I participated in the TCS NQT Priority 2025 Phase-2 (On Campus) hiring event for the 2025 batch, specifically for a BE (IT) role from a Tier-3 college in Mumbai. The position was for a Ninja role with a CTC of ₹3.3 LPA.

Process Overview:

Step 1: Registration

I registered on the TCS NextStep Portal and submitted my CT/DT reference ID to my college. Afterward, I awaited the Admit Card to appear for the assessment.

Step 2: Assessment

The assessment consisted of two main sections:

Foundation Section (75 mins):

• Numerical Ability (25 mins): This section included topics like Profit/Loss and Time & Work. I faced 20 questions and managed to solve around 6-7.
• Logical Ability (25 mins): Questions on Series, Statements & Conclusions were prominent here. Out of 20 questions, I solved approximately 8-9.
• Verbal Ability (25 mins): This part tested my comprehension with Paragraphs and Error Detection. I solved about 10-12 questions out of 25.

Advanced Section (115 mins):

• Advanced Aptitude (Logical + Numerical) (25 mins): These were relatively easy questions. I attempted around 14 questions and solved about 9-10.
• Advanced Coding (90 mins):
  1. Question 1 (Easy) (25 mins): This was an If-Else problem, which I managed to pass all test cases for.
  2. Question 2 (Medium) (55 mins): This question was related to Subarray Sum. I partially solved it, passing 3 out of 7 test cases.

Step 3: Interview

My interview mail arrived late, and I was also battling a fever, which unfortunately impacted my preparation. I arrived at 9 AM, but the interview was significantly delayed, eventually starting at 5:30 PM.

Verification: Before the interview, I submitted my application form, IDs, and academic documents.

Interview Panel Observations: The interviewers appeared fatigued and seemed uninterested, which unfortunately affected my overall experience.

HR Questions: I was asked about my willingness for relocation, night shifts, and my family background.

MR Questions: The panel inquired about travel concerns and potential relocation to Thiruvananthapuram.

Technical Questions:

• I was questioned on OOPs Concepts, specifically the pillars of OOP and the difference between abstraction and encapsulation.
• A SQL Task involved writing CREATE, UPDATE, and DELETE commands. I made a minor mistake in the UPDATE command.
• I was also asked about the Java compilation process.
• Regarding Coding, I had to decline writing code for Java Threads and JavaScript validation due to insufficient practice.

Behavior of Interviewers: The interviewers displayed frustration and questioned the authenticity of my projects and internships. The interview concluded on an unprofessional note with mocking remarks, and they handed me Mentos as I left.

Personal Insights:

I found the assessment time-consuming, particularly the Numerical and Logical sections. I felt unprepared for the Advanced Coding and Interview Technical Rounds due to a lack of practice. Moreover, encountering an unsupportive interview panel significantly affected my confidence and morale throughout the process.

Application and Exam

I initiated my journey by filling out the TCS NQT application form in December 2023. The TCS NQT exam was subsequently scheduled for May 5th, 2024. The exam was comprehensive, lasting 2 hours and 45 minutes, and included sections on Verbal Ability, Aptitude, Reasoning, Pseudo Code, and two Coding Questions. For the coding section, I was allotted approximately one hour to solve the two problems. A noteworthy observation during the exam was that candidates were not permitted to leave the center until the entire duration elapsed, which made the final hour quite tedious once I had completed my tasks.

Results and Interview Scheduling

The results for the NQT were declared on May 25th, 2024, and I was delighted to find that I had been selected for the Prime profile. My interview for this profile was then scheduled for July 31st, 2024, although I noticed many students from my college had their interviews in June.

Interview Experience

The interview process comprised two main rounds. The first was the Technical Lead (TL) Round, which was conducted online. During this round, a Manager was also present with me. Immediately following the virtual TL round, the Managerial Round commenced physically. The questions asked were varied and covered several areas:

• Resume and Projects: I faced questions based on my resume, my project work, and my internship experiences. They also presented a hypothetical scenario, asking what I would do if I received job offers for both the Ninja and Digital profiles.
• General Knowledge: I was asked about the Governor of Uttar Pradesh and the Vice President of India.
• Educational Background: They inquired why I chose not to pursue an M.Tech degree, especially since I had already passed the GATE exam.
• Skills-Based Questions: This section delved into technical topics, including memory management in C++, the key differences between C++ and Java, and my experience and knowledge in .NET.

Finally, there was an HR Round primarily focused on document verification, where all my submitted documents were meticulously checked. Overall, the entire process was thorough, testing both my technical acumen and general awareness. It was a valuable learning experience, and I am now eagerly awaiting the final results.

Last week, I had an interview with TCS for their Prime role. The interview was comprehensive, covering a broad spectrum of technical and behavioral topics. It began with fundamental software engineering questions, where I was asked to define software testing, describe the various steps in the software engineering life cycle, and explain 'agile' software development.

Next, the focus shifted to backend authentication. They questioned me on the difference between Verification and Validation, explained what a token is, and differentiated between token-based and cookie-based authentication, including how they can be implemented.

A significant portion of the interview revolved around my project. I explained its details and outlined my specific roles. They probed into my choice of MongoDB over SQL, discussing the key differences between them. We also covered database scaling, including the distinctions between horizontal and vertical scaling. Since I had mentioned designing the database, they asked about my considerations during the design process and about normalization, inquiring how I ensured my database adhered to normal forms.

For SQL, I was presented with a database schema and asked to write two queries, which were at an easy level.

OOPS concepts were also thoroughly explored. I was asked about the differences between C++ and Java, and a follow-up question on how memory is freed in C++ given its lack of built-in garbage collection. They also asked about the two steps involved in Java compilation and to list a few string in-built functions. Since I mentioned coding regularly, they asked me about the last program I wrote, and I discussed a problem involving Dijkstra's algorithm.

