INDIA TALENT ACQUISITION GROUP (TAG) HIRING POLICY

(V 1.2)
Prepared By

Reviewed by

Approved By

Name

Leslie Andrews David

(270524)

Aravind
Srinivasaraghavan,
(107415)

Sriram Rajagopal
(109234)

Date

May 01, 2014

May 01, 2014

May 01, 2014

Version history:
V 1.1

Annual review and process changes, if any, incorporated.

V 1.2

Annual review process

India TAG Hiring Policy

Contents
1.

Overview .............................................................................................................. 1

2.

Scope .................................................................................................................. 1

3.

Definitions ............................................................................................................ 1

4.

Eligibility .............................................................................................................. 1

5.

Approvals ............................................................................................................. 2

6.

Procedure ............................................................................................................. 2

7.

Responsibility Matrix ................................................................................................ 3

8.

Exceptions Handling ................................................................................................ 4

India TAG Hiring Policy

TALENT ACQUISITION GROUP (TAG) HIRING POLICY

1. Overview
The Talent Acquisition Group (TAG) Hiring policy provides guidelines for an efficient, uniform, and
competitive hiring process. This addresses key aspects of the hiring process such as strategies for
hiring, recruitment channels, and the selection process.
The policy was last amended on May 01, 2014.

2. Scope
The policy covers all Associates, including trainees, on the rolls of Cognizant, India.

3. Definitions
The terms and definitions used in this policy are:

Lateral: Associates with prior relevant work experience, hired through Cognizants mainstream
recruitment process

Trainees: Associates with no prior relevant experience hired directly from campus

4. Eligibility
Owing to its reputation, Cognizant is one of the preferred employers on campus and has privileged
access to the cream of students on campuses.
A. Recruitment Strategy
Cognizant follows a very stringent recruitment and selection process to hire the best and brightest
professionals in the IT industry. Cognizants recruitment strategy takes into consideration the
following factors:
Recruit to develop, grow and retain
Define the need and skills meticulously
Emphasis on background and experience
Stringent and foolproof selection process (usually 1 out of 11 applicants are selected)
Premier positioning in premier campuses
Employer of choice in premier engineering campus and B-schools
Note: Cognizant was rated #1 or #2 in all premier and tier 1 campuses
Ensure a cultural fit to the organization
B. Recruitment Channels
The recruitment channels include campus and lateral recruitment.
i. Campus Recruitment
The Campus Recruitment process includes the following:
1. Administer aptitude test for students who meet Cognizants eligibility criteria
2. Shortlist students based on performance and schedule interviews
Note: The interview panel comprises both technical and HR teams to ensure comprehensive
and consistent assessment of candidates.
3. Assess prospective candidates in the technical domain of choice including extra-curricular
activities, communication skills, and willingness to learn

India TAG Hiring Policy

4. Select the best candidates based on overall performance and roll out the offer letter
ii. Lateral Recruitment
Cognizant attracts top talent from the market to fulfill requirements across various
technologies, domains, business analyst, and business consulting functional areas.
Cognizant uses the resourcing strategy to meet requirements through a multi-channel approach.
The actual choice of channels depends on specific requirements.
The various channels employed by Cognizant are:
Bring Another You (BAY): Internal Employment Referral Program
Placement Consultants: Used primarily for technical, niche skill, and management
professionals
Advertisements: Print (Newspapers) or Online (Job Portals) or Social Media
Walk-in Interviews: Primarily for junior and mid level IT professionals
Off Campus Recruitment: Hiring fresh, experienced engineers, management professionals
from engineering and management schools which Cognizant visits, but not directly from
Campus.
The recruitment process includes the following:
Eligibility criteria such as work experience and academic qualification is frozen based on
discussion with the client and the project team.
This requirement is communicated to the Global Work Force Management (GWFM) team, who
in turn try to identify suitable Associates within Cognizant.
In case GWFM is unable to find suitable profiles internally, the request is flagged to the
lateral TAG, who is responsible for recognizing talent from the market.
Candidates who meet the eligibility criteria of academic qualification, years of experience,
and technical expertise are screened through a multi-layered approach to ensure that
candidates are assessed for their technical competence, area(s) of expertise, cultural
sensitivity, process orientation, attitude, and team handling capability.
Selected candidates are extended an offer with the appropriate designation, compensation,
and benefits package, followed by an Induction program.

5. Approval

Technical team and TAG: Conduct interviews, assessments and roll out the offer letter to
suitable candidates

6. Procedure
A.
The
1.
2.

Selection Process
selection process includes the following:
Rsum shortlist: Rsum is evaluated for basic academic and professional qualifications
Technical Interview: All shortlisted candidates undergo a technical interview. The interview
panel comprises one or two technically qualified managers who assess the candidates
technical knowledge. If required, the candidate may have another round of technical
interview by a different panel.
Note: The panelists should be at least one level higher than the recommended level of the
candidate to be hired.

India TAG Hiring Policy

3.

Second Level of Technical or HR Interview: The TAG personnel organize a personality based
HR interview to assess the candidates communication skill, attitude, initiative, stress
management, and team handling skills.
4. Offer Rollout: The technical panel and TAG collectively select the candidates and roll out the
offer.
Note: The technical team assists the Global Recruitment team of the Human Resources Function in
selecting the best of the talent across the country. All sourcing activities are measured
against stringent Service Level Agreements (SLA), and are under the purview of the ISO 9001
and CMMi standards.
B. Background Checks
Strict monitoring and assessment of the recruitment channels ensures the veracity and quality of
resumes obtained.

Specific reference and background checks are carried out if required. This includes references
from the candidate's last two supervisors or reporting managers.

Where more rigorous screening is required, Cognizant works with its clients for definition and
then applies the extension to the screening process. Most often, this includes steps to detect
substance abuse.

Project Allocation
Once recruited, the Associate is allocated to the client once the Associates identity is established
by:

Providing documents specified in the clients checklist and;

Proving that they have no criminal record

Project Access

Access to the clients systems is provided only when the authorized client approves the
checklist.

Each Associate is required to sign a confidentiality agreement on joining Cognizant. This

legally binding document protects Cognizant and its customers from any attempts by the
Associate to defraud them.

Cognizant also encourages these individuals to sign a confidentiality agreement for the
particular client engagement based on a template that is mutually agreed upon.

In addition, Cognizant complies with all procedural and medical requirements as mandated by
the American Immigration Laws.
Note

Composition of New Recruits: Around 60 percent of the technical work force that Cognizant
adds to its roster every year is sourced from Indias top Engineering, Science and Management
Institutions. The rest are hired laterally, from the market.

Hiring Lead Times: Cognizant has a proven capability to rapidly recruit, train and deploy
consultants to cater to the project requirements. On an average, the offer-to-joining time for
lateral hires varies anywhere from 4-12 weeks considering the candidates notice period with
their current employer.

7. Responsibility Matrix

Associates: Submit required information

GWFM: Identify suitable Associates based on project requirement
TAG Leads: Screen and hire candidates according to requirements

India TAG Hiring Policy

8. Exceptions Handling

The benefits of this policy are governed by the terms and conditions of employment in
practice at Cognizant. This is subject to change from time to time. Cognizant reserves the
right to amend its policies as necessitated. All statutory requirements are applicable as
mandated by law.
All exceptions to this will be directed to the Policy Council of Cognizant, India.

India TAG Hiring Policy