PREPRATION GUIDE FOR CAMPUS IN "IT COMPNIES" (For CS/IT/EC etc) AS A FRESHER.

THERE ARE SOME PHASES IN RECRUITMENT IN IT COMPANY :

1. CV/ RESUME WRITING

2. APTITUDE TEST

3. ENGLIST TEST

4. TECHNICAL TEST

5. GROUP DISCUSSION 

6. TECHNICAL HR

7. HR INTERVIEW

Now i'm going to describe these all one by one...

CV | Resume Writing

Before an interview you should have your resume / curriculum vitae ready. It’s through this document that the interviewer knows about the candidate. There are two formats commonly followed for making resumes. You spent time in organizing your resume well so that the interviewer will see all what he should. These are also needed to apply online for any job. When applying online for a job you will have to upload your resume. The employer will get 1000s of such resumes. Here a program is used to select the best resumes. This program will search for some keywords in your resume and if a match is found you are in!!! Given below are some of the keywords you should use when making a resume.

1.	Organized
2.	Developed
3.	Won
4.	Triggered
5.	Initiated
6.	Led
7.	Secured
8.	Bagged…

Aptitude Test

This part is aimed at testing the problem solving ability and logical reasoning of the candidate. The questions are simple and can be solved by any engineering student. The buzz word here is TIME!!! It’s a bit hard to solve the paper completely. But with practice and knowledge about the question pattern this part can easily be handled. The types of questions that usually appear in this section are:-

1.	Age related questions
2.	Height related questions
3.	Weight related questions
4.	Ratio and Proportion
5.	Pipes and tanks
6.	Work
7.	Probability
8.	Number series etc

 Books For The Aptitude Part

It’s always a good idea to practice doing aptitude questions even before you know that some company is coming your way. The books listed below are best suited to prepare for the aptitude 

1.	Quantitative Aptitude by R S Agarwal
2.	Puzzles To Puzzle You by Shakunthala Devi
3.	More Puzzles To Puzzle You by Shakunthala Devi
4.	Brain Teasers by George Summers

                                   

English Test

In the present day of globalization each employee may be needed to communicate with a client on the other side of  the globe. Here English is the common global language. So it is very important to have enough knowledge in it. This part of the test aim at testing the vocabulary and comprehension skills of the candidate. The type of questions that usually show up are:-

1.	Comprehension passage
2.	Fill in the blanks
3.	Jumbled sentences
4.	Spelling correction
5.	Antonyms
6.	Synonyms etc

Books For The English Part 

Reading the English daily or listening to the English news is more than enough for this section. For those of you who are not that confident I suggest noting down the unfamiliar words from the editorials and keeping a book for these words and their meanings. This will be worthy of trying!!! 

This will be worthy of trying!!! You can also follow these books.

1. 

Objective English by Agarwal

2. 

Comprehensive English Wren & Martin

                                               

Technical Test

This part of the test is aimed at testing the knowledge domain of the candidate. Not many companies have this section. This part needs no separate preparation provided you know what you are being taught at the college. The questions in this section are mainly from:-

1.	C
2.	C++
3.	DBMS
4.	OS
5.	Software Engineering
6.	Computer Networks
7.	Digital
8.	Flow chart analysis etc.

Books For The Technical Part

 This part has questions from what has already been taught. so all you need is a brush up or quick revision. These books will prove helpful. 

1. T

est Your C Skills by Yashwant Kanethkar

2. 

Working With C by Yashwant Kanethkar

3. 

Operating Systems by Silbershats

                                           

Group Discussion

GDs came all the way from IIM admission procedure. This part of the selection procedure is intended to test the communication skill of the candidate. It also aims at analyzing the behavior of the candidate in a group. There is not a single company that assigns projects to individuals. Instead the assignment is given to a group. So the company should ensure that the candidate is capable of working in a group and thus the GD. The candidates who cleared all the previous rounds are called in groups (usually 10 members) for the GD. A topic is given by the moderator and the candidates are allowed to speak on it for 10 minutes aprox. The moderator notes each person and gives them grades. Finally a candidate should conclude. These are some of the things 

that should be kept in 

mind when taking part in a GD:

DOs:

1. 

Have a smiling face

2. 

Speak politely

3. 

Try to start the discussion; there are special points for it

4. 

Look into the eyes of other members when you speak

5. 

Speak clearly and audibly

6. 

Put in as many points as you can

7. 

Try to moderate the discussion

8. 

Try to conclude

DON'T:

1. 

Do not interrupt a speaker

2. 

Do not look at the moderator

3. 

