Vikram Publishers Interview Questions and Answers

Round: Interview
Experience: Quizzed on opinions of the Construction Industry.

General Tips: 1. Be prepared on the courses and project works that you mention in your resume2. Read newspapers, blogs about the construction industry and keep yourself updated
Skill Tips: """"
Skills: Infrastructure Planning, Infrastructure Management, Construction Management, Project Management
College Name: VIT Chennai

Round: Test
Experience: Deloitte selection procedure involves a written test which is
same as CAT format (certainly not that tough). Though I had not joined any test series to prepare for it, but I must strongly recommend that you should actually join a test series (provided by Career Launcher or
TIME). This test series will actually help you to synchronize your mind to the format and moreover it would help to refresh the question solving skills which you used to exercise while preparing for JEE.

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: general topic is given (mostly it is as to how you would go for implementing a new type of technology in a company, and hence you all have to decide the stepwise procedure for the implementation), then whole of the group is called in presentation room where each one is told personally to speak about the same topic as that of GD. This constitutes
second round. Finally, if you clear it, you get to face the interviews.
Tips: From now onwards, start reading newspaper daily. Just give at least one hour reading the editorials from newspaper and make it your habit. Not only for GD's, but for life in general, its very important that you should have a certain view about things happening around you and in the world and newspapers are the best thing which help you form your views and also know about the expert opinions on day to day topics. So, make sure that you read newspaper daily.

Round: Other Interview
Experience: For interview, main thing is that you should be well conversed about everything you have mentioned on your resume. So, before you go for any interview, just make sure that you can speak about for 5 minutes on
every single thing in resume. Deloitte is a company which is open for all the btech students and hence its mainly looking for the students who have a right attitude and are good at their interests.
Tips: have a perfect set of communication skills. I had not done
any special type of preparations for the interview or group discussions but all these skills actually developed during these years. I would advise that in order to gain more confidence at speaking, you should start taking challenges from now on and should actively participate in any sort of debates and GD.

College Name: IIT Roorkee

Round: Resume Shortlist
Tips: Have a well prepared resume that suits for the role you are applying for.

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: They asked me a lot of questions based on my resume. I had done a lot of projects and courses related to Finance. I infact wanted them to ask me questions related to that as i was very well prepared. I told them about my passion for finance and the director who was from IIM Ahmedabad started asking me questions related to that. That i answered pretty well.
Tips: Be good at what you do. Prepare all your resume points in detail. Theres no excuse to that. Doesnt matter if its related to the profile you are getting interviewed for.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: Except the background and about me I was asked more so of why I was not applying for a finance company and why only Deloitte. I was frank and told them that because of the recession ( euro zone debt crisis at that time ) very few companies came on campus. Hence Deloitte. But also explained them that I liked Deloitte Consulting profile as well because of the kind of work profile it offered.
Tips: Be honest and clear about what you want. They can easily catch you otherwise if you are faking or not.
Do not be hesitant to tell them why you really like them - it could be the work profile / money / etc or a combination of these.

General Tips: Be calm and Cool ? - No. You cant be i think if you are serious about getting placed. [ I feel ]
Prepare smartly ! The more the hardwork, higher the chances of getting your dream job. Many think that it just goes waste but I feel that more than the interview and getting a job you develop a lot of skills under that placement pressure and you should be very positive about it. 

Many of the people just chill out completely after placements even if they get a job they dont like.
NEVER GIVE UP ! You spend 70 % of your life at work, hence do not compromise or settle for less. You will regret later on that you did not try enough.  

I did get into JP Morgan - Equity Research after Deloitte :) Its a separate story that I left that company as well in 4 months and started www.AmbitionBox.com :P
Skill Tips: Most of them you would know but revise well before the interview so that you dont get stuck anywhere while answering. You should at the bare minimum know the very basics of Finance, Infrastructure planning and Management and Bidding. Also it depends on the coursework you have done. The interviewer might ask you questions related to that.
Skills: Communication, Infrastructure Finance, Financial Modelling, Infrastructure Management, Project Bidding , Valuations, Cost Analysis
College Name: IIT MADRAS
Motivation: The profile was good. But frankly that time since i was more inclined towards finance I wanted Bombay as my location being the financial capital and the office at 30th Floor excited me :) Also there were a lot of investment banks in the new Indiabulls Office building, I just thought I could apply off campus there and get in. In retrospect all this sounds very immature. Net net it was all worth it to help me decide what i really wanted :)
Funny Moments: After being rejected and told over qualified by Credit Suisse and Nomura backing off from placements at IIT Madras because of slot issues I was directly going to sit for UBS Verity.Had prepared the least for this company. Had not changed my resume for the profile it offered. Was not well dressed. ( Not that its VERY important ) Did not prepare anything much. Had given the interview in the most causal way. But against all odds someone had already decided that this was the company i would get placed in - DESTINY ! Felt very strange at that time because had prepared really hard for other companies.

Conclusion - After seeing a lot of my friends getting placed and reading a lot of reviews on AmbitionBox of seniors - 70% of the people get placed in companies they least expect to get into :)

PS: Doesn't mean you stop trying :) Keep trying ! There's immense satisfaction when you get something you truly wanted after a lot of Hard and Smart Work !

All the best ! Most of the advice we give at AmbitionBox and that you probably get elsewhere are just hints to solve the equation and not the solutions themselves. So make your own recipe for success.

