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2007-09-06T09:43:00.000-07:00

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Frequently asked interview questions - VIII

2007-08-23T09:37:00.000-07:00

Eigth in the series of frequently asked interview questions

Question: 71. How would you react if I told you that your interview, so far, was TERRIBLE?
Answer: Never panic if you hear this question as the interviewer is just asking and not saying that it is terrible. He just tries to figure it out the way to react to criticism. No need to angry or show any kind of rigid attitude rather listen the question and response it calmly.

Question: 72. How did you handle challenges?
Answer: Point out a specific situation in which you do some extra thing to find out a solution for the problem. Even you can mention a situation in which you have to complete the task within a deadline and how you manage to submit the entire project before schedule.

Question: 73. What were your expectations for the job?
Answer: Interviewer wants to find out what you expected from your previous job and to what extent they met your expectation. Discuss honestly whether the position really workout for you or not but don't rely more on negative aspect. Also mention if you have gone through certain kind of training for improving yourself according to the job. Always focus on the job and not the company, co-workers or your supervisor.

Question: 74. What motivates you?
Answer: The interviewer is just trying to figure it out the key to your being successful in this particular kind of job. Here you should focus on your interest and what you liked most about this job. You may mention that new challenges while handling new projects and a thirst to learn something new motivate you to give your hundred percent to your job for both personal satisfaction as well as for the point of view of organization.

Question: 75. What was most / least rewarding?
Answer: This is one of the tricky question through which interviewer wants to find out things that you give prominence. The most important thing that do mention any responsibilities in the list of least rewarding that are going to be a part of this job. Always focus on things that are most rewarding and give prominence to positive value regardless of the question.

Question: 76. You would have admired someone for his or her work, what made you make him your role model?
Answer: This does not hold that much importance as far as interviewee is concerned but one can answer it in three different ways:
1st - I have no role model though there are several people that mostly admires for their work which they do with complete dedication.
2nd - Point out a list of very prominent personality and explain their positive values that makes you consider as your role model.
3rd - Even you can include any one of your close as your role model with explanation of his personality.

Question: 77. What sorts of decisions are most difficult for you?
Answer: The interviewer wants to find out whether you are hesitant or inclusive over important issues or not. One of the best answers can be that you are hesitant over an issue in which you have less knowledge. So trying to find out the best of information about the topic before coming into any final conclusion.

However, your answer should not reflect any weakness and try to point out any situation in which you have to make a decision without sufficient information. Also include in your answer that whenever you have to take a quick decision, you usually bank on your experience.

Question: 78. Tell us about a time when you had a personality clash with your co-worker or boss?
Answer: The main intention of the interviewer is to find out how comfortable you are in getting along with others or not. Also the interviewer tries to find out what kind of co-workers or boss you want to work with. While answering this question is a little diplomatic and try to evade the question with a soft answer.
Example: I have never face such situation and easily gotten along well with everyone I worked with.
If you have come across such situation, then fell free to talk about the arrogant boss or irresponsible co-workers you have had to deal with.
One can answer this question by distinguishing personality clash and clash of values but focus should be on work ethics. Talk about how your boss forced to do something unethical or how the irresponsibility of co-workers led to a conflict.

Question: 79. What qualities are essential to work in a team?
Answer: It depends on the position one is applying for, if job requires working long hour alone, and then you can say that you love to work alone. But if you have to work with others then no need to say that you are uncomfortable with people. The most important thing is to get along with others in the workplace while working on team project.

Question: 80. How would you handle rejection?
Answer: While answering this question one should not take it personally or get dejected. You should consider it as a part of job profile and take something positive out of it.

Nagarro

2007-08-23T09:34:00.000-07:00

Nagarro S/W pvt Ltd. Gurgaon
Url : www.nagarro.com

Brand Value -Nill

Career growth and onsite opportunities? Growth as far as package is concerned on an average its very good. You can expect a good hike after every six months but onsite opportunities are very less and for short term.

How is work environment and how efficient is the communication b/w teams or department? In terms of Work environment this is not a good place. Company can fire if you are not up to their standards or there is shortage of projects. Also in terms of communication that is not very good place.

Work pressure/Work - life balance. On an average workload is too much, that's why they are offering hefty packages. A one-year experience guy can be designated as Senior Software Engineer and on an average after two & half years of experience there is big chances that you can be termed as Associate Team Lead.

Satisfaction with salary and quality of work. Salary and quality of work is above industry level again it depends on personal satiation level

What type of work they do: Product development, Services etc. Or if mix of these then what at percent? Major work they have is product development.

Job security. This is the first company where I have seen this type of hire and fire policy. If you are not up to their mark you can be fired any time, also here personal relations are more important for growth, a good relations with HR department can bring you many rewards. This is first company where I have seen a HR can make your life like a hell.

Some positives and negatives of the company.
Positive: Work Standard (because it's a pure product development so u can expect good work), Package
Negative: Job Security, Personal Relations, No Transparency in the system, Work Environment

Do you recommend your company to others? Yes or No and Why? No, as I have already mentioned after working here for one or two years you can not work anywhere else (On three year experience you will become Associate Team Lead and no company can take you on this designation), work environment is also not good, but still if you want hefty packages you are welcome to Nagarro.

Frequently asked interview questions - VII

2007-08-17T23:43:00.000-07:00

Seventh in the series of frequently asked interview questions

Question: 61. If you were hiring a person for this job, what would you look for?
Answer: Just give a common answer with characteristics like hardworking, innovative, problem solving skill and above all a team player.

Question: 62. What has disappointed you about a job?
Answer: Don’t be specific about any negative aspect rather relate it with your ability and company’s performance. You can also mention areas like less challenge, lesser growth rate that decreases individual responsibility etc.

Question: 63. Tell me about a problem you had with a supervisor?
Answer: It’s a question to test you whether you speak anything wrong of the boss. If you point out anything, it may drag you into trouble as far interview is concerned. So be positive and say that there was not such thing between my supervisor and me.

Question: 64. Tell me about a time when you helped resolve a dispute?
Answer: While answering this question, choose any specific incident and focus on the steps you have taken in solving rather than the main problem.

Question: 65. Do you have a sense of humor or do you take yourself too seriously?
Answer: Laughter lightens heart and is necessary for making a tension free atmosphere. As professional life is full of pressure and success depends on how you handle pressure, humor or laughter is essential and so I also enjoy these moments.

Question: 66. Are you willing to learn, no matter how difficult it is?
Answer: No point to say 'no' and explain that you are here to learn new things while working and so ready to learn new things to develops my skills and that also proofs beneficiary for the organization.

Question: 67. What challenges do you think you'll face in this job?
Answer: Describe the kinds of challenges you came across in your previous company and how you successfully tackled them. Explain that you are ready to face it or any other kinds of challenges, which you will try to solve with dedication, hard work and also by the cooperation of your colleagues.

Question: 68. What were your responsibilities in the previous job?
Answer: Be specific about your previous position and describe your responsibilities in detail. But the most important thing is to relate them with the current one. This shows that you have the necessary qualification for the current job.

Question: 69. What was the biggest accomplishment in this position?
Answer: Your answer should be directly related to your job you are looking for. So look out your job profile and find out something positive that you have achieved during your previous job. For example: You were working on a project that you had to submit in time but due to plenty of work, it was difficult. Explain how you adjusted the workload and time to finish the project in the due date.

Question: 70. What interests you about this job?
Answer: To answer this question you have to compare the required qualification for the job with your skills and experience. You can also discuss how you are responsible for this kind job in the near past and so you are keen to develop your expertise in this field. Again, you can also discuss your interest in relation to your academics, experience and problem-solving attitude. All these can convey the interviewer that you have the necessary qualification.

