I was allotted the panel 3.

As I waited outside the interview room, I saw candidates coming out with an
HR form if selected and with a long face if rejected.

I was very nervous, to tell the truth.

In a totally confused state about how to best greet the person sitting on the
other side of the table, I went in hoping for the best.

There was a man in his late 20s was sitting in a light green shirt and an ID
hanging down his neck till his pockets, as if to tell others” I am a WIPRO
official recruiter. Please don’t ignore me”

ME: Good Afternoon Sir.(as it was around 3 in the afternoon when I entered
the room).

HIM: Good morning Saurabh. Take your seat.

ME: Thank You! Sir.

I tried to present the best etiquette as I could, because someone told me that
interview is about three things- Etiquettes, etiquettes and etiquettes.

He started to flip thorough my CV.

HIM: So you have done a project recently, Saurabh

ME: Yes Sir, Radio Cabby!!!

HIM: Please explain your project for me.

ME: The project is named Radio Cabby. We have developed a software that
enables a person to call at the office and request for a taxi. The software
ensures that the person will get a taxi at his desired location within 15
minutes.

I continued to speak all jargons for the next 7-10 minutes. By this time he
realized that I have done an important project and I was a perfect candidate
to be drilled.

HIM: So u have implemented it in JSP and SQL. So u must be quite fluent in

JSP.Right Saurabh?

ME: Sir, actually we did not have JSP in our syllabus and I have studied only
that part which was relevant with my project. So I can answer questions from
SQL only and I am not very confident in JSP.

MY TECHNICAL INTERVIEW...2
HIM: So u have implemented it in JSP and SQL. So u must be quite fluent in
JSP.Right Saurabh?

ME: Sir, actually we did not have JSP in our syllabus and I have studied only
that part which was relevant with my project. So I can answer questions from
SQL only and I am not very confident in JSP.

HIM: Tell me what a ‘relation’ is?

ME: Relation is a database in the form of tables.

HIM: I am talking about the relation in ER diagrams, not the relational

database.

ME: Oh, I am extremely sorry Sir to have misunderstood u. The factor or the
things that define a logical connection between various entities is called a
relation.

HIM: Saurabh, you are giving only round about answers.I expect a more
precise answer from you.

HIM: Ok tell me how many types of sorting are there. And name them.

ME: The different types of sorting are Bubble, Insertion, Selection, Merge,
Radix, Shell, Heap and Quick sorting.

HIM: Good

ME: Thank U Sir

HIM: Ok, explain me the Binary search

ME: In a sorted array of integers or characters, we can select the middle

element of the array and then check whether the element to be searched is
lesser than the mid element or greater than it. If the element to be searched
is lesser in value than the mid element then the search proceeds to the left
array, or else the right array. This process continues until we find the
element.

HIM: What if the array is not sorted. Wont we be able to perform binary
search then?

ME: No, Sir

(Then he started to write something in a piece of paper)

Then he asked me some questions on different types of JOIN in SQL. And a

few questions on OBJECT ORIENTED LANGUAGE like what are the different
features of an object oriented programming, explain INHERITANCE. What is
Polymorphism and stuffs like those.

Luckily, I was fluent with these topics, so I discussed it in good details.

MY TECHNICAL INTERVIEW....3

But suddenly a question came up from Data Structure and I thought O My

God. What the hell has he asked!!!And the question was….

HIM: Ok explain me the Heap Sorting.

ME: I am sorry Sir, I don’t know

(I ddnt know the answer so I thought it best to say it straight that I don’t
know)

HIM: Ok Saurabh.We recruit you and you are given a project on C

programming. One is an easier one and another is a difficult one. Which one
will you chose?

ME: Sir, considering my sound technical knowledge in C programming, I

would prefer the difficult project. Even if I am lacking in knowledge in some
areas of C programming, I m sure I will be able to “work hard” and gain that
much knowledge before your company starts training me, in case I am
selected. So, I would not mind taking up the difficult project.

HIM: Are you sure you will work hard Saurabh?

ME: Yes Sir!!!!

(Then he again wrote something in that paper)

HIM: Ok Saurabh, considering the fact that your communication skills are
good and you have a fair technical knowledge, I give you this form. This is the
HR form. Take this form and fill it up and go for the HR interview.

(I was extrmelyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy happyyyyyyyy to get the HR form. I quickly

said him Thank You and made my out of the room. I did not want him to ask
me any more questions.So I almost flew from the spot.)

Then came the HR round which was more than just interesting.

MY HR INTERVIEW....PART1

There was this man in his mid thirties with a tinge of a south-Indian accent.

HIM: So quickly introduce yourself to me Mr. Saurabh Sharma

ME: Sir, I am Saurabh Sharma. I come from Liluah which is a small industrial
town. I basically come from a middle class family and have a decent
academic record. I was the second topper of my school in ISC 2004 and the
topper of my stream in 2nd Sem of B-Tech. I am an opportunistic person and I
communicate well in a group. I am a patient…

(As I was speaking he interrupted me. I wanted to say that I am a patient

person but he allowed me only to say that “I am patient...” I wonder I would
have become one had my name not been declared at the end)

HIM: Ok Saurabh, hold on. You said that you come from a middle class family.
So wouldn’t you have a problem regarding the money that you have to
submit as a caution deposit after the training period?

ME: No Sir, I don’t think so.

HIM: Have you consulted your parents?

ME: No, Sir. Not yet. But I don’t think that they will be having any problems
regarding this. Moreover, in the PPT presentation, I got to know that you have
some kind of tie-ups with SBI bank. So even if we have any kind of problems,
we will resort to loans from the bank.

HIM: So tell me Saurabh, why should WIPRO hire you?

