ZF Commercial Vehicle Control Systems Graduate Engineer Trainee (Get) Interview Questions and Answers

Round: Test
Experience: An online test for the first round consisting of 60 questions with aptitude(including a couple of C questions) and tech equally divided - +1, -.25 marks. About a dozen students were shortlisted from each branch.
Tips: Arun Sharma Quant for aptitude. I didn't particularly prepare for the tech part, just brushed up on the basics.
Prepare Digital electronics, Microprocessors(8051), Control Systems for the online test.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: Interviews were held the next day, tech followed by HR. Both rounds were elimination rounds. Finally 5 people were chosen.
Tips: For the HR, prepare responses for a standard set of questions. It isn't nice to be caught unawares.

General Tips: Do not bluff in your resume. Keep it concise. In the tech round they made me explain every aspect covered in my resume in detail: Internship, Projects, workshops etc. If you mention that you are good at something(say C++/Java), be prepared to answer questions on it. Be confident! Remember, the company should be proud to recruit you! In almost all interviews the first question asked is "Tell me something about yourself" You don't want to start off by saying "Errrrr ..(pause) " Do some research on the company and ask them questions (try to be original here!)
Please do not waste your time sitting for companies you have absolutely no desire to work in (YES this happens a LOT) regardless of pressure from parents/friends/PC's. Instead, prepare for the profile you want! If you have clarity on this regard, things will work out. There will be ups and downs (mostly downs, till you get placed) but don't be disheartened. During placement, Patience is paramount.
Skill Tips: GET's go through 2 months of training in all divisions before being assigned to any specific one. You can ask them to elaborate on this process and whether or not they are flexible for inter-dept transfers after a couple of years. If they have a product that has just come out or is something you can relate to, do mention.
Skills:
College Name: NIT Surathkal

Round: Test
Experience: Round I was an Online Test, 30 students were selected
Tips: Once you are through the tests, the next few rounds are a breeze. In my opinion the company is not looking for the best students, rather it knows that most students can adapt to the required roles with time and training. So I feel that their only concern is that they find candidates willing to stay there for sufficient enough time till their investment in the candidate pays off. So whatever you say to the interviewers please keep this at the back of your head. This includes them asking about your [plans for the future].

Round: Other Interview
Experience: Round II was the Interview, around 10-12 students got selected.
Tips: They will ask you about your resume and I feel they can tell the difference between a silly classroom project and some real work that you have done. But again its all about how you sell it. Go into the depths of it and convince them that your project is legitimate. Most questions I faced at this stage, were related to my resume. My advice keep it short, don't fill the pages.

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: The  final round was a group discussion.
Tips: The GD if you make it through is the real clincher. For me to dominate in my GD was cake walk. I was always a good speaker and I easily dominate. I feel that is what convinced them the most.

General Tips: My placement experience from my point of view was a joke. It does not test anything nor is it a reward for effort system. All the company sees you is a void entity they can fit into the system.They don't care about your extracurriculars, sports, quizzing ability, music, etc etc.They will look at your pointer to gauge if you can do work. Then they will take everything you say to gauge if you will stay at their company and be a worthy investment.Well in the beginning I felt quite apprehensive and I found the whole process daunting. I felt I couldn't survive the competition of my batchmates. I felt I was not adequately prepared for the tests. And looking at the sample questions really demotivated me. My advice- Don't do what I did at the beginning. Just go sit for the company regardless of rhyme or reason.
Skill Tips: To be honest, at the time I appeared for this company, my technical knowledge was very limited and I did not feel I was adequately prepared in the least. The tests usually have an aptitude or English sections. If your technical knowledge is limited, concentrate on these aspects. They are much easier to pick up and combined with CAT or GRE preparations, you should be able to score comfortably high on these sections.(and be assured, most people are in your state)
College Name: NIT SURATHKAL

Round: Test
Experience: Online test (apti+tech).

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: 2 rounds of tech interview.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: Finally one HR interview.

General Tips: It was not my first company placement procedure, so anxiety was lesser (because of familiarity), but it was largely satisfying. They will let you know where ypy stand during the interview itself.
Skill Tips: Check the company's website (in my case, they had sent a link), which will help you know what exactly they are looking for. You can strengthen your skills in that area for a better chance. Answer HR carefully, be careful not to say anything that will show you in poor light.
College Name: NIT SURATHKAL

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: It was mostly based on academic performance over the years. They had set an eligibility criteria based on our performances in Xth, XIIth and graduation.
Tips: There is no substitute for hard work when it comes to academics. A consistent performance which reflects a positive trend in your performance will always impress your recruiters.