Placement Statistics IIT Kharagpur

2007-08-17T23:40:00.000-07:00

The following chart shows placement statistics for different courses in IIT Kharagpur, namely,
B.Tech
M.Sc.
M.Tech
Dual MT.
B.Arch
MS
MCP
MBM
PGDIT

The placement statistics for last year would be much better as placement situation has improved in colleges everywhere owing to increased demand from IT sector.
One more fact, which deserves mention, is some master’s courses are dual degree (admission through JEE), and for some M.Sc courses there are separate entrance exams (JAM). It would be unfair to compare the placement of M.Sc guys with B.Tech, as candidates will have different backgrounds. JEE rank definitely gives edge as far as some (read good paymasters) companies are concerned.

Frequently asked interview questions - VI

2007-07-31T08:39:00.000-07:00

Sixth in the series of frequently asked interview questions

Question: 51. If you had your choice of jobs and companies, where would you go?
Answer: Here, you have to give job preference and answer should reflect that the job profile and company suits very much to your career goals.

Question: 52. Do you prefer working with figures, or with words?
Answer: Give an answer keeping in mind the requirements and the position of the job. It can be both in figures and words.

Question: 53. Describe what would be an ideal working environment? Or what kind of a work environment are you comfortable in working?
Answer: An environment that provides me a chance to use and enhance my skills for the betterment of the organization. The organization should also provide an open communication environment among team members.

Question: 54. What are your short-term goals?
Answer: My short-term goal is to find a good job with an ideal profile in a company that moves forward with a better future perspective.

Question: 55. What is your long-range objective? Or what are your long-term goals?
Answer: I have divided my long-term goals into different segments as short term objective as it will easy to achieve. My short term goal is to get a good job in a company that provides better opportunity to grow professionally as well as personally.

Question: 56. How do you evaluate success?
Answer: Its measurement is different for everyone but to me success means achieving your goals whether in short term or long term with complete dedication and hard work. Success should be measured through satisfaction though not complete fulfillment. However, success depends on level of performance.

Question: 57. What do you think it takes to be successful in this career?
Answer: Hard work and complete dedication in achieving career objectives makes one successful.

Question: 58. What decision have you most regretted?
Answer: Be fare and honest in answering this question. If you did something that you regret now, then explain but also mention that you have learnt from that mistake. Even you can also say that you take life as its comes and never regret for anything as mistakes are a part of life and one should always learn to never repeat the same one.

Question: 59. Have you been involved in any extracurricular or volunteer activities while at university or college?
Answer: Describe all kinds of extracurricular activities you have participated and focus on how these helped in improve your personality.

Question: 60. What qualities do you look for in a boss?
Answer: One should be positive and give a universal answer that is common like a sense of humor, fair, helpful, encouraging and obviously excellent managerial skill.

Placement at NIT Calicut

2007-07-31T08:33:00.000-07:00

Placement Statistics for NIT Calicut 2007 batch

Microsoft 5
Analog Devices (AD) 7 (total 3 divisions came)
L&T Powai. 38
Oracle (OSSI 4.00lacs(10)
e-biz 5.91 lacs (14) divisions came total 24
Texas Instruments(TI) 3
Cisco 4
Vedanta 12
Ashok Leyland 6
Bajaj 4
IBM 3 divisions (AMS, VLSI(4.5lacs,3), E&NT(4.5lacs,4) , ISL ( 4.5 lakh ,14) ) total 71
CTS 45
TCS around 50
FreeScale 4
ABB 11
Wipro between 35 n 45
GE Research 3
inDSP 1
Symphony 8
Alstom 12
Sapoorji 6
Foster & Wheeler 2
MBT 12+
Marico 3
HP 4
Philips 4
Motorola 4
Goldmann sachs 4
Flextronics 6
Tejas networks 6
Murugappa 4
Accenture 18
Google 1
Exeter 5
Cummins 4
Network systems 2
Socrates(Toshiba) 3
Tata Elexi 4
Mindtree 6
Patni 9
iFlex 15

Frequently asked interview questions - V

2007-07-31T08:27:00.000-07:00

Fifth in the series of frequently asked interview questions

Question: 41. How can you describe your previous job?
Answer: Here the intention of the interviewer is to find out your priorities. The interviewer wants to know, whether you are going to focus on your achievements, the organization or the project on hand but you can focus on any of them depending on the type of job you are looking. You can describe what you have learnt, how you enjoyed your job while working in a team and many more but in a positive note.

Question: 42. What is the biggest mistake you have committed?
Answer: Don't say that you have not done any mistake rather tell them any one of your mistake and mention what lesson you have learnt from it, so that you will not repeat the same in future.

Question: 43. Do you think that your academic performance truly reflect your talents?
Answer: Don't say that you deserved better marks rather you may mention that if you had avoided certain mistakes, perhaps you would have performed better. But you have learnt lessons from it.

Questions: 44. What did you hate most on your previous job or organization?
Answer: Your answer should be something like that you have not find any such thing as an employ should enjoy every part of his job. Only this kind of attitude can show your efficiency and dedication.

Question: 45. You have a job. If you were appointed here, how long would you take to join us?
Answer: This question is to check your commitment. So if you are keen to join the new organization don't ever tell that you can join the next day. Just tell that you will join as soon as possible. You can explain that you have some pending work in hand which you need to finish and so you need one or two weeks. Such an answer will make the interviewer clear that you are committed to your work and you better understand your responsibility.

Question: 46. You are an employed person. Now you are seeking this job. Don't you feel that you are snatching the opportunity of an unemployed person?
Answer: Example - No I don't think so. I know that I have a good job now but it doesn't provide that much opportunity to grow my professional capabilities. I think your organization is in a state of growth and expect better prospect here. Again when I will leave my current company, a vacancy will be generated there. In this way I am not snatching the opportunity of an unemployed person.

Question: 47. How did you cope with the stresses and strains in obeying the instructions of your supervisor? Did you not feel that you were surrendering your self-respect on such situations?
Answer: In every organization there are rules and regulations to follow, which are necessary for its growth. In fact, if my supervisor points out any mistake of mine, I take it in a positive way and do the best to avoid in future. So I experienced no difficulty in obeying instruction or handling criticism.

Question: 48. Why haven’t you found a new position before now?
Answer: I am not looking for any job and finding the right kind of job takes time.

Question: 49. What position do you expect to have in two years?
Answer: Just say that you wish to improve yourself personally and professionally so that you will be in a promotional track.

Question: 50. What kind of hours are you used to working?
Answer: I can work as many hours to complete my job at the right time.

Wipro FAQs for Freshers

2007-07-31T07:23:00.000-07:00

A quick Q&A session on Wipro:

Regarding DOJ (Date of Joining)?

DOJ will be the first day of joining. The day you officially get integrated with wipro. Why it is getting delayed, there could be many reasons from lot internal allocation to business scope. Don't worry abt doj. When the HR sent you a mail that you are selected for wipro and do the Medical test and blah blah blah, you got selected. The DOJ and the place to join will be intimated later.

But try to explore oppurtunities in meantime on software/ testing domains which will be helpful when u enter into trainings.

Now regarding trainings, It is not sure that you will be placed in the language you are taught in college. So be open for the oppurtunities. Training will be a peice of cake if you are open for oppurtunities. There is nothing called impossible so be open.

Regarding the placement and the option of transfer?

Well it is a mystery for everyone, because you will be placed based on the requirement not based on your interest. More over you can get transfer if your manager agrees but it is a tough job because they have their own commiments based on your availablity. That is the reason we have a choice of selecting location (based on priorities) before joining. Once joined/filled the form the door is closed for sometime. It might open if needed.

Regarding medical test?

You need to finish your medical before joining (atleast 4 working days before). There is no way without medical you can join wipro

Department and scope?

AS i said earlier about trainings, the scope of your job will be changing time to time. Sicne you are freshers it is easy for wipro to mould you. If you guys say me to work on testing i won't because i am experienced in some other thing and we always have our options wide open than you. My advice is to learn whatever you see. I know some guys with 2 years experience leading a big projects for fortune 500 clients because of their work in first year.