Do not keep your legs crossed

4. 

Do not argue; it’s not a debate

5. 

Do not beat around the bush.

                                            

Technical Interview

Any company needs those who are sound at the basics. It’s easy, they know, to teach a person who has the basics. Tech. Interview aims at testing the basic knowledge of a candidate.  Here what you have learnt are put to test. For some companies this round may last up to 2 hours. The questions mainly come from the following areas:-

1.	C
2.	C++
3.	DBMS
4.	OS
5.	Software Engineering
6.	Computer Networks
7.	Digital

Sample Tech. Interview Qs

When the interviewer asks some totally strange question all on a sudden it is possible that even the most smart candidate can have a shiver in his spines. To avoid such situations it is a good idea to glance through some of these questions when you prepare.

1. What are your favorite subjects?
2. What is a function pointer?
3. Write some C programs…
4. What is OOP?
5. What are its features? Explain each:-
6. What is normalization? Why is it needed?
7. Which are all the types of normal forms?
8. What is an OS?
9. What are its functions?
10. What is a Kernel?
11. What functions does the Shell perform?
12. What are the different kinds of testing?
13. What are the different s/w development models?
14. Explain some network hardware?
15. Explain OSI reference model:-

                                       

HR Interview

Provided the candidate has the skill set he is presented before the HR manager for the ultimate test, the HR interview!!! Here the aim is to asses the different soft skills of the candidate like positive thinking, leadership, responsibility etc. The HR manager can surprise you with any sort of question that if not heard before can put you down. So again I urge you to have a glance at these questions!!!

Sample HR Interview Questions

1.	Introduce yourself
2.	Can you sing a song?
3.	Can you tell me a joke?
4.	Your weakness??
5.	Why should we hire you?
6.	Where do you see yourself after 5 years?
7.	What is your ultimate goal in life?

Unknown Facts About Your Mobile

1) Emergency number the Emergency Number worldwide for Mobile is 112. If you find yourself out of coverage area of your mobile network and there is an emergency, dial 112and the mobile will search any existing network to establish the emergency number for you, and interestingly …this number 112 can be dialed even while the keypad is locked. Try it out.

2) Locked the keys in the car? Your car has remote keys? This may come in handy someday. Good reason to own a cell phone: If you happen to lock your keys in the car and the spare keys are home, call someone on your cell phone. Hold your cell phone about a foot from your car door and have the other person at your home press the unlock button, holding it near the phone on their end. Your car will unlock.Saves someone from having to drive your keys to you.Distance is no object. You could be hundreds of miles away, and if you can reach someone who has the other “remote” for your car, you can unlock the doors (or the trunk).Editor’s Note: *It works fine! We tried it out and it unlocked our car over a cell phone!”

3) Hidden Battery power imagine your cell battery is very low, u r expecting an important call and u don’t have a charger. Nokia instrument comes with reserve battery. To activate, press the keys *3370#Your cell will restart with this reserve and the instrument will show 50% increase in battery. This reserve will get charged when u charge your cell next time.

4) How to disable a STOLEN mobile phone?
To check your Mobile phone’s serial number, key in the following digits on your phone:
* # 0 6 #
A 15 digit code will appear on the screen. This number is unique to your handset. Write it down and keep it somewhere safe. when your phone get stolen, you can phone your service provider and give them this code. They will then be able to block your handset so even if the thief changes the SIM card, your phone will be totally useless.

You probably won’t get your phone back, but at least you know that whoever stole it can’t use/sell it either.

5) Be careful while using your mobile phone
When you try to call someone through mobile phone,don’t put your mobile closer to your ears until the recipient answers. Because directly after dialling, the mobile phone would use it’s maximum signalling power, which is: 2 watts = 33dbi, Plz Be Careful, Message as received (Save your brain) Please use left ear while using cell (mobile), because if you use the right one it will affect brain directly. This is a true fact.

Will your resume get you the interview call...?

IT is an act in creating your personal brand image. Your resume reaches the interviewer before you do. Yet, many people lose out on an interview opportunity thanks to a poorly written one. Your resume is the first step in projecting yourself effectively to the recruiter.

So create an image that you genuinely identify with – it is a sharp world out there and no one is buying false niceties. We address ten important issues related to your resume.

1. Should your resume have a career goal/ objective statement? A resume that is worthy of representing you, should clearly state your career objective. A career objective is an indirect way of advertising what all you would bring to the company/ role. It must display a ‘giving’ attitude and not a ‘taking’ attitude.