Hope this helps :)

Round: HR Interview
Experience: 1.Start by telling ur name, your family background, ur strengths and weaknesses, likes dislikes, about ur schooling. A brief introduction about yourself.Smile. :)2.Tell them the qualities which you possess, without getting nervous, tell them that you believe in "Vision and then Action" to complete all your tasks. Try to convince them with the fact that you and ur skills completely match the job profile.3.Start with your strengths. Don't exaggerate ur weaknesses. An apt answer could be "Icecreams, chocolates", depending upon the mood of the interviewer. Another answer could be, "I believe in perfectionism".4.Ask some questions related to the organization. Try to show them that u are keen and interested to join their organization.  :) Listen attentively while they speak  :)
Tips: No need to exaggerate. They don't have to do much with ur family background nd all..Put up everything in brief.Never ask about the perks,salaries and all.

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: Mainly, you need to have sufficient knowledge about the topic that has been given to u. For that, read newspaper, search Google and latest newsfeed.
Tips: Never interrupt, wait for ur turn. Try to conclude the topic by summing up all the points. Sometimes it may happen that someone else may speak the points which you were about to speak. Do not panic in that case. Try to modify the same point in a different way. Smile :)
Duration: 10 minutes

General Tips: 1.Believe in yourself2.Have faith in GOD3.Be confident and clear4.Do not panic 5. Never try to show your nervousness
Skills: Communication skills, Confidence
College Name: KIIT UNIVERSITY
Motivation: You never lose. Either you win or you learn :)
Funny Moments: Nope. Nothing  :)

Round: Test
Experience: The first round was an Online test.

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: Second round was a Group discussion
Tips: Understand the GD topic well. In my group every single one got it wrong and completed the GD without realizing that they have got the topic wrong

Round: Other Interview
Experience: Interviews are quite easy. Nothing much will be asked apart from what you write in the resume.
Tips: So be prepared to answer any question regarding the project that you mention in your resume

General Tips: GD was a good experience. Easiest company/interview to crack. So, All the best.
Skill Tips: R S Agarwal is good enough.
College Name: NIT SURATHKAL

Round: Test
Experience: There was Aptitude, Logic and English. Most of the questions were direct and solvable in the time allotted.
Tips: Try to get all the Aptitude question right by practicing a lot of questions. Logic, you can get them right too, try to have a presence of mind.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Once I read the question, I did not panic like many did. Rather I started applying my common sense (helps a lot). There was a group discussion then a question session where everyone can provide their solutions on the problem given.
Tips: Try not to totally think in a subject point of view, rather apply some common sense like you would do in a puzzle. This added to your subject knowledge will definitely make you stand out.

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: There was only one interview which included both the Technical and HR questions. It was mostly technical. There were a lot of basic questions on C programming, my extracurricular activities (Autonomous Robotics which included programming) and training in my own field. HR questions were direct and expected.
Tips: Try to be perfect in whatever you do and mention in your resume. If not, then do not mention it. Work on your weaknesses be it communication or programming while trying for an IT company. Your confidence level and positive attitude will take you a long way.

General Tips: If you work on you knowledge and skills, you will automatically be confident.Knowing about the company is important too.
College Name: KIIT UNIVERSITY
Motivation: It is one of the top 4 consultancies and one the best that comes for campus selection in our college.

Round: Interview
Experience: 1st round: Panel of two. Asked questions about the projects which were mentioned in the resume. A few questions were asked about the core intern which I did. Asked about the family background.10 got selected in the next round of interviews.
I think for the second round of interviews they selected on basis of CG.
No case studies were asked Just my opinion was asked in certain topics in the second interview which was taken by the partner of the firm. He asked my opinion about construction in India.
I did well in the interview and they liked my story about my projects.
Tips: I think for the second round of interviews they selected on basis of CG.
I started preparing in Mid-November. I think placement is more about yourself. Starting earlier doesn't help.

General Tips: 2nd years: Decide where your interest lies. Have a decent CG at least above 8.
3rd years: Know your interest. Have mock PIs and GDs. 

Be genuine. If you don’t know something just tell them, do not act to be over-smart.Just revise your basic level courses. Revise Contracts, IPM, Construction Management.
Skill Tips: Just revise your basic level courses.Revise Contracts, IPM, Construction Management.
College Name: IIT MADRAS

Round: Interview
Experience: 2 round of interview
First round- technical (basic infra stuff)Second round- HR skills- just a brush up of civil infra courses like Infrastructure Planning and Management(IPM), ECM.HR preparation – slight basic
First round- they took people with CG>=7.5
They asked me how would you determine toll for the Jamuna Expressway.
Tips: I started in September. Obviously early bird catches the fish.

Round: Interview
Experience: HR preparation – slight basic. My HR was very good. Moreover, my intern was in Mumbai Metro Rail, which helped me push in for infra. Also my PORs gave me an edge over others.
Tips: CFA played a crucial role for my friends.

General Tips: Basically puzzles, as they are helpful in almost every company. It provides you a direction for thinking.
www.brainden.com was a good site.
300,400 puzzles book was very good. (Available in DC++)
Have your resume ready early in the semester.Have mock GDs in your group.Have basic fundamentals about what’s going in the country and world. Don’t RG and prepare in groups.
College Name: IIT MADRAS