Regarding department, mostly all departments (means TIS/SAP/HR/TES/PES/EAS etc) are having good scope so don't worry about department. I accept you are good in s/w development, but i am sure what we know is very little when it comes to client requirement, I have examples of senior persons failing on client interview (a interview to work for clients) so the scope is open if you do it while training. You can change projects when you are not commited to projects (billed) but there are policies for that which will be said on induction.

Well induction (formal joining) will happen on mondays not on fridays

Technologies that you need to know?

You don't need to know any technology which we studied in our college. because what we are studying in college is not applicable here (except java, .net guys) When i entered into the job (not in wipro but before that), i never know any languages which they asked. but the training they give will be good enough to catch the pace and after that it is your entho to learn more deeper.

Documents to submit?

It must have been said to you guys by HR and course completion certificate is not a provisional certificate. Provisional certificate will be issued by university upon your completion of all semesters.

Placement at NIT Jalandhar

2007-07-26T09:06:00.000-07:00

Placement Statistics for NIT Jalandhar 2007 batch

Company Branch Name No. of students picked

Aarti International Limited TXE 4
Absolutdata Technology, Noida CBE 2
Absolutdata Technology, Noida INE 1
Absolutdata Technology, Noida LTE 2
Ashok Leyland MMD 5
British Oxygen Company CBE 2
British Oxygen Company MMD 1
British Oxygen Company INE 1
Cognizant Technologies Solutio CSE 2
Cognizant Technologies Solutio ECE 5
Cognizant Technologies Solutio ICE 4
Cognizant Technologies Solutio MMD 2
Cognizant Technologies Solutio INE 2
Cognizant Technologies Solutio CBE 7
Cognizant Technologies Solutio SCE 2
Compro CSE 3
Computer Sciences Corporation CSE 3
Computer Sciences Corporation ECE 1
Cummins India Limited MMD 1
DRDO MMD 1
FIITJEE CBE 3
FIITJEE MMD 1
FIITJEE TXE 3
Godrej INE 3
Hero Honda Motors Limited ICE 1
Hero Honda Motors Limited MMD 5
Hewlett Packard CSE 2
Hewlett Packard ICE 1
JCT (Chohal) CBE 1
Larsen & Toubro Limited SCE 2
Mahindra British Telecom CSE 1
Mahindra British Telecom ECE 1
Mahindra British Telecom ICE 1
Minda Huff Limited MMD 1
Murugappa Group INE 1
Patni Computers Services CSE 3
Patni Computers Services ECE 1
Patni Computers Services INE 3
Patni Computers Services CBE 1
Patni Computers Services SCE 3
Patni Computers Services TXE 4
Perot Systems CSE 1
Perot Systems ICE 1
Perot Systems MMD 2
Perot Systems INE 4
Puncom CSE 1
Puncom ECE 1
Samsung India Software Centre CSE 1
Samsung India Software Centre ICE 2
Satyam Computer Services Limi ICE 2
Satyam Computer Services Limit CSE 1
Satyam Computer Services Limit ECE 1
Satyam Computer Services Limit CBE 2
Satyam Computer Services Limit SCE 1
Subros Limited CSE 1
Subros Limited ICE 1
Subros Limited MMD 2
Tata Consultancy Services Limi CSE 5
Tata Consultancy Services Limi ECE 11
Tata Consultancy Services Limi ICE 3
Tata Consultancy Services Limi MMD 3
Tata Consultancy Services Limi INE 4
Tata Consultancy Services Limi SCE 2
Technip KT MMD 1
Vardhman Spinning & General Mi ICE 1
Voltas Limited TXE 3
VSNL CSE 1
VSNL ECE 1

Frequently asked interview questions - IV

2007-07-26T09:03:00.000-07:00

Fourth in the series of frequently asked interview questions

Question: 31. Tell me about your ability to work under pressure.
Answer: This is to assess your attitude towards pressure. To answer this question give an example related to you’re past job and how did you handle it. Don’t hesitate to tell that usually you don’t easily cope with pressure but add that knowing the deadline in advance helps in working better in that condition.

Question: 32. Do your skills match this job or another job more closely?
Answer: Answer should reflect that you like this job and describe this as it suits your profile and interest.

Question: 33. What motivates you to do your best on the job?
Answer: This answer is based on your own feelings so it can be different for everyone.
Example – courage to face new challenge, a hunger to achieve something new and a little recognition and identity really makes me to do the best on the job.

Question: 34. Are you willing to work overtime? Nights? Weekends?
Answer: Be totally honest while answering this. It depends on your own comfort, so really doesn't matter much.

Question: 35. Where do you see yourself in five years' time?
Answer: Interviewer wants to reveal your career plan whether in short term or long terms as far as the job and the company is concerned. Answer this in such a way that will show your ambition but in a practical way. Show the importance of the job you are interviewing for as a part of your career goal.
Example – I have certain goals, which I wish to achieve with this company.
I want to develop myself professionally in this company with complete dedication.

Question: 36. Would you be willing to relocate if required?
Answer: This is totally based on personal comfort level. So no need to say yes if don’t want in really otherwise it will create a lot problem later on.

Question: 37. Are you willing to put the interests of the organization ahead of your own?
Answer: This question directly invites your attitude of dedication and loyalty. So, just say ‘yes’ without its ethical implication.

Question: 38. Do you think you are overqualified for this position?
Answer: Don't analyze your qualification and just say that you are well qualified for this position.

Question: 39. Describe your work ethic?
Answer: Emphasize on the benefit of the organization. Answer should be like this:
I want to work with complete determination and for the betterment of the organization and finally working means enjoying my work.

Question: 40. What position do you prefer on a team working on a project?
Answer: If you think that you can manage a team as a team leader then your answer can be a team leader. Otherwise, if you feel satisfied in any particular position then don't hesitate to point that out.

Placement at NIT, Durgapur

2007-07-26T08:30:00.000-07:00

Placement statistics for National Institute Of Technology, Durgapur
(Deemed University), Mahatma Gandhi Avenue, Durgapur- 713209

2007 batch Branch Wise Statistics

S.No COMPANY CSE Ch.E CE ECE EE IT ME Met.E TOTAL (B-Tech)
1 TCS 14 2 1 5 5 11 10 2 50
2 CTS 6 5 7 15 13 12 22 5 85
3 ACCENTURE 7 2 0 2 5 3 4 4 27
4 WIPRO 7 1 1 3 3 1 5 2 23
5 ABB 0 0 0 3 1 0 1 0 5
6 IBM 10 4 2 7 6 9 8 2 48
7 SHAPOORJI & Pallonji 0 0 4 0 0 0 5 0 9
8 L&T CORPORATE 0 0 0 3 5 0 7 0 15
9 VEDANTA 0 2 0 0 1 0 2 3 8
10 MICROSOFT 5 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 7
11 CONVERGYS IMG 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 2
12 PCS 1 3 0 2 2 1 1 2 12
13 ITC INFOTECH 3 0 0 1 1 2 0 0 7
14 Samsung (R&D Software) 3 0 0 2+1 0 0 0 0 4+2
15 L&T ECC 0 0 3 0 1 0 2 0 6
16 Alstom 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 3
17 HCL Technologies 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 3
18 L & T EES 0 2 0 0 1 0 1 0 4
19 Quotient Engg 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
20 TATA CUMMINS 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2
21 UNITECH 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
22 MCNALLY BHARAT 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 3
23 JINDAL STEEL 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 3+1
24 TELCON 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3
25 FCG 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 3
26 DRDO 2 0 0 4 0 0 1 0 7
27 INDIAN ARMY
28 AMDOCS 6+1 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 9+1
29 MAHINDRA& MAHINDRA 8*
30 ITC Paper 1 1 1 2+1
31 JSW STEEL LTD 9**

* Shortlisted By M&M - (excluded from the total students placed).
** Shortlisted By JSW - (excluded from the total students placed).

