmates aiming for same area as it will help everyone. Don't try to go alone.
Skill Tips: Since I did courses of all areas of VLSI from devices to digital I was able to answer the wide range of questions put in front of me. I never tried to make a guess, I simply said that some things I forgot, but I was able to say that because most of the questions I was able to answer. Also, I prepared HR questions beforehand and had some instances in my mind to quote when put under those scenario. The probable reasons for my selection were a good CPI , clarity about subject and wide range of topics I covered duringmy courses.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
Experience: Not very clear but major role players were CPI and Projects.
Tips: Do write your area of interest clearly and your major projects you are highlighting in your resume should be of that area, otherwise they might interview you for wrong area and you might miss out as few students did. So be clear about that. And don’t think you can get away with casual or fuzzy answers.
Round: Interview
Experience: Technical Interview was related to the field they have shortlisted you. There were 3 panel for EE guys,1 for shortlisted candidate for Analog Area, 1 for shortlisted candidate for Digital and 1 for Architecture. For me it was mixed of Analog and digital with some device also. Questions regarding Short channel effects were asked. Then questions related to Diff-Amp were asked. Then there were questions on Digital logic, need of C-Mos , Charge sharing and distribution in C-Mos devices, Capacitance curve and its region. And then there were questions on Timing Issues, skew, jitter and some tricky question revolving around timing analysis. Questions regarding data transfer and propagation and read-write methodology were also asked. It was not about finding an answer it was finding how depth and clear knowledge a candidate has and what is his/her thinking process. If you get stuck somewhere while answering they will give you hints but don't seek hints for every answers.
Round: Interview
Experience: HR questions were the usual questions which are generally asked everywhere, revolving around judging my character. Few scenarios were given which conflicts between ethics and personal gains.
General Tips: I always intended to find a core job in semiconductor industry and for the same I planned my curriculum inaccordance with it. I took all courses related to VLSI area EE dept has to offer which included digital, analog and devices. I learnt some architecture also with the help of my batch-mates who have done CSE architecture course.
For those who are planning to get a core job my suggestions would be: Maintain a good CPI as it is the first criteria they will shortlist you.
Have good understanding of the subject. Do study devices also as companies frequently ask questions based on devices and practice from yourself.
Don't rely on SPO as they will not be preparing you for core companies. Do get information from your seniors about the preparations. If you have done your courses sincerely then it will take about 1-2 months to complete the preparations. And prepare along with your batchmates aiming for same area as it will help everyone. Don't try to go alone.
Skill Tips: Since I did courses of all areas of VLSI from devices to digital I was able to answer the wide range of questions put in front of me. I never tried to make a guess, I simply said that some things I forgot, but I was able to say that because most of the questions I was able to answer. Also, I prepared HR questions beforehand and had some instances in my mind to quote when put under those scenario. The probable reasons for my selection were a good CPI , clarity about subject and wide range of topics I covered duringmy courses.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
6 Interview Rounds
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: Accenture
This profile was basically open for only MBA but I they were keen on hiring some of the non MBA guys
also. Selection was based on our resume and first round of interviews were resume based as well. This
gave me a chance to defend my resume for the first time. Before this I felt like I would never get to an
interview
Round: Test
Experience: Capital one
There was test which was purely data analysis and calculator was allowed.
BMGI
The first round was an English cum aptitude test.
NI and HSBC
There was a CAT like test.
Round: Group Discussion
Experience: BMGI
Our topic was “should we allow fdi in retail” and since. I followed a lot of business news I was thorough with the topic and I even pulled some examples from my Business Club days to support my arguments. Eventually out of 11 in GD, I was selected for the final round of interviews.
NI and HSBC
Topics were “corruption in india and anna hazare” and “zero” . I am not sure about second one but it was something like this.
Round: Technical Interview
Experience: Capital one
The case I was asked was to calculate the change in the cost of a grocery store if it has changed its model from cash on delivery with a physical store to an online portal which has cash on delivery option. As I had practiced it already I took some time to give structure and then gave 3-4 reasons for change in cost and then he gave me some numbers based on which I had to calculate the break even time period or amount . But I think he expected a little bit different approach or was searching for a different solution as I wasn't selected for the final interview sessions. I think 22 people were selected for the final interview session out of which 2 people were finally selected in Cap One.