The discussion then moved to version control, specifically Git. I explained the difference between Git and GitHub, and clarified the distinction between pushing code to a repository versus uploading it to cloud storage like Google Drive, highlighting the additional functions Git provides.

Finally, the HR round covered questions about my year gap, my motivation for joining TCS despite having other offers, and my hobbies. My mention of books and guitar led to some follow-up questions. We also discussed my location and time shift preferences.

Overall, I felt the interview went very well, and I was confident in most of my answers. I was delighted to receive an offer one week later.

My journey began with the TCS NQT exam, specifically for priority institutions. It was structured into a Foundation Section (Numerical, Verbal, Reasoning Ability) and an Advanced Section (Advanced Quantitative, Reasoning, and Coding). I focused on both coding questions in the Advanced section – one on numbers and arrays (LC easy), and another on string and 2D array manipulation (LC Medium). Solving both coding problems helped me get shortlisted for the Prime category. Missing either of these would have likely placed me in the Digital or Ninja categories.

The interview was a single, on-campus round with a panel of three: a Technical (T) interviewer, a Manager (M), and an HR representative. After a quick greeting, I was asked to introduce myself. They inquired about my NQT exam performance and humorously acknowledged my Prime selection, implying I must have aced the coding.

When asked about the NQT coding questions, I honestly couldn't recall them at that moment, which was a bit panicking, but they reassured me it was fine.

Technical Round:

• WAP to find the square root of a number: I opted for the binary search approach and coded it on paper. They seemed satisfied and then asked me to dry run the solution for the number 6096, primarily to assess my tracing ability rather than getting the exact answer.
• WAP to find the length of the Longest Palindrome Subsequence: This question caught me off guard as I hadn't expected a dynamic programming problem from TCS. I explained my recursive approach first. They probed about the time complexity and how it could be optimized. I then proceeded to code it, making a few errors initially due to nervousness, but managed to correct them and complete the solution to their satisfaction.

Managerial Questions:

• They delved into my projects, specifically asking, "Why have you used Mongo DB in your project and not SQL?"
• Given my experience with Power BI at PWC, they asked, "Do you know how to import data from a cloud database whose contents are changing periodically?"
• A question about web technologies came up: "Have you worked on CSS? What is its speciality?" I admitted I wasn't sure about the speciality aspect.

HR Questions:

• "Tell a real life problem that you can be solved by introducing tech? Anything that's around you."
• Standard personal questions like, "What does your father and mother do? Are you a single child?"
• "We don't have an office in your hometown. So if we relocate you to some other city or abroad, are you okay?"
• "If you get a family emergency, what will you do?" (I made sure to answer diplomatically, balancing family and work responsibilities.)
• "What do you know about TCS?"
• "How much time do you expect to work in office?"
• "You are from Electronics and Telecommunications Eng. So why did you start coding?"
• Finally, "Do you have any question for us?"

Despite some initial jitters, I was ultimately selected for the Prime role. It was reassuring to know that if the interview wasn't strong enough for Prime, candidates would still be considered for the Digital role, demonstrating a flexible evaluation process.

My TCS On-Campus Interview Journey

My journey started with the TCSNQT exam, which determines the role offered based on performance: Ninja (3.36 LPA), Digital (7 LPA), or Prime (9 LPA). I performed well, solving two coding questions (one easy, one hard) and excelling in the Advanced Quant & Reasoning rounds, which led to my shortlisting for the Prime role.

For the aptitude rounds, a virtual calculator was provided. I found topics like string manipulation, matrix problems, complex patterns, and problems based on lists and sets to be highly relevant. Tree or graph coding questions were not emphasized much.

TCSNQT Coding Questions

1. I was given a matrix filled with non-zero elements and asked to create an upper triangular matrix out of it. The question itself clearly defined what an upper triangular matrix is. This was an easy problem.
2. The second coding question was quite challenging, described as a mixture close to LeetCode problems 68 - Text Justification and 6 - ZigZag Conversion. This was considered a hard problem.

Interview Round

Based on my experience, the interview rounds differed by role:

• Ninja: Mostly focused on HR questions.
• Digital: A good mixture of HR and technical questions.
• Prime: Predominantly technical questions based on my CV and general knowledge.

For Digital and Prime roles, being prompt and knowledgeable was crucial. As an Android developer, my interview experience might differ from others based on their profiles.

Questions I Was Asked

1. Introduction.
2. Explain my projects (I started with the most complex one).
3. Follow-up questions on my projects, such as which version of Java I used and why, scope for enhancement, and drawbacks.
4. What is a lambda function?
5. What are ACID properties?
6. Explain Normalization.
7. What is NoSQL?
8. What other languages do I know apart from Java?
9. Which language do I want to learn in the near future and why?
10. What are the advantages of Kotlin over Java?
11. Explain the four pillars of OOP concepts briefly.
12. What are my hobbies?

Initially, I was selected for the Ninja role. After an upgrade, I was shortlisted for the Digital interview and eventually received the Digital offer.

I interviewed for an Entry Level role at TCS, which I successfully secured with an offer of 7 LPA. My interview journey began with the TCS CodeVita Season 10.

Round 1 - TCS CodeVita Season 10: This round was a coding competition where I was presented with 6 coding challenges. I managed to solve 2 of these questions, which qualified me for the next stage.

Round 2 - Technical + HR + Managerial Interview: This was a comprehensive round conducted by a single panel. They delved into various basic to intermediate subjects, including technical concepts from my resume, and even asked me to solve a basic coding question. The entire interview lasted approximately 30-40 minutes. The questions covered topics such as OOPs, Java, data structures, and HTML. I'm pleased to share that I received an offer post these rounds.