TOTAL STUDENTS PLACED 49 + 16 22+1 18 + 1 48+6 49 41+4 73+ 2 22+4 322+34

TOTAL STRENGTH 53 24 21 53 56 46 81 22 356

Placement records: 2006-2007 /Undergraduate and Post Graduate Wise

S.No. COMPANIES DATE UG PG STUDENTS TAKEN SALARY (in lacs p.a.)
1 TCS 10/05/2006 50 6 56 2.36
2 CTS 10/07/2006 84 12 96 2.61
3 ACCENTURE 12/07/2006 27 6 33 2.74
4 WIPRO 14/07/2006 23 3 26 2.45 - 2.96
5 ABB 15/07/2006 5 0 5 2.4
6 IBM 17/07/2006 49 11 60 2.75
7 SHAPOORJI PALLONJI & CO LTD 28/07/2006 9 0 9 1.92
8 L&T CORPORATE 31/07/2006 15 0 15 2.75
9 INDIA FOILS 02/08/2006 8 0 8 2.5
10 *MICROSOFT 03/08/2006 7 3 **10 8.5
11 CONVERGYS IMG 05/08/2006 2 0 2 3.75
12 PCS 10/08/2006 12 8 20 2.2(IT) & 1.8(non IT)
13 ITC INFOTECH 11/08/2006 7 0 7 2.6
14 *SAMSUNG 16/08/2006 6 0 **4 + 2 4.11
15 L&T(ECC) 17/08/2006 6 0 6 2.49
16 ALSTOM 18/08/2006 3 0 3 1.8
17 HCL 22/08/2006 3 5 8 2.2
18 L&T(eES) 23/08/2006 4 0 4 2.4
19 QUOTIENT ENGG. 24/08/2006 1 0 1 2.4
20 TATA CUMMINS 01/09/2006 2 0 2 3.0
21 UNITECH 06/09/2006 0 1 1 1.6
22 McNALLY BHARAT 08/09/2006 2 1 3 2.4
23 JINDAL STAINLESS 12/09/2006 4 0 **3+1 2.5
24 *TELCON 13/09/2006 3 0 **3 3.5
25 THERMAX 14/09/2006
26 FCG 15/08/2006 3 2 5 2.4
27 *DRDO 18/08/2006 7 0 **7 2.4
28 *INDIAN ARMY 20/09/2006 4 0 **4 2.4
29 *AMDOCS 21/09/2006 10 3 **11+2 3.6
30 *MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA 13/09/2006 3 1 **3+1 3.1
31 ITC PAPER 10/10/2006 3 0 **1+2 2.51
32 *JSW STEEL LTD 13/10/2006 10 0 **7+3 3.1
33 *PEPSI 17/10/2006 1 0 **1 4.2
34 JESSOP & CO LTD 08/11/2006 1 0 1 1.8
35 *HUTCH 20/11/2006 5 0 **4 3.5
36 *CISCO 11/12/2006 6 2 **8 3.5

STUDENTS' PLACED TILL 13/12/2006 327 + 51 56 + 8 383 + **59
***TOTAL STUDENTS 356 76 431

Other Companies which visit the campus
1 *ORACLE
2 *HP (R & D)
3 *INTEL
4 *CONNEXANT
5 *YAHOO
6 *GOOGLE
7 FLEXTRONICS
8 PEROT SYSTEMS
9 TAVANT
10 *IXIA
11 CSC
12 SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC
13 TCE
14 TATA MOTORS
15 ACC
16 HCC
17 BRITISH OXYGEN
18 SASKEN
19 TVS ELECTRONICS
20 *TEXAS
21 GODREJ
22 SUBEX
24 ATOS ORIGIN

Frequently asked Interview questions - III

2007-07-26T08:29:00.000-07:00

Third in the series of Frequently asked Interview questions

Question: 21. Why should we hire you?
Answer: Explain how your knowledge, skills, ability and experience and willingness to learn new things make you the best candidate for the position and point out how those things according to the needs of the organization. Never compare yourself with any other candidate.

Question: 22. What are your strengths?
Answer: There can be numerous answers to this question but your answer should be always related to the current job you are interviewing for. You can mention some of professional strengths such as your ability to work under pressure, leadership skill, ability to focus on projects, positive attitude in working as a team member etc.

Question: 23. What irritates you about co-workers?
Answer: This is a tricky question but you can answer it honestly. Answer anything that really irritates you or disturbs your work.
Example – What really irritate me are people who pay more attention to their cell phone conversation and don’t follow instructions.

Question: 24. What is your ideal work environment?
Answer: In an ideal work environment all employees are treated as fairly as possible irrespective of their position with equal opportunity to learn and contribute for the betterment of the organization.

Question: 25. Why do you think you would do well at this job?
Answer: Provide several reasons including your interest, skills and past experience with other organization that can prove you.

Question: 26. What are you looking for in a job? Or tell me about your dream job?
Answer: Don’t mention any specific type of job as it has both positive and negative aspects. Instead, answer something like this:
A job that I enjoy doing the work while applying my present skills and also that provides me opportunity to learn something more.
A job that offers an opportunity to grow, growth in terms of position, responsibility and also salary that in tern provides a sense of fulfillment.

Question: 27. What is more important to you: the money or the work?
Answer: "Money is always important but work is most important". This is the most simple and effective answer.
Question: 28. What would your previous supervisor say your strongest point is?
Answer: There can be number of good answers like loyal, energetic, leadership quality, team player, patience, hard working etc. Just present it in a positive attitude.

Question: 29. What negative thing would your last boss say about you?
Answer: The intent of this question is to describe your weaknesses. So it is always better to discuss the weakness that you have developed as your strength. Your answer should reflect in a positive way as such your last boss had pointed it out just to encourage you.
Example - "S/he did not mean it as a negative point but suggest me to present my work in a little more dynamic and creative way". I took help of my seniors and able to make some real improvement in my skills.

Questions: 30. What kind of person would you refuse to work with?
Answer: Don’t response in an ordinary way, as it would take it as unfaithfulness to the organization. Again any minor objection will present you merely as a complainer. So your answer should be in a practical way. For example: an irresponsible person who pays more attention to others rather his/her own duties.

**Author of this series is Kartik

Placement at NIT Surathkal

2007-07-26T08:25:00.000-07:00

Placement stats for NIT Surathkal, batch coming out in 2007.

S.No. Company Name No. Of Students placed

1 ACCENTURE SERVICES 44
2 ADITI TECHNOLOGIES 3
3 ADOBE 3
4 AIRVANA NETWORKS 4
5 AMDOCS 27
6 ANZ OPERATIONS & TECHNOLOGY PVT LTD 9
7 ASHOK LEYLAND 6
8 ATOS ORIGIN INDIA PV.T LTD 2
9 BAJAJ AUTO 4
10 BHARTIA INDUSTRIES 3
11 BPCL 5
12 C-DOT 4
13 CELSTREAM TECHNOLOGIES 4
14 CERNER 1
15 CISCO SYSTEMS 9
16 COGNIZANT TECHNOLOGY 34
17 COMPUTER ASSOCIATES 7
18 COMPUTER SCIENCES CORPORATION (CSC) 22
19 CONEXANT SYSTEMS INDIA LTD. 8
20 D.E. SHAW INDIA SOFTWARE PVT LTD (DESIS) 3
21 DELL INDIA R&D CENTER 8
22 DELPHI AUTOMOTIVE 1
23 DRDO 3
24 EPSILON INTERACTIVE 6
25 ESSAR GROUP 12
26 EXETER GROUP 7
27 FLEXTRONICS 13
28 FOSTER WHEELER INDIA PVT LTD 4
29 GE ITC 4
30 GMR GROUP 1
31 GOLDMAN SACHS 1
32 HCL 5
33 HEWLETT-PACKARD 1
34 IBM 39
35 IFLEX SOLUTIONS LTD 11
36 INDUSLOGIC 7
37 INFOSYS TECHNOLOGIES LTD 19
38 IOCL 4
39 ITC INFOTECH INDIA LTD. 4
40 ITTIAM SYSTEMS 8
41 IVY COMPTECH 3
42 JOHN DEERE INDIA 4
43 JUNO ONLINE SERVICES DEVELOPMENT PRIVATE LIMITED 5
44 L&T 9
45 L&T (ECC) 4
46 MARUTI UDYOG LIMITED 5
47 MICROSOFT 9
48 MOTOROLA 4
49 NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS 4
50 NOVELL SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT (I) PVT. LTD. 4
51 NVIDIA-BANGALORE 3
52 ONMOBILE 2
53 ORACLE 31
54 PATNI COMPUTER SYSTEMS LTD 4
55 PHILIPS 5
56 REDPINE SIGNALS, INC. 4
57 SAMSUNG INDIA SOFTWARE OPERATIONS PVT. LTD. 14
58 SAPIENT 8
59 SASKEN COMMUNICATIONS 8
60 SIEMENS INFORMATION SYSTEMS LIMITED 1
61 SILVER SOFTWARE 6
62 SLK SOFTWARE 4
63 STMICROELECTRONICS 6
64 SUNGARD 4
65 SYMPHONY SERVICES 8
66 TATA CONSULTING ENGINEERS LTD 5
67 TATA MOTORS 6
68 TCS 53
69 TECH MAHINDRA 8
70 TECNIMONT ICB 3
71 TEJAS NETWORKS INDIA LTD 4
72 TEXAS INSTRUMENTS 3
73 THERMAX 2
74 THOROGOOD ASSOCIATES INDIA PRIVATE LTD. 1
75 TRILOGY 4
76 TVS MOTOR COMPANY 5
77 WIPRO TECHNOLOGIES 3
78 YAHOO-INC 5
79 Z S ASSOCIATES 11

