TCS Interview Experience | Prime(2024)

Hello there, I'm here to share my TCS Prime Interview experience.

I did not know much about TCS hiring process in the beginning. I applied for TCS NQT as suggested by my college. Later, we got our admit cards and soon we were having our NQT test. I was very much interested in coding but I did not give it enough time during my college. I started to learn development in MERN stack and never touched DSA during my college days.

The Exam day : Me and one of my friends started early in the morning to the exam centre. Honestly, I was not expecting much. Once the exam got started, I started to solve . The aptitude and reasoning questions did not go well. There were quite many questions and so little time. I solved the first few of them and then the timer started to end. Each section had its own time to solve. I overlooked the timer and in few sections I did not even attempt few of the last questions. At last, it was the coding round. The first question was so easy and I could solve it within no time. The second was also easy, but I had one test case failing all the time. I thought maybe it was an edge case. I tried hard to figure it out, but just was not able to do it. That was how my NQT exam has gone.

After a month or so, I got a mail that I was selected for TCS Prime and honestly, I felt it was a big achievement at that time, because all my friends only made it to digital. The next rounds were interviews and I felt this is the only chance I could get to get a better package. I was previously selected the accenture campus drive but, I was not quite satisfied with it. The TCS prime package was two times that of accenture package. So, I started to prepare for the interviews. I went through the Apna college Shraddha didi's DSA course ,and also made a portfolio website in react. I was having a full stack project in MERN stack which I was quite confident of. With all this I went to attend the interview which was held about 20 days later to the mail I received.

I entered the panel, there were two interviewers. One of them was supposed to take TR and other to take MR, but honestly both of them asked me technical questions simultaneously, so I did not know who was who.
The first question I was asked was, 'Tell me about yourself' .
I proceeded to answer. I knew this was an obvious question in any interview of I cam prepared beforehand of what I would say. So I started to answer telling my name, my education, background, skills, projects. Just when I was talking of my skills , I mentioned github. Soon after hearing that, they picked it and started to ask question on github. And more than half of the interview was about github itself. They asked the following questions on github:

1. What is github used for?
   My answer: I said many organizations open source their code and other developers can contribute to it.
   They were not satisfied with this answer, so they asked what else is it used for?
   I said, Its used for version control, upon which they nodded their heads.
2. Write commands on how to push your code to github.
   My answer: I told them I did not use github on CLI but used github desktop instead which does not need any commands.
   I felt they were not satisfied with this answer.
3. How would you setup github on your desktop?
   My answer: I told them, first we would download git from the github website and then we can interact with it using the git bash or if we'd like we could install github desktop to use the gui interface.
4. Write steps on how would you contribute to a repository? Have you ever contributed?
   My answer: I told them I would clone the repository and run it locally and make changes in it, like adding a feature or fixing a bug and then make a pull request. If the owner acknowledges it, it will be accepted.
   I should I have told them I would fork the repository as well, which I missed.
5. Is this github account yours?
   My answer: I said it was my account and I have been using it since 2021.
6. How would you print an array in python?
   My answer: I wrote the code using for loop.
   I did not expect they would ask such an easy question.
7. Write SQL query to get total students in each department.
   My answer: I wrote the query using the groupby command

At this point they were asking each other, if there were any more questions to ask and told me to wait outside.
I left the panel thanking them. I waited for about 5 minutes after which, I came to know I was selected for the HR round. I waited for another 15 mins or so until the HR called me. He first checked all my certificates and then he asked how I was doing. I said I was doing well, asked about him. He then put a small 200ml water bottle in front of me and asked me to tell a story on this water bottle. He gave me 30 seconds to think. I thought for about 15 seconds and I proceeded to answer it. I was kind of jittering at that time while answering it. After that he asked would I be ok with any working hours. I told him, I would be ok. After which he told me to leave. I was surprised it ended so soon unlike what I read on google. I asked one of the volunteers , does everyone's HR interview end so soon? He said yes.

After almost a month, I found I got selected for Digital role. Honestly, I was expecting I would get selected in Prime. Nevertheless, it is better than the accenture offer.

For those of you preparing for TCS interviews, remember to stay calm. Your selection can be influenced by various factors, such as the interviewers you encounter and their current mood. Luck may also play a role in this process. The best approach is to prepare as thoroughly as possible. Whatever the outcome, know that you've done your best. Good luck !