Company: Aricent Group

Hi Friends

Recently I got selected on 23rd Oct’08 in the offcampus drive of ARICENT TECHNOLOGIES. Let me share my experience with you.

Around 4000 students applied for Aricent across India, but they shortlisted and called 2300 for the written test at 3 centers namely Gurgaon, Chennai n Bangalore.

WRITTEN TEST
Test was conducted by merittrac on 18th n 19th Oct. I gave the written on 18th. The written test was for 1:50 hrs. There were 4 sections in all: Analytical Section, Accuracy to data, Choice b/w C/C++ and Java and Data Structures.

For Analytical section one can go through r.s. agrawal, that is sufficient (no questions like time n work etc were asked).

Accuracy to Data section was v easy and it was just an eye wash some figures are given like 33345673333, den there were 4 options and you have to see how many of the four match dis digit…

C section was ok, some question were v simple, around 5-7 were tough

Data structures was quite simple, n no codes were given, there were simple questions about stacks, queues, linked list, n around 4-5 questions on complexities of different sorting etc… do remember dat da time constraint is dere, for C, Data structure n Accuracy to data time was sufficient, but for the first section it was less for me. dere were 100 questions in total.

Then after the written result was announced in around 2 hrs, in my batch 400 were dere n 100 were called 4 interview, so by dis ratio around 600 must have been called for interview from 2300.

INTERVIEW DAY
On 21st I was called for interview, I just had 2 days 2 prepare for the interview, n in Aricent they can ask each n every thing that you must have studied.. I toiled v hard day n night revised almost everything Data Structures, OS, DCN, C, C++, s/w engineering, SDLC, Normalization, keys, SQL, Unix etc.
I was a bit confident as I studied almost everything…den my interview was frm 10:30-12:30, dere were 25 students in my batch at that time. A guy came to take us from the gate of Aricent sharp at 10:30, really liked the punctuality of Aricent ppl, den he led us into a room, n gave us 2 pieces of paper to fill, in one we had to mention everything about ourselves, it was the employee record form, it was quite long.. and in da other dere were around 9 scenarios, n we had 2 write in dem our experiences. he gave us around 30 minutes to fill both the forms. the scenarios were like
1) Give an instance wen you found something difficult to learn, den wat did u do?? wat was da outcome??
2) What do you dislike?? tell us in brief about urself
I mostly wrote about my projects in da scenarios.. but yo hv 2 think n write fast as time is less.

GROUP DISCUSSION
Then the person took us to another room for GD and he left, n 2 HR’s were dere 2 take our GD, we were given a paper on which Mid day Meal which the govt provides in schools for poor children was described. Comparison of cooked and uncooked food was da main theme… then we were given around 10 min 2 read it, n den our gd began, all da time we were debating on whether cooked food was better or uncooked… dere were some guys in da group of 10, who were not giving others chance to speak, da HR asked dem 2 let everybody speak, gd went for 20 minutes, n den we were asked 2 conclude one by one… some favoured cooked food n some packed food but I was da only one who favoured both, I said dat govt can include both kinds but wat needs to be looked is dat some minimum standards are set for the food, as cooked food can be unhygenic while even packed food have date of expiry, I dint know whether I was rite or wrong but I said wat I felt

The HR’s were noting our marks from time to time, I was speaking only wen my turn came… so guys dont fight in gd’s as HR’s note each n everything.

INTERVIEW
Den after the GD, we were called one by one for the interview, dere were many ppl taking interview, around 5-7, so our turn came quickly,,
I was asked to sit on sofa, n den after 10 min, an HR came to take me wid him. I went inside a big hall n dere were around 3-4 more hr’s who were taking interview of different candidates, I was having cough, so as soon as I sat he asked me 2 have water, I confidently poured water in a glass n drank it n said thanks. I put my handbag on the floor and file in my lap, GUYS, NEVER KEEP THE FILE OR BAG ON THE TABLE, REMEMBER ITS THEIR TABLE NOT OURS..
Then to make me comfortable he asked me to tell something about me… I answered…
Then straightaway he started with the technical round.. first he asked about s/w enginering–
wat is spiral model??
wat are different type of testing,
wat is validation…fortunately i knew all da answers, den he asked
about the phases of SDLC,
den moved to C, he asked me dat wat shud he ask in C… I said anything sir. then he asked me to write the prototype of switch-case, n asked many questions related to it, use of break, default, continue etc., he also asked me the output of few questions in C
den asked to write a string program, asked about static function, also asked me to write a program 2 implement queue , i wrote but was stuck in de middle, but den i said sir i can explain the logic,he said ok, den i explained…

he was satisfied, den he asked data communication n networking, he first asked about the layers of osi model, den protocols in each layer, also about some protocols, den he asked about packet switching, circuit switching, sliding window protocol,
den asked me is anything left?? I smiled n said sir OS as its my favourite subject, den he asked questions on windows, critical section, semaphores, how 2 implement dem? wat is a thread… the interview went for around 45 min, den he said ok.. n I thought now I m through wid my interview, but den he said.. I have just taken half of the interview.. I smiled back, it was the time for HR round…

I always knew dat I will perform gud in dis round, so now I became v relaxed-he asked many questions like, wat have you learned working in da team, wat are the problems faced while working in a team, he was also referring to my scenario filled form n asking questions, how come you know about Aricent?? he said dat in companies most of the guys drink and smoke, will you be having any problems?? n he came 2 know dat I have always studied wid gals from nursery, so he asked how will you work with boys. he asked me about relocation, expected salary,
my expectations from the company, and grilled me on many questions.. but I was quite confident n always answered wid smile. my interview went for 1:15 min, he also asked me if I had any questions, I asked many questions like sir wat is ur profile, wat do Aricent expect frm me, if I get selected den wat will be the next step.. he answered to all my questions v nicely.

AT LAST I MADE IT!!!!
Wen I came out of the room, I was not sure whether my interview was gud or bad, whether I ll get selected or not… but due to God’s grace I got the mail frm dem on 23rd dat I was selected, they have selected 131 students all over India (Gurgaon, Chennai, Banglore) n da next day got the offer letter n doj wich is 3rd Nov…

The HR was v friendly n was having a gud personality, remember guys dat in Aricent each n every round counts, so u need 2 perform in each n every round, n also ur C n DCN skills should be gud..
Even I was not sure of many questions but I either said sir I dont knw or sir I would like to guess The answer, so u should always be confident, even if u r answering wrong, sometimes wen I gave wrong answers da HR tried to stress me by saying u have given a completely wrong answer, but I never lost my calm, n smiled back.
Even I used to think before that it is hard 2 clear Aricent, but now after my selection I would like to say that nothing is tough, u just need to be confident n hardworking.