*This is not a complete list

Frequently asked questions in Interview - II

2007-07-26T08:11:00.000-07:00

Second in the series of common interview questions, some classic some cliche....

Question: 11. Why do you want to work for this organization?
Answer: The answer to this question should show that you are interested in making a long-term career in this organization. This may take some though but here your research on the company will help you in giving a good answer.
Describe a similarity between your and the company's needs. Also explain that as both needs are coincide with each other it will beneficial for the company as well as your career.

Question: 12. Do you know anyone who works for us?
Answer: This is question should be handled carefully as this can have implication on your answer. Though the interviewer may ask about friends instead of relatives but the name of the friends you are going to mention should have well thought of you.

Question: 13. What is your Expected Salary?
Answer: A direct or odd answer can take you out of this race rather say something like that it’s a tough question but I think I have contributed the best of my ability in my previous job and can make the same in every new job. So, the salary range should reflect the value of my skills. Even, you can convey it in a different way by asking the range of the salary for this position on the basis of which you can present a wide range.

Question: 14. Are you a team player?
Answer: Working together as a team is the key point in achieving greater goal than anyone could have achieved individually. So, reply quickly with a fine example that you are a team player. You can present examples of your academics and athletics skills in school or college days. You can mention your previous work in which you do assists your colleagues in several team projects as a member or a team leader.

Question: 15. How long would you expect to work for us if hired?
Answer: Don’t specify any particular time period and your answer should reflect that you want to work for a long period provided both the organization and you are happy with the job.
I am looking for a long-term commitment and so want to work as long as my contribution is recognized.

Question: 16. Have you ever had to fire anyone? How did you feel about that?
Answer: This is a serious one, as the answer will show your whole organizational responsibility. Your answer should be something like that you will like to fire someone when anyone’s personal ambition or in general work comes against the betterment of the organization. When it comes to the organization it is the duty of every committed employ to protect the organization.

Question: 17. What is your philosophy towards work?
Answer: This doesn’t require a philosophical description here. The answer should be simple and positive that you want to provide the best of your ability for the betterment of the organization.

Question: 18. If you had enough money to retire right now, would you?
Answer: Since you have to work then it is better to say no with a note that you like to prefer this kind of work. But your answer can be yes if you really mean it.

Question: 19. Have you ever been asked to leave a position?
Answer: If not then say no but if you have come across such situation then be honest and give a brief and never say anything negative about the individual or organization involved.

Question: 20. Explain how you would be an asset to this organization?
Answer: This question provides you a chance to highlight your positive points relating to your job and how you can give benefit to the organization with your effort. Think a little ahead as far as your relationship and company is concerned.

You can also mention that you are looking for the right opportunity to apply your present skills and at the same time develop new ones from the experience and that would be an asset to the organization.

Placement at IIT B Mechanical

2007-07-26T08:10:00.000-07:00

IIT B always has an edge in campus placements because of location. Bombay being an international city gives IIT B the opportunity to bring companies, which may not visit other IITs. As a matter of fact IIT B had the international placements much before the so-called media focus came on placement at IITs and IIMs.

This is an incomplete list of placement at 2005 IIT B Mechanical branch. The diversity of companies is amazing (impressive).

Fractal 3
ZS Associates 2
Mckinseyknowledge Center 2
ITC 2
Goldmansachs 1
Inductis 1
Lehman 1
Schlumberger 1
HLL 1
IOCL 1
MarketRx 1
GE 1
QWEST 1
General Motors 3
Cambridge Technologies 1
GE Healthcare 1
Reliance Petro. 1
ESSAR STEEL 2
Bank of America 3
Amdocs 1
Evalueserve 1

Frequently asked questions in Interview - I

2007-07-24T08:01:00.000-07:00

This is first in the series of "Frequently asked questions during Interviews".

Question: 1. Tell Me a Little About Yourself?
Answer:
This is the most general and probably the most difficult question, as one has to cover up the entire life story within a couple of minutes. But if handled well, this can be the best from the candidate’s point of view. There is no need to explain about your childhood, hobbies or schooling. Instead this is an invitation to convince the interviewer what you can offer the company through your education, training or experience. Yes, you can describe your co-curricular activities; interest or part time work provided they have some relation with the job you are applying for.

As you have to prove your credibility for the job, it is important to explain how you attracted in this particular kind of job, company and your key accomplishments in the previous job. Again the time allotted to a particular candidate would be limited and hence one should make most out of it focusing on the above-mentioned points.

Question:2. Why Did You Leave Your Last Job?
Answer:
This is another common question that one can be expect to be asked in almost every interview and its answer depends on different circumstances. Possibly there can be three different categories and one has to explain it in suitable context. Whatever may be the context but one should stay positive when answering this question. You should try to make positive statement about the previous job and company that can show your desire for growth, taking responsibilities and facing challenges.

Here are the three circumstances and some key points to answer these questions:

Resign for a change – Every one wants a new position and takes new challenges just to prove that s/he is able to take the next step of his career. So when answering this one never tried to show any kind of disregard to your current job instead explain that the next job is more challenging and can be another stepping stone in your career.

You can answer in this way as you are in this current company for two years and no more find the work interesting. You want new challenges for learning new things. Point out that there are no advanced opportunities in the present company and therefore you decided for a change, which will be helpful in your career goal.

Lay off – This is also a very common thing in most of the private sector but the answer should be specific with facts and figures behind your lay off. There can be a situation that a company faces bankruptcy and so decided to cut the number of employees or even eliminate some departments. Again one can explain that position along with his/her group was eliminating as the project on which they were working on was cancelled. So it’s not a big taboo these days and you just have to explain it in a more effective way.

Get Fired – Its becomes a little difficult to answer in this circumstances but one should be honest and quick while explaining it. Explain frankly whether you have faced any unfair circumstances or did something wrong that pushed you under this situation. Neither you have to present your former employer in a negative way nor a victim of yourself. Always explain what you have learned from this experience in making you stronger.

Question: 3. What's Your Biggest Weakness?
Answer:
This is a typical and bit difficult question that every job applicant faces. Here are certain tips to tackle interview questions particularly this one. Interviewer wants to check your challenging ability in facing adverse situation. However, the important thing that one should keep in mind that after discussing your weakness point always try to mention the measures you have done to overcome it.

One should not confess something big but should consider a weakness that is real, understandable, work related and relatively harmless. The interviewer is always in search for your ability of self-assessment and a commitment and your effort for self-development. Select a weakness that can be seen both in positive as well as negative, but should not directly related to the job for which you are being interviewed.

