Various stages of the selection process remain, broadly, the same for these companies, with some slight variations. These variations could be in the form of an additional or less number of stages for some companies.

The following are the stages that students normally go through as a part of Campus Recruitment:

1. Aptitude Testv
2. GD
3. Interviews

I. APTITUDE TEST

Aptitude Test is one of the integral components in the entire scheme of the selection process. The areas normally covered in the aptitude tests of most companies are Quantitative ability, Reasoning and Verbal Ability. These tests are well structured. The kind of questions that are asked or the topics that are tested depends entirely on the company conducting the test. Each company has its own pattern. Even though the test patterns might differ across the companies, there are certain topics from which the questions are asked very frequently.

QUANTITATIVE APTITUDE

The questions from this test area of Quantitative Aptitude are of easy to moderate level of difficulty. The questions, usually, come from the following topics.

A) ALGEBRA

• Simple Equations
• Ratio, Proportion and Variation.
• Quadratic Equations
• Progressions
• Indices & Surds
• Numbers

B) ARITHMETIC

• Percentages, Profit and Loss, Partnerships
• Simple Interest and Compound Interest
• Averages, Mixtures and Alligations
• Time & Work
• Time & Distance

C) GEOMETRY & MENSURATION

• Geometry
• Mensuration

D) HIGHER MATHS

• Permutation & Combinations
• Probability

DATA INTERPRETATION

The questions related to data interpretation are of easy to moderate level of difficulty. The questions in DI usually involve observation, calculations like comparison of fractions, computing the averages, percentage based calculations etc. Basic understanding of different types of charts like Tables, Pie Charts, Bar Charts, Line Graphs is required.

REASONING

Questions asked from the test area are easy to moderate. A basic level of exposure to the following set of topics will help a candidate in asnwering the questions with ease.

• Series, Analogies, Odd Man Out, Coding and Decoding
• Venn Diagrams
• Clocks, Calendars
• Blood relations, Direction Sense
• Symbols and Notations, Linear and Circular Arrangement
• Distribution, Comparisons, Quant based Puzzles
• Selections, Deductions, Input and Output
• Cubes and Dice

VERBAL ABILITY & READING COMPREHENSION

The questions from this area require basic knowledge about english usage and functional grammar. Questions are of easy to moderate difficulty level and the questions come from different sub-topics like

• Grammar
• Vocabulary
• Reading Comprehension

A candidate need to be adequately prepared to handle the aptitude test of any of the companies. This stage is very important and if one does not clear this stage, then one cannot move to the next stage in the selection process, which is usually the Group Discussion. The next stage in the selection process is the Group Discussion.

II. GROUP DISCUSSION

A group discussion or GD is conducted to test the interpersonal, including communication, skills of candidates. It also tests a candidate's knowledge and his ability to link the facts.

In a GD, a group of students is asked to discuss a topic given to them. The topics that are given in GD are of two types – Knowledge based and Abstract. GD is conducted to test certain key attributes in candidates. They would be tested for their clarity of thought and clarity of language. The companies, also, test their ability to understand and structure a response to the topic. Their leadership skills are also put to test during Group Discussion. In order to do well in GD, candidates need to read newspapers, magazines regularly.

III. INTERVIEW

Certain companies conduct HR & Technical Interviews separately, while some other companies combine both types in a single interview. The interviews are conducted to test a candidate's knowledge of self, his career plans, hobbies, interests, achievements, knowledge about his specialization etc. Questions can be drawn from any area. It is expected that a candidate has a clear career goal or objective when he/she faces an interview panel. If one is from the department of Electronics Engineering and one is applying to TCS, then it is expected that one has a good command over the subjects one has learnt in one's engineering. At the same time, candidates need to show interest in the field of IT and come up with a convincing answer as to why they are shifting their field from "Electronics Engineering" to "IT". Overall, one's confidence and one's knowledge are the key attributes which would be checked here.

Salary at IT companies

Pay packages offered by companies are usually in the range of Rs 3.5 lakh to Rs 11 lakh a year for fresh engineering graduates. For example, TCS has revamped its hiring process from year 2018 onwards. The new process is conducted nation wide. It has been named as “TCS NINJA HIRING OR TCS NATIONAL QUALIFIER TEST” On clearing this written test, and the subsequent round of Interview, a candidate will be offered a role of "TCS NINJA" (with a salary of approx 3.5 lakhs). Those who clear this test (with higher percentiles) will also get an opportunity to appear for the role of TCS Digital (with salary of Rs 7 lakhs). Any one who clears this test of TCSDigital, will further get an opportunity for a role of TCS Innovator, the salary for which will be Rs 9-11 lakhs