ME; I think that your company basically deals with work that requires efficient
coding skills and where a large project is divided among a number of people.
As I said, I am good at coding and my ability to work in a group can go a long
way in enabling your company to compete with the very best in the market.

MY HR INTERVIEW...PART 2

HIM: So was WIPRO your dream, or is it that you want to get selected just
because we are the first company at your college to recruit candidates?

ME: Sir, frankly speaking. WIPRO was never a dream for me. But the PPT
presentation revealed that being a part of WIPRO can give me many benefits.
Like higher education. I have certain plans of MBA in the next few years. And
I can do that statying in your firm, then why not join it? Its giving me a lot of
opportunity of growth and my talent would be polished. Learning new
technical skills at your firm will only make me more and more valuable. Sir, I
would love to be a part of the WIPRO family.

HIM: If you are given a choice of MONEY, FAME and HONESTY ?Which one
would you chose?

ME: Sir, why only one, can’t I chose all?

HIM(smiling): No, you can’t. Ok you can chose two.

ME: I think MONEY and FAME. Sir I think MONEY is definitely a criteria today
and being very frank, you need money for every second need of yours. So
money is definitely a need.

HIM: And why FAME?

ME: Who doesn’t want to be famous SIR? Limelight is something everyone

desires and I would not hesitate to say that I am one of the people who don’t
want to be famous?

(This was the answer I gave most vaguely. I started to stammer at times.)

HIM: Why do you speak so fast Saurabh? You speak very good English, but try
to have some control over your speed. We often have to deal with people of
foreign nationalities. So you will have to cut down on your speed.

ME: Yes, Sir I thoroughly understand the needs of the company and I would
take care to develop a proper accent in the near future. I do have this
problem but I am trying desperately to speak coherent and easy English.

MY HR INTERVIEW...PART 4

HIM: There is no problem with the English you speak Saurabh. Its very good.
It’s the speed that can cost you the job. So what are you doing to get rid of
this problem? What are the channels that you watch on TV?

ME: Sir, I read a particular topic from a magazine. And try to speak in front of
the mirror. This way I develop a better control over the language and that
also helps me practice for group discussions. I generally watch NDTV and
ESPN.

HIM: That’s good you see. News and Sports channel are very good in
improving your soft skills. All the people who feature there are professionals
and you must have noticed that they speak in one very good accent.

ME: Yes Sir, I have noticed (who cares about their accent, I just told him that I
noticed)

HIM: So Mr. Saurabh, do you have any problems if we place you outside
Kolkata?

ME: NO Problem Sir.(First let me get in yaar.. If I say I have a problem, you wil
discard me here only.)

HIM: Are you sure?

ME: Pretty much.

HIM: Here is a circle. Suppose it’s a cake. You like it?

ME: Yes Sir. I do.

HIM: Even I do. Cut this circle or cake with three straight lines, so as to get
maximum number of pieces. And tell me how many pieces you get.

(I thought a lot and I did not know why he was asking such logical questions?
What has it got to do with HR? I thought what if I give a wrong answer? But
then I continued…)

ME: I think we can get a maximum of 6 pieces at the most.

HIM: Ok Saurabh you wait outside for sometime. Because it will take almost
an hour for us to declare the final results. You can wait or you can come back
from your home if you want.

ME: Ok Sir, I will wait here.

HIM: It was nice to talk to you Mr.Sharma

ME: Same here Sir.

(As I started to walk out briskly so as to avoid any more questions and I was
close to the door before the interviewer called me..)

HIM: Saurabh, just a second. Please come back.

(Oh God, please no more questions now. I can’t take any more of it)

NERVOUS MOMENTS

ME: Yes Sir?

HIM: You see properly, the cake that you were given to cut can be cut in a
maximum of 8 pieces. Not 6, as you answered. Do check it once more.

(I thought, he called me up just to say this?????)

ME: Yes Sir, definitely,. I wil try it just now.

HIM: Good. Ok. Thank You.

ME: Thank you very much Sir.

Aaaaahhhhh…..the interview ended, but I soon realized that the long wait
had just begun.

It was around 5:30pm when my HR interview had ended. We had to wait for
three long hours before the results were declared at 8:30 pm.

Our placement officer along with all the technical and HR interviewers of
WIPRO came in our seminar hall with a list of names of selected candidates.
This list frightened us more than excite.

The name of the candidates selected was started to be announced.

(I was very very nervous. I did not know whether that South Indian accented
man liked my speed in English or not? Who knows he might have disliked my
fast English. Did it intimidate him in any way? Did he feel insecure about his
job with my English? Or he disliked it simply because his past girl-friend
ditched him because he could not understand her accented-fast-English? I did
not know what was going to happen. There were so many questions running
simultaneously in my mind like Siddhu giving a lecture on cricket(or
anything).It would be heartbreaking if I was to be discarded from this point
when I came so far. I was sitting along with some of my very close buddies,
who were sure to be selected. The result started to be announced).

SELECTED.......FINALLY

And the second name to be announced was…..

SAURABH SHARMA…….Computer Science and Engineering..

I felt a sigh of relief and a sense of joy after hearing my name. I had never
before waited so eagerly for my name to be called (apart from my girl
friend’s mouth who ditched me a long time back)

I got selected. My first job. I was a WIPROite now. A day back, I was nothing.
And now I have a job. I called up my home. My bro received the call. I could
here the excitement in his voice. My mom almost started weeping.

There was so much joy in the college. Each one of us was happy. We were
elated like never before. There was a sense of achievement in it. This meant
more than topping an examination or getting highest marks in the class. It is
said that becoming a father is the happiest feeling for a man. Well, I haven’t
yet experienced that, but getting your first job is certainly a heavenly
experience.

I was happy. Really happy.