Round: Test
Experience: Tata motors online test in conducted by AMCAT. Quantitative and logical reasoning were pretty much easy. They had questions from all the chapters one can find in any so aptitude books. English questions were mostly usage based. One needs to have a strong reading base to answer the questions. Technical questions were mostly theoretical but very conceptual.
Tips: Practice aptitude questions as much as possible. English needs to be developed through continuous effort. Read books and newspaper, once in a while try writing something in english. A thorough knowledge of your technical concepts is necessary. Focus on English if you think it is your weakest link ASAP. Many people understand this only at the 11th hour, which is of no help at all
Duration: 110 minutes
Total Questions: 100

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: Although our topic was somewhat abstract,other groups had topics based on current political ,social, and economic affairs. Based on the time that was given to us, the 7 of us each took a minute to put forth our point of view before finally concluding in the last 2 minutes of our allotted time. The discussion was a peaceful one and almost every body brought something new into the discussion. 5 of us got selected for the interview round
Tips: Develop your communication skills. Make use of your professional communication skill classes if your college provides one. Take stock of what is happening around you, in your country, in the world. Practice having fruitful discussions with your friends around you on social topics.
Duration: 8-10 minutes minutes

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: I started by giving a small introduction about myself and my upbringing. The interviewers then took up to ask questions from my project. There were 3 interviewers, one hr and 2 technical interviewers. The y were very experienced professionals of their field and their questions reflected that. I was able to answer most of the questions, however they had me stuck at the project question for quite sometime.
Throughout the interview they were going through the my application form they gave us to fill after the online tests and also my CV.
Tips: Keep confidence in yourself. If you have made this far in a placement drive then you have it in yourself to see through one more round. Interviews are hard to advise for and the only extra tip for facing an interview is to feel confident and cool.

Skill Tips: All the above skill sets need to be equally given attention to as each of those elimination rounds focused on a specific skill set.
Skills: Communication, Technical knowledge base, Reasoning Skills, General awareness, Aptitude
College Name: NIT AGARTALA

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: The resume that I used while applying in different companies was nearly the same, however I did incorporate certain changes in areas of interest and the projects to make them more compatible with the profile/company which i was applying to. For instance while applying to Schlumberger I highlighted some of the technical projects.

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: I did not prepare for the Group Discussion (GD) activities. The second round conducted by Tata Motors was the GD round. The topic of the GD was ‘What is the backbone of Indian economy: the service sector or the manufacturing sector?’ My group comprised of 7 candidates out of which 4 got selected for the interview round.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: I prepared for the HR interviews by writings and reciting answers to some frequently asked questions. The interviewers began by asking me to speak about myself. Next they enquired about my family background. Then they asked me to specify the reason to opt for mechanical engineering.

The interviewer then moved over to technical questions. The interviewers asked to specify my areas of interest. I replied stating refrigeration and air-conditioning, IC engines and fluid machinery as my areas my interest. In one of the questions he made a diagram with a pump, a reservoir and a relief valve and asked me to calculate something which i do not remember. Unfortunately we were not taught relief valve, and I told him about this. So the interviewer changed the topic and asked me to specify the topics which we were taught in our engineering course. I told him everything that i managed to recall at that moment. He then started asking me questions, some of them were:

What is the difference between positive Displacement Pump and Rotor Dynamics Pump?
In refrigerators only things that are kept in freezers freeze but the freezing process does not take place elsewhere in the refrigerators, why?
If in a refrigerator a particular wire is cut open, then where would gas come out and where would the liquid flow out from?
If the door of the refrigerator, which is kept in a room, is opened then would the room get cooled or heated.
The interview panel of Tata Motors is to simply test your basics. For instance in one of the questions they asked me to state the basic principle governing fluid machinery. This basic principle is the Pascal’s law. When I was asked this question, Pascal’s law never crossed my mind. Consequently, I asked him to quote which law he was talking about. He said Pascal’s law. In spite of him naming the law, it still took me about 3 to 4 minutes to recall the Pascal’s law. Once i managed to recall it i gave him the proper answer. The interview lasted for about 35 minutes.