Examples -

Procrastinate - I used to have a tendency to procrastinate but now I am prepared to make a strict schedule for all my projects even setting up a deadline.

Time management – Because of my busy schedule time management is a problem for me. But I have recently purchased a PDA that can help me in keeping better organized.

Speaking in front of a group – I used to get nervous while speaking in front of a group but now taking public speaking classes and have become much more comfortable.

Perfectionist – Most of time I focus a little more on my project with intend to be a perfectionist. That brings a little more stress but now I when I am working on a project, first I list out all priorities and then started work on it.

Question: 4. Do You Have Any Questions for Me?
Answer: This is one of the questions that every interviewer asks at the end but surprisingly the common answer is ‘no’ which shows a wrong attitude. The answer should be ‘yes’ following a couple of thoughtful questions. The questions can be related to the company, the kind of position and even you can ask the interviewer about his likes and dislikes about the company.

Always avoid asking questions on package like salary, vacation as these show that you are much more interested about the compensation than the job. You can ask about the kind of projects you have to work if you will be selected. Also don’t forget to ask the next step in the interview process of the job.

Question: 5. What experience do you have in this field?
Answer: Mention specific information related to the position you are attaining the interview. If you don’t have any experience in the respective field then just clear them that you are a fresher and just completed your academics or what so ever.

Question: 6. Do you consider yourself successful?
Answer: One should always answer yes following a brief explanation. The best answer should be like this: Yes I can consider myself successful as I have certain set goals from which I have achieved and rest is on the track.

Question: 7. What do co-workers say about you?
Answer: One should always come up with some quotes from co-workers either any particular statement or comment. It really doesn’t matter in any interview whether you said a positive or negative.

Question: 8. What do you know about this organization?
Answer: This question requires some research on the organization prior to interview. It is better to find out the market status, products, competitor, development issues and effort for its advancement etc. Also it’s important to know company’s history and yearly growth rate that can show a clear aspect for its bright future. All these things can show your genuine interest in this company.

Question: 9. What have you done to improve your knowledge in the last year?
Answer: Tell about your various improvement activities that you have done in context of your job. Activities related to any project in the previous organization or even some more academic qualification that can be mentioned as a positive self-improvement. Mention some handy ones.

Question: 10. Are you applying for other jobs?
Answer: Don’t waste much time in answering this question and reply with honestly. Your focus should be on this organization and the level of commitment you can do for the growth of this organization.

Top IT and ITES companies in employee headcount

2007-07-23T08:52:00.000-07:00

How big are Indian IT companies?

Quite big actually!!! The top 20 companies collectively employ over 5,00,000 people of the 1.6 million employed directly in the industry. The Indian IT-ITES industry is India’s largest employment generator in the organized sector of today creating jobs for over 7.5 million people both directly and indirectly, and this figure is expected to cross 10 million by 2010.

Following is the list of top 22 companies in terms of India headcount.

Tata Consultancy Services
Infosys Technologies
Wipro Technologies
IBM
HCL Technologies
Accenture
Cognizant
Satyam Computer Services
Hewlett Packard
Genpact
Oracle
Intelenet Global Services*
WNS Global Services*
Mphasis
Patni Computer Systems
Convergys
Firstsource Solutions*
Sutherland Global Services*
Citigroup Global Services*
Aegis BPO Services*
ExlService Holdings*
L&T Infotech
* marked companies are pure BPOs or IT enabled services companies

Oracle Apps

2007-07-17T10:06:00.000-07:00

Skill Review - Oracle Applications
Oracle Applications (Financials, SCM, CRM, HRMS) is very similar to SAP applications (read this). The work and domain knowledge may be similar for competing products of Oracle and SAP.

What are the main modules in Oracle Applications?

Oracle modules like Payables, Receivables, GL, iExpense, HR Suite, Projects Suite, Property Manager, SCM, Advanced Planning, etc.

HRMS domain of the Oracle E-business suite includes: Core HR, Payroll, Oracle Learning Management (Oracle Training Administration), Self Service HR, Time & Labor, and iRecruitment, Standard and Advanced Benefits, Compensation Workbench, Student System Technical

SCM suite includes: Order Management, Advanced Supply chain planning, Procurement, Sourcing, Warehouse Management System, Product Configurator, Discrete Manufacturing, Process Manufacturing, Product Life Cycle Management, Enterprise Asset Management
Financials suite includes: General Ledger, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Fixed Assets, Cash Management, Public Sector Financials, Grants Management, Public Sector Budgeting, Purchasing, iExpenses, iPayment, iReceiving, Lease Management
Project Accounting: Projects Billing and Costing, Project Management, iTime, PJRM, Project Connect, Collaborative Project Mmt, Project Contracts

Which companies recruit Oracle Apps Consultants? And how are the prospects for Oracle Apps Consultants?
Services companies like Accenture and Infosys recruit Oracle Applications Consultants. For Infosys the majority of revenue for Enterprise Solutions comes from Oracle Apps.

Technical or Functional Consultants can look for purely technical/functional or techno-functional roles at Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys Technologies, Wipro Technologies, Satyam, Computer Services, Accenture, IBM, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Deloitte, Oracle Corporation (for development/testing of new products).
Some other companies which are into Oracle Apps Consulting but are not as big in headcount are HCL Tecnologies, Sierra Atlantic, Patni Computers, Intelligroup, Polaris Software Lab, Zensar Technologies, GenPact, Birlasoft, Cap Gemini, iGate, etc. Though most of the organizations in India provide basic consultancy services in Oracle Apps, not many of them provide services in Oracle Business Intelligence. Also, some of these organizations predominantly work in some core areas of Oracle Apps like Oracle Process Manufacturing, Oracle CRM, Oracle HCM, Oracle SCM, etc. Many of the MNC's like Deloitte, Cap Gemini, Unisys, Bearing Point are yet to ramp up their India operations upto the levels of TCS, Infosys, Accenture and IBM. In all probability, most of the big MNC's will further consolidate their India operations and outsource substantial part of their development and support work back to India. So, it seems exciting times are ahead of Oracle Apps consultants in India.

How is the nature of work for an Oracle Apps Professional?

The nature of work can be more of understanding the application and using it. It does not require technical skills or MBA degree, but you would find Engineers being labeled technical consultants and MBAs being treated as consultants, but actual role and work may be similar. You can find it boring if you are interested in technical stuff.

For example read the following paragraph, most of your time will go in understanding documents with similar content.

Oracle Projects is meant primarily for organizations that are project-oriented. Using this module, it becomes easy to track costs, budget and track the project status.

Oracle Projects consists of the following products:

• Oracle Project Costing
• Oracle Project Billing
• Oracle Project Connect for Microsoft Project
• Oracle Activity Management Gateway
• Oracle Project Analysis Collection Pack

Prior to Oracle Projects Setup, one has to setup the Set of Books in GL, setup Organization and Organization hierarchy in Oracle HRMS, define employees and job in HRMS and create customer in Oracle Receivables. However if Oracle Projects is being installed as a standalone package then one needs to define all above in Oracle Projects itself. Some other mandatory setups include defining locations, defining implementation options, defining Project Accounting periods, defining expenditure types and categories, define revenue categories, etc. Also one has to create a burdening hierarchy in Oracle HRMS which may vary from the Project or Task Organization hierarchy.
See this link for more information.

Yantra

2007-07-12T10:28:00.000-07:00

Yantra (Sterling Commerce)

Company Synopsis

Yantra Corporation now part of Sterling Commerce makes supply chain applications called Yantra 7x. Sterling Commerce, owned by AT&T bought Yantra from Infosys in 2004. The founder of Yantra, Mr.Devdutt Yellurkar, was Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing in Infy. The company is headquartered in Tewksbury, Massachusetts.
Yantra is a product in Distributed Order Management space, which is a strategic component of the supply chain and one of that market's fastest growing segments.
Number of Employees: Number of employees is in few 100s

Company Structure: As with any product development company Yantra too has product development, product maintenance, customer services and professional services team.