Accenture
Then they started asking me puzzles and I started thinking that my case study would not have been proper that is why they are asking me these tough puzzles just to scare me away.
Round: HR Interview
Experience: NI and HSBC
In HSBC they asked me a case in which I had to first guess the no of petrol pumps in Kanpur and then to device a criteria for finalizing a location for a petrol pump for my client. Interview in NI was somewhat technical and I wasn't prepared for that (which happens most of the times so plzzz guys be prepared for all the basic courses like microelectronics, digital circuits from books like sedra n smith and all).
BMGI
They started hitting personal questions to me without giving me any chance to answer like why did you take electrical here? After taking electrical why are you interested in consulting? Why do people in general in IITs do not go for higher studies? And eventually they told me that I had not done anything concrete and that they feel that I follow a herd mentality. I was seriously not prepared for this kind of grilling and I panicked. I could have given a fight but I sat listening to them and in the end I accepted some allegations and gave a counter for some but I knew I had taken a defeat.
Accenture
The lady kept on asking why do you want to join us and I kept on telling the same thing I had prepared about how consulting is a way of life and how their firm would benefit me and all that. Eventually I was their waitlist 1 and I never got through.
General Tips: Do not prepare for companies and what they want but for your own strength and weakness. If you are strong in core subjects, chances are you would be hired by a tech company only (don’t go with exceptions like BCG, DB, Schlum and Transocean, they hire very few). If you do not want a core job then also prepare for it just in case. At least people in CSE, EE, ME should prepare well for core as there is always a chance that you don't get your dream job and then you panic and don't think things through and get any random job that comes your way and regret in future but if you have a backup in core you can always pursue things in future without regret.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
Experience: Accenture
This profile was basically open for only MBA but I they were keen on hiring some of the non MBA guys
also. Selection was based on our resume and first round of interviews were resume based as well. This
gave me a chance to defend my resume for the first time. Before this I felt like I would never get to an
interview
Round: Test
Experience: Capital one
There was test which was purely data analysis and calculator was allowed.
BMGI
The first round was an English cum aptitude test.
NI and HSBC
There was a CAT like test.
Round: Group Discussion
Experience: BMGI
Our topic was “should we allow fdi in retail” and since. I followed a lot of business news I was thorough with the topic and I even pulled some examples from my Business Club days to support my arguments. Eventually out of 11 in GD, I was selected for the final round of interviews.
NI and HSBC
Topics were “corruption in india and anna hazare” and “zero” . I am not sure about second one but it was something like this.
Round: Technical Interview
Experience: Capital one
The case I was asked was to calculate the change in the cost of a grocery store if it has changed its model from cash on delivery with a physical store to an online portal which has cash on delivery option. As I had practiced it already I took some time to give structure and then gave 3-4 reasons for change in cost and then he gave me some numbers based on which I had to calculate the break even time period or amount . But I think he expected a little bit different approach or was searching for a different solution as I wasn't selected for the final interview sessions. I think 22 people were selected for the final interview session out of which 2 people were finally selected in Cap One.
Accenture
Then they started asking me puzzles and I started thinking that my case study would not have been proper that is why they are asking me these tough puzzles just to scare me away.
Round: HR Interview
Experience: NI and HSBC
In HSBC they asked me a case in which I had to first guess the no of petrol pumps in Kanpur and then to device a criteria for finalizing a location for a petrol pump for my client. Interview in NI was somewhat technical and I wasn't prepared for that (which happens most of the times so plzzz guys be prepared for all the basic courses like microelectronics, digital circuits from books like sedra n smith and all).
BMGI
They started hitting personal questions to me without giving me any chance to answer like why did you take electrical here? After taking electrical why are you interested in consulting? Why do people in general in IITs do not go for higher studies? And eventually they told me that I had not done anything concrete and that they feel that I follow a herd mentality. I was seriously not prepared for this kind of grilling and I panicked. I could have given a fight but I sat listening to them and in the end I accepted some allegations and gave a counter for some but I knew I had taken a defeat.
Accenture
The lady kept on asking why do you want to join us and I kept on telling the same thing I had prepared about how consulting is a way of life and how their firm would benefit me and all that. Eventually I was their waitlist 1 and I never got through.