The company eventually recruited 5 students.
Tips: The technical questions asked in the interviews are the very basic once. Generally people tend to forget the basics that were taught to them in the initial years. Revise the introductory sections of the chapters. Focus more on the concepts rather than the equations.

College Name: IIT ROORKEE
Motivation: Tata is a household name in India. I knew about this company and its activities through its promotional ads and also from its website. The company was focussing on the core technical knowledge and did not lay a lot of emphasis on knowledge about the company.

Round: Test
Experience: The written round was fairly easy. 30 questions from each section. The aptitude section was easier which didn't pose any difficulty for most of the candidates. The technical part had basic questions to test the fundamentals.
The test had a different format where each question had a specific time limit. After attending a question there was no option to review it. Around 60-70 % of the candidates got selected for the next round.
Tips: The trick lies in attending as many questions as possible. As said always accuracy matters. But then again it was not a national level exam. So all we had to do was clear the cut offs. And the no of students getting eliminated in this round was not high.
Duration: 60 minutes
Total Questions: 60

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: I had a descent experience. The discussion started well but turned rough towards the second half where students started mentioning biased points towards there own gender. Overall it was not that fierce. I started the discussion. The panel had 8 students with 2 moderators. We allowed each and everyone to present their points. 5 students got selected for the personal interview round. Only the ones who had spoke very little were eliminated.
Tips: Well there are lots of tips which are available online on how to tackle GD's. But from my personal experience i would like to state that if you are not well aware of the topic then take the risk and start or initiate the discussion. It's easier to introduce the topic covering the basic points. Or else you can give a suitable conclusion at the end by collecting the points and summering the overall topic.
Duration: 20 minutes

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: Although i have titled it as a technical interview , it was a technical cum HR interview. The discussion went on for approximately 30 minutes. Starting with my internship experience they covered core areas of automobile industry. I was able to answer most of them and denied politely to whichever questions i didn't know the answer to. They asked about my future goals, my hobbies and achievements. Overall it was very interactive and a healthy experience.
Tips: Be prepared to answer any question based on your resume. Pick your favorite subject and start preparing thoroughly. For e.g for TATA Motors (in fact for all the automobile companies) i covered basic areas of Automobile Engineering (my areas of interest were transmission and drivetrain) . Show some interest that you want to join their company. All in all try to be yourself and give your best. To avoid being nervous, believe that it's not the end. A lot of companies would visit later and life doesn't end here. So keep calm and be expressive.

General Tips: As mentioned earlier.
Skill Tips: As mentioned earlier.
Skills: Self Confidence, Determination, Communication skills
College Name: NIT ROURKELA
Motivation: As mentioned earlier.
Funny Moments: I was asked the length of football goal post and instead of 24ft i said 24m to which the panel started laughing and giving me suspicious looks. I rectified it quickly though. I guess i had lost my focus a bit towards the end of the round.

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: I had a standard resume for this company as per the norms of our institute’s placement cell. For Tata Motors I laid emphasis on both – my technical skills as well as extra-curricular activities.

Round: Test
Experience: The written test had both technical as well as general aptitude questions. The aptitude questions were easy as per the standards of CAT examination. Manufacturing was the major topic that they had asked besides fluid was another important topic. They had also asked topics covering almost all aspects of mechanical engineering. Surface knowledge of the major topics in the mechanical engineering area would be more than sufficient to clear the test.

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: The next round was the Group Discussion round and the topic for discussion was “Will India be a Super Power”. The group was around 10 students and 4 students from the group were selected for the next round. They were looking for students with good communication skills and those who can communicate their point in a group.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: The panel began asking questions from my resume. I had written German as one of the languages I knew. So they asked me questions related to German language. They asked me words and their meanings. They then asked me simple technical questions. I had written my interest as Solid mechanics, IC engines and Thermodynamics. My preferred subject was Solid Mechanics but they refused to ask question from it. Instead they questioned me on IC engines - What is brake horse power and questions related to knocking. Most of the questions asked were pretty simple though.

The HR interview session was pretty long though. They asked me about my aims and aspirations and also about my family. They lay a little more importance to your family values as well as on the fact that whether you will stick with their organization for long term

College Name: IIT ROORKEE
Motivation: Tata is a household name in India. I knew about this company and its activities through its promotional ads and also from its site. The company was focussing on the core technical knowledge and did not lay a lot of emphasis on knowledge about the company.