Major source of revenue: Yantra had revenues of more than $26.4 million dollars in 2004 from selling and implementing its product.

Nature of work: For Professional Services people work involves direct client interfacing at onsite, gathering requirements, and analyzing requirements. It may require customization of code after requirement analysis is over.
For development/maintenance teams understanding the product code and domain is major work.

Skills required: Java and J2EE.

Hiring Strategy: It picks guys from top colleges mainly, preferably IIT/NIT. For freshers it mainly checks logical analysis puzzles and computer programming skills in java.

Positive highlights of the company: There are very Indian companies, which do product development, which is a good experience, plus a good chance to learn about the supply chain domain. Salary for freshers is good (4 plus).

Location: Banglore

Company Website: http://www.sterlingcommerce.com/yantra

Dot Net

2007-07-11T07:19:00.000-07:00

Microsoft .NET (Skill Review)

The .NET Framework is a key Microsoft offering, and is intended to be used by most new applications created for the Windows platform. Its truly Object oriented framework like J2EE.

Different terms used with .Net
* C#.Net: A new language which is 70% java, but in whole better and more robust than Java.
* VB.Net: Considering the success of VB (Visual Basic), VB.Net is made a new language for .Net framework. But in no way is similar to old VB.
* ASP.Net: Web technology of .Net
* ADO.Net: Data base access technology.
* Windows Forms: For Desktop applications.
* CLR: Common Language Runtime just like we have JVM in Java
* Ajax: It's a technology using JavaScript, XML and not a language
* VB script: Server side scripting language.
* JavaScript: Client Side scripting language.

One big question is "what is .Net?"
* Its not a language, but it's a platform
* .NET is Microsoft's new Internet and Web strategy
* .NET is a framework for universal services with server centric computing model
* .NET will run in any browser on any platform
* .NET is based on the newest Web standards like HTTP (the communication protocol between Internet Applications), XML(the format for exchanging data between Internet Applications), SOAP (the standard format for requesting Web Services) and UDDI (The standard to search and discover Web Services)
Language it supports: 20 programming languages
C++, C#, J#, Visual Basic, JScript (The Microsoft version of JavaScript) and COBOL. Third-party languages - like Eiffel, Perl, Python, Smalltalk, and others - will also be available for building future .NET Framework applications.

Now .Net Vs Java?
I will only summarize my view on this in this article. In some other post I will discuss more technological difference b/w two. .NET is superior to Java as a platform in many areas, while Java is superior in others. The key difference though is that .NET will close the gap in the future with little need for change, while Java cannot close the gaps without a major redesign into something quite different than it is now.

Advantages that .NET has over Java are:
- .NET is language independent
- Coexist with and even integrate with existing Win32 code.
- Moving to Java from Win32 is a complete paradigm shift. Moving to .NET is a more natural path for Win32 developers.
- Better for building applications that require rich graphical user interfaces and that deliver content to Web browsers.
- Microsoft tools have an edge over Java for, analysts say. Microsoft's tools are generally considered easier to use, while enterprise software vendors such as SAP AG, IBM, BEA and Oracle Corp. lean toward Java. Easy-to-use tools may increase programmer productivity.
- Java Swing environment's ability to build graphical user interfaces has limitations
- May cost less, due in part to built-in application server in Windows, unified management, less expensive tools.

Advantages that Java has over .Net are:
- Java is an established platform with its own merits.
- Runs on any operating system and application server while .Net only on Windows
- Offers a wide range of vendor choices for tools and application servers
- Handles complex, high- volume, high-transaction applications
- May cost more to build, deploy and manage applications
- Lacks built-in support for Web services standards

Job scenario In India:
In India all services companies like Infosys, TCS, Wipro, Satayam, IBM, Accenture, etc along with mid or small sized companies use both the technology. Enterprise applications are mainly developed on Java while as business is moving on Internet, Microsoft .Net is catching up fast. Day by day more and more fortune 500 companies are taking interest in .Net. Mostly Financial, Consultancy or Investment banks use Java for their enterprise applications, so in recent times more high paying jobs are created in Java from companies like Citi bank, HSBC, Goldman Sachs, HDFC, PWC, and Merrill Lynch.
The number of jobs are more in Java but at the same time job applicants are more while still its very hard to find good .Net programmer. So in whole job scenario in both is balanced if we compare nos of applicants per job.

Salaries:
.Net or Java programmers are offered almost equal salaries in India, while it may be different in US. NET salaries are running 10 to 15 percent higher in some scenarios.
A guy with 1 year of experience in .Net or Java can earn 4-6 lakhs in India, while this varies a lot between companies. Many Indian startup companies like Techspan, Yasu, Pramati, Talentica, Persistent pays well on these technologies but they prefer guys from Premier colleges. Companies like Microsoft, Google, Oracle, SAP, Verizon, Qwest, Sum Total pay handsomely.
I came to know that, In US .Net developers earn least around $30-50 per hour and while Java is little more at $40-60 per hour. While the actual winner remains SAP or Data warehousing professional who can earn up to $100-120 per hour in early stage of career itself.

Some useful links:
Microsoft .NET vs. J2EE: How Do They Stack Up?
The great debate: .Net vs. J2EE

SAP (Skill Review)

2007-07-09T10:06:00.000-07:00

This review is for SAP as a skill (not for SAP company in Banglore).

What is SAP as a technology/skill?
SAP makes business suites or applications that can be used for managing business needs of companies. There are various modules in SAP and all these can be customized for different needs of companies. These modules are business solution products made by SAP AG. For example, take SAP HR Payroll, apparently any company in this world can use this for generating employee pay slips, but laws and salary structure differ from country to country and company to company, all this needs certain level of customization.
SAP sells these products and services companies like IBM, TCS implement them for companies. The time taken for initial implementation for these suites can be as long as year or two depending on the size of data to be migrated. Supposing the company was using paper/book for managing the processes, the time period can be longer, as it has to be designed by consultants after understanding the needs of the client. And most importantly the client has to agree to the solution. These modules cover all the needs of the clients and require customization, but maintaining these applications can be huge job with ever changing business needs. Many of the projects for foreign clients can be maintenance of these business suites. For Indian clients these can be pure implementation projects.

What are the different roles in SAP projects?

Roles/Position are

1) Program Manager
2) Lead
3) Architect
4) Functional Consultant - A functional consultant evaluates the demands in talking with the customer's representatives, transforms the essence into an abstract and algorithmic business model. Hence, he identifies the use cases and transforms them into logical and technical views.
5) Technical Consultant

What are the different SAP modules/skills?

Following are the various SAP modules; the names are self-explanatory and it can be inferred what business need they are meant for.
1) SAP MM (Materials Management)
2) SAP SRM (Supplier Relationship Management)
3) SAP SD (Sales & Distribution)
4) SAP FI/CO (Finance & Controlling)
5) SAP PP (Production Planning)
6) SAP SCM (Supply Chain Management)
7) SAP BW (Business Information Warehouse)
8) SAP BASIS
9) SAP WM (Warehouse Management)
10) SAP HR (Human Resource/Payroll)
11) SAP PS (Project System)
12) SAP APO (Advanced Planner and Optimizer)
13) SAP CRM (Customer Relationship Management)
14) SAP HCM (Human Capital Management)
15) SAP BCM (Business-Change-Management)
16) SAP BCS (Business Communication Services)
17) SAP PM (Plant Maintenance)
18) SAP AM (Asset Management)
19) SAP xMII (xApp Manufacturing Integration and Intelligence)
20) SAP SEM (Strategic Enterprise Management)
21) SAP BPS (Business Planning and Simulation)
22) SAP PLM (Product Lifecycle Management)
23) SAP EHS (Environment, Health, and Safety)
24) SAP QM (Quality Management)
25) SAP (Mobile Infrastructure)
26) SAP (Exchange Infrastructure)
27) SAP SOLMAN (Solution Manager)
28) SAP WAS (Web Application Server)
29) SAP Netweaver
30) SAP EP (Enterprise Portal)
31) SAP ALE (Application Link Enabling information)
32) SAP ABAP (Advanced Business Application Programming) – ABAP is a programming language and used with other modules, like ABAP netweaver.