Take a look at this: “To achieve an appreciable status in an organization that offers full scope for growth and where I can fulfill my aspiration of becoming a world class software professional.”

And this: “Be a part of an organization that recognises my skills and provides me with suitable environment to perform to the best of my ability.”

Do either of the above display a ‘giving’ attitude? Your answer is correct. They don’t. So now you know how NOT to write an objective statement! It is advisable to keep the objective statement simple and specific. Let it focus on the direct value addition that you can provide.

Example: “A certified Software Programmer seeking opportunity in the area of Software Development in a competitive work environment to utilize my skills to deliver robust and innovative software solutions.”

2. What sequence should your story follow?

Be it work experience or education, always tell the story from the current/ most recent to the first. NEVER write it the other way round.

3. Does your resume need to mention your marital status?

The new age resume does not require you to mention your marital status. However, if the job advertisement clearly states this as a requirement, do fulfil it. Quick Take

* Include a sharp Career Goal

* Choose the pdf format with discretion

* Fonts: Use Times New Roman, Calibri or Verdana

* Run a spell check

* Tweak to suit position and company of a potential employer

* Your latest work stint must appear first

4. How should you treat references?

Unless you have been specifically asked to provide references, it is acceptable to state in your covering letter/ email that you will provide references on request. Usually, two references are sufficient. Try to provide references from the two most recent phases of your career.

It is a good idea to inform the referees that you are giving out their contact information. It will also help if they know what kind of jobs you are applying for.

5. Should you send the resume as an MS Word document or a PDF? Some organisations ask you to upload your resume. Usually they ask for an MS Word document. If you are mailing across your resume, you could choose either format.

A word of caution – do not get carried away if you decide to make it a PDF. Keep it simple – leave out visual histrionics. And whatever software you choose – send the resume in the most commonly used version.

The biggest advantage of using a pdf format is that it preserves the formatting irrespective of the version of the Acrobat Reader version or user settings.

In MS word, however, the formatting can change based on the MS Office version and User Settings, leading to awkward situations like a two-page resume becoming a 3 -page document. Or a section title like Educational Background coming on Page 2 comes with the details going to Page 3.

However, if the company insists on a word document, please send the resume in word format only. Lot of organisations have tools to extract information from Word documents and if you do not send your resume in Word document, your resume may not get processed at all!

6. Should you incorporate links in the resume?

If you are an engineer who writes a technical blog, go ahead and incorporate the link in your resume. If you are a website developer, the links to the pages created by you would certainly help. However, spare the recruiter from links of your personal blogs, photographs and anything and everything that you scatter on the World Wide Web. In fact, providing the link to your personal blog may even prove fatal if you publish office gossip or crib about your job!

7. What sort of job profiles demand a portfolio?

Artists, designers, photographers, models and those from the performing arts definitely need to provide a portfolio. An artist model/ photographer/ designer may want to include a Power Point or PDF, while a dancer/ actor/ singer may want to mention links from sites like YouTube. Irrespective of the type of portfolio, the intention is simply to showcase your best and most relevant work.

8. What fonts / presentation styles make sense?

Go easy on choosing fonts and presentation styles. The most acceptable ones are the simpler ones. It is advisable to use fonts like ‘Times New Roman’, ‘Calibri’ and ‘Verdana’. Do not get tempted by the fancier ones. The resume is not the platform to exhibit your artistic inclinations. Also, keep the fonts and font sizes uniform across different categories in the resume.

You should zero in on a presentation style with just one thing in mind – it should be extremely presentable. By creating minimum chaos, it should elicit the maximum attention.

Some people choose to give the resume a fancy header with their name and contact information in bold. This gives it a ‘letter head’ look. Some go for a more conventional style by listing out such information in bullet points. Either style is absolutely fine.

In writing about your project work, education and work experience, you could provide a box format or a neatly tabulated one.

9. What are the worst resume gaffes? The worst thing you could do is to send in a resume without running a grammar/ spelling check. In this age of MS Word, grammar/ spelling mistakes in a resume are just not tolerated. Needless to say, anyone would straight away trash a resume that is saved as supersexy2010.doc or rockstar.doc. One gentleman I knew failed to get a single interview call after sending out more than 80 applications. I probed a little and was shocked to find out why – he had sent out group mails! Do not try to pass around your resume/ covering letter without modifying it to suit the company / role you are applying for. It is offending if your application reads like:

Dear _______, I am applying for the role of ___________________ at your esteemed organisation _____________________.

It shows and it is NOT acceptable!!!

10. What is the difference in writing a resume for a BPO professional/ Engineer