General Tips: Do not prepare for companies and what they want but for your own strength and weakness. If you are strong in core subjects, chances are you would be hired by a tech company only (don’t go with exceptions like BCG, DB, Schlum and Transocean, they hire very few). If you do not want a core job then also prepare for it just in case. At least people in CSE, EE, ME should prepare well for core as there is always a chance that you don't get your dream job and then you panic and don't think things through and get any random job that comes your way and regret in future but if you have a backup in core you can always pursue things in future without regret.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
3 Interview Rounds
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Group Discussion
Experience: I was a bit nervous in ITC GD which resulted in my loud voice and dominating nature. The case was one of the typical cases of ITC which I missed during preparation; as a matter of fact they haven’t changed it since 3 or 4 years. It did not go that good but I was sure if 4 people would be selected from my group then I would be in. But by that time I was ready for HUL’s GD. It was a fresh new case which I forgot by the way (:P). The group was big (12 students) and I gave some good ideas (I think so). The key is “never give up on quality, safety and ethics”.
Well HUL is famous for taking only one or two guys, on top of that, rumor was that it would take only chemical guys, so I didn't had much hope with HUL, on the other hand, I was 100% sure to get through ITC (my profile and everything just matched with ITC and my friends also boosted me for the same). But I don’t know what was in my fate, at around 10:00 PM, the results of ITC’s GD came, and I was not shortlisted, all my hopes were shattered and everything turned into fume. They took only two students from my group and I was completely hopeless as I wasn't preparing for BCG, screwed up Diamond and ITC was gone. Only chance was in HUL (about which I was not sure) and Opera. I still remember that time, my wing mates helped me through that situation and boosted me a hell lot and soon I saw a ray of hope. 20 minutes later, HUL’s result came out and I was shortlisted for the interview. I decided to prepare as much as I could for HUL and revised all my stuffs all the night. I had 4 interviews next day but I didn't sleep even after going through 2 GD’s and 1 aptitude test. Finally the day came. I couldn't sleep last night.
Round: Interview
Experience: My first one was scheduled with Opera. I was taking it very lightly. The guy was from USA. I did my intern in Canada, so we did a little bit chit chat about that and we had a very nice conversation. He seemed happy with my attitude. He gave me a business case on Casino and after his some help, I finally solved the case and came up with the answer he was seeking. The next interview was with BCG. The bad thing about BCG interviews is that they don’t let you go anywhere else till their process is finished. So instead of going there, I first gave Diamond’s interview and then HUL.Since you would have read a lot about Diamond and BCG interview, so let me come straight to HUL. The first interview was taken by a factory manager. First question was based on pump, he asked about types of pump, NPSH and other relevant things. Then couple of more questions related to thermodynamics. He asked about refrigeration cycle, LMTD, cooling tower, brayton cycle and some more questions. It lasted about 15-20 minutes. I did pretty well and asked about his experience at HUL. It went good and I was sure to get shortlisted for the next round.
After that I was called for second round which was a telephonic interview taken by General Manager of the company Yogesh and there was one more guy whose name I don’t remember. He again asked the questions on pumps, use of pump in our daily life, NPSH, its determination, laws of thermodynamics, perpetual machin, use of second law in our daily life, principle of airplanes, Bernoulli theorem, what happens when you open the door of refrigerator, a heat transfer calculation (I don’t remember exactly) and some more questions in thermodynamics. Finally he asked some questions from my form. He was not satisfied with the answer I gave in one of the questions and he asked me to cite another example. He asked about my strategy on successful conduction of one of my events (Gearloose) and what made it best. Finally there were some formal questions like if I was ready to be posted anywhere and all.
General Tips: I think I answered all the questions very confidently and to the point and elaborated where required. I was very much confident about pumps and cited as many examples as I could. I think this was the best part of my interview. Initially I was a bit nervous but then I contemplated and decided to take proper time to answer each question. I think I satisfied him with every question he asked and that’s why I got selected in the company of which I used to dream since my 3rd year.
Last but not the least, I would like to say that you should know yourself and your shortcomings thoroughly and then do your best to overcome them. This is the single most time when you should devote yourself completely in the preparation (just like JEE time) if you want to get selected in your dream company. As in my case, though I did have good academic background and positions of responsibilities but I used to stammer and was not fluent in English. So I had to work a lot in these two areas in order to do decent in the interviews. I practiced in front of mirror and gave as many mock interviews as I could and that finally gave me result. Remember, nothing is impossible if you want to achieve that. You have to just work very very hard for that.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
Experience: I was a bit nervous in ITC GD which resulted in my loud voice and dominating nature. The case was one of the typical cases of ITC which I missed during preparation; as a matter of fact they haven’t changed it since 3 or 4 years. It did not go that good but I was sure if 4 people would be selected from my group then I would be in. But by that time I was ready for HUL’s GD. It was a fresh new case which I forgot by the way (:P). The group was big (12 students) and I gave some good ideas (I think so). The key is “never give up on quality, safety and ethics”.
Well HUL is famous for taking only one or two guys, on top of that, rumor was that it would take only chemical guys, so I didn't had much hope with HUL, on the other hand, I was 100% sure to get through ITC (my profile and everything just matched with ITC and my friends also boosted me for the same). But I don’t know what was in my fate, at around 10:00 PM, the results of ITC’s GD came, and I was not shortlisted, all my hopes were shattered and everything turned into fume. They took only two students from my group and I was completely hopeless as I wasn't preparing for BCG, screwed up Diamond and ITC was gone. Only chance was in HUL (about which I was not sure) and Opera. I still remember that time, my wing mates helped me through that situation and boosted me a hell lot and soon I saw a ray of hope. 20 minutes later, HUL’s result came out and I was shortlisted for the interview. I decided to prepare as much as I could for HUL and revised all my stuffs all the night. I had 4 interviews next day but I didn't sleep even after going through 2 GD’s and 1 aptitude test. Finally the day came. I couldn't sleep last night.
Round: Interview
Experience: My first one was scheduled with Opera. I was taking it very lightly. The guy was from USA. I did my intern in Canada, so we did a little bit chit chat about that and we had a very nice conversation. He seemed happy with my attitude. He gave me a business case on Casino and after his some help, I finally solved the case and came up with the answer he was seeking. The next interview was with BCG. The bad thing about BCG interviews is that they don’t let you go anywhere else till their process is finished. So instead of going there, I first gave Diamond’s interview and then HUL.Since you would have read a lot about Diamond and BCG interview, so let me come straight to HUL. The first interview was taken by a factory manager. First question was based on pump, he asked about types of pump, NPSH and other relevant things. Then couple of more questions related to thermodynamics. He asked about refrigeration cycle, LMTD, cooling tower, brayton cycle and some more questions. It lasted about 15-20 minutes. I did pretty well and asked about his experience at HUL. It went good and I was sure to get shortlisted for the next round.
After that I was called for second round which was a telephonic interview taken by General Manager of the company Yogesh and there was one more guy whose name I don’t remember. He again asked the questions on pumps, use of pump in our daily life, NPSH, its determination, laws of thermodynamics, perpetual machin, use of second law in our daily life, principle of airplanes, Bernoulli theorem, what happens when you open the door of refrigerator, a heat transfer calculation (I don’t remember exactly) and some more questions in thermodynamics. Finally he asked some questions from my form. He was not satisfied with the answer I gave in one of the questions and he asked me to cite another example. He asked about my strategy on successful conduction of one of my events (Gearloose) and what made it best. Finally there were some formal questions like if I was ready to be posted anywhere and all.
General Tips: I think I answered all the questions very confidently and to the point and elaborated where required. I was very much confident about pumps and cited as many examples as I could. I think this was the best part of my interview. Initially I was a bit nervous but then I contemplated and decided to take proper time to answer each question. I think I satisfied him with every question he asked and that’s why I got selected in the company of which I used to dream since my 3rd year.
Last but not the least, I would like to say that you should know yourself and your shortcomings thoroughly and then do your best to overcome them. This is the single most time when you should devote yourself completely in the preparation (just like JEE time) if you want to get selected in your dream company. As in my case, though I did have good academic background and positions of responsibilities but I used to stammer and was not fluent in English. So I had to work a lot in these two areas in order to do decent in the interviews. I practiced in front of mirror and gave as many mock interviews as I could and that finally gave me result. Remember, nothing is impossible if you want to achieve that. You have to just work very very hard for that.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
Interview Questions of Popular Companies
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