Knowledge in following areas can help you for respective modules

Asset Management (AM):
* Purchase
* Sale
* Depreciation
* Tracking

Controlling (CD):
* Cost elements
* Cost centers
* Profit Centers
* Internal Orders
* Activity based costing
* Product Costing

Cross Applications (CA).
* Work Flow (WF)
* Business Information Ware house (BW)
* Office
* Industry Solutions
* Work place
* New Dimension products

Financial Accounting (FI). :
* General Ledger
* Book close
* Tax
* Accounts receivable
* Accounts Payable
* Consolidation
* Special Ledger

Project systems (PS):
* Plant shut downs
* Make to order
* Third-party billing
* Human resources

Plant Maintenance (PM):
* Labor
* Down time & outages
* Material

Material Management (MM):
* Requisitions
* Purchase Orders
* Accounts Payable
* Goods receipt
* Inventory Management

Sales and Distribution (SD):
* From order to delivery
* Shop Floor
* Sales orders
* Pricing
* Picking
* Shipping
* Packing

Quality Management (QM):
* Planning
* Inspections
* Executions
* Certificates

Production planning (PP):
* Capacity Planning
* Master production scheduling
* RFQ

Which is the best SAP module?

Best SAP skill will depend on your background, if you have worked as recruiter, SAP HR will be the best for you. SAP CRM, SAP HR, SAP BIW (great in Europe and North America), SAP- FI/CO, SAP –ABAP, SAP –MM, SAP – SD, ABAP are the hottest ones.

Where can I get job in SAP skills?

All services companies have requirements in SAP skills including IBM Global Services, HCL Infosystems, Wipro, and TCS.

IBM or Accenture

2007-07-03T10:43:00.000-07:00

IBM or Accenture? TCS or Infy or Wipro? Satyam or Patni or CTS?
Many of us would face this problem. All these are big brands in India (or world) today. They cannot be compared on the basis of brand value. Though globally Accenture is into pure consulting and IBM is more into technology services, in India both carry out the same work as Infy or TCS. We will rule out the brand option completely though you can stick to Indian brands, which are well known names in Stock Market. Your would be father-in-law must have heard about Infy or Satyam, I mean getting a good bride/dowry may be easier for a Infy guy ;)

Coming to Salary more or less they are equal and when it comes to salary the bigger question is location, money wise Infosys in Hyderabad would be a better option than
IBM in Banglore.

The next best deciding factor is Onsite Opportunities, Indian companies like Infy/Wipro have more onsite opportunities than IBM or Accenture, as IBM already has lakhs of employees in its centers through out the world. TCS lags behind in onsite opportunities as it handles many projects, which are for Indian clients.

Work culture or HR policies are better in IBM; they give allowance if you work in shifts, in Infy you have to work (like a donkey) waiting for an onsite assignment (carrot), forget about shift allowance. Accenture has good facilities in form of canteen/ transport (minus minor hiccups). There would be other such factors where one may be better than the other.

But all the above issues are not as important as career growth and sadly none of these companies care for your career. If a company does not allow you to select your project/ work, it doesn’t plan for your career. These companies pick employees in bulk and treat them, as ‘resources’ may be a little important than computer. What work you want to do? What direction you would like your career to grow is what should be of utmost importance to you. But you can never know before joining the company or even after your training is over what work you would be doing.

It may not be feasible for companies recruiting in thousands to ask for individual preferences, and even if they ask it might be difficult to implement. The quality of work in services companies is more or less similar in all projects, but still one should get a chance to select his project, as for a person to grow high in a field he should get work, which suits his interests best.

I would not suggest computer science guys, who have good knowledge/interest in computer science to blindly join one. But if you are one who doesn’t have his preferences clear in his mind, may join one or the other depending on other factors. As a fresher you may not control over the work you do but as an experienced professional you would get the chance to choose your work.

The following factors depending on the project will matter the most in future
1) The work you get, suppose you work on skill which has less number of employees in market you can reap the benefits later, the best example which comes to my mind is “Kintana Consultants”.
2) A project which has more onsite opportunities or a skill like data warehousing which will has more demand in US making it easier for you to get a job in US/VISA.
3) You always enjoyed programming in Java and you got a project where you are doing the same, supposing you are in a company which gives less hikes (like IBM) still in the long term you will become a very important resource and you will charge a huge premium in terms of salary.

The final point is all skills are in demand, with number of employees being less than the actual demand but forget short-term success the final fruits of success comes to those who do what they want to do and excel in that.

Placement at non-premier engg colleges

2007-07-01T05:26:00.000-07:00

Placement at non-premier colleges are dominated by Mass Recruiters, take a look at the following:

Placement at Department of Information Technology, Shri Govindram Seksaria Institute of Technology and Science (SGSITS), Indore.

Wipro 18
Infosys 13
Accenture 14
CSC 8
Impetus 3
Infobeans 2
Amdocs 7
Atos Origin 2
Patni 2
Persistent Systems 2
Geometics Software 1
Convergys 1
Deloitte 2

Placement at Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT)

TCS - 109
CTS -66
WIPRO-77
SUBEX-1
INFOSYS-15
HCL(INFOSYSTEM) -74
PEROT-5
SATYAM-23
US TECH-38
L&T-22
IBM- 62+11+2 = 75
ACCENTURE-39
CISCO-4
TELCON
inDSP
L&T
patni-10
L&T(ECC)-9 (Not including CS)
MURGAPA-1
CSC-17
FLEXTRONICS 26
DELPHI –03 EC-2 EEE-1
MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA 8
Fidelity-10
Techmahindra-21
Ideb-4

STM

2007-07-01T03:20:00.000-07:00

Brand value, Career growth and onsite opportunities?
Brand value - Good, These things depend on your department and projects, this could be very different for person to
person. But yeah, onsite opportunities and career growth is good for people who are from H/W, VLSI background.

How is work environment and how efficient is the communication b/w teams or department?
Work environment is good. People are cooperative and good opportunity to pust your voice at any
level.... Communication b/w employees and management is good as for as i think.

Work pressure/Work – life balance. Well organized teams and work culture, This is a big plus point for ST. In fact ST kind of forces its employees to make a balance in their work and personal life, many forced leaves...n not much work load. Fixed daily 9.30 -5.30
routine job.

Satisfaction with salary and quality of work. Salary...is not good. Ur take home salary could be very less, but yea still fair enough. for freshers its around 5 LPA package but take home would be around 30000 PM, Quality of work will be different from one person to another.
People are expected to do their job independently here based on their skills set.

What type of work they do: Product development, Services etc. Or if mix of these then what at percent? All type of work.... product development as well as services( for internal ST only, not for others I think), basically
its a semiconductor product development company

Job security.Its Good. There is no policy of firing in ST India (especially), but they do lot of cost cutting

Technology/Platform/Language your cos work. Many technologies...both in H/w and S/W domain. Everything as per latest technologies in Embedded software and

Hardware fields...also core IT like JAVA. .NET etc

Some positives and negatives of the company.
Positive - your work and life balance, brand, cool work culture
Negative - I don’t think anything, but yea i m sure it would be different for others. May b somewhat take home
salary...

Do you recommend your company to others? Yes or No and Why? For freshers it’s good to join this company. If they plan for further studies or so...they can manage that being here and for experienced people I think may not be a good option if their priority is money.
Also for freshers who want to develop their career technically being with organization, ST is a good option.

Vital Statistics: Fresher salary, Total No of employees, India headcount, Normal %age salary hikes or any
bonuses
freshers its around 5 LPA package
employees no. around 50000(world wide), 1700+ (India)
Average hike 15-20%
yeah annual bonus based on performance

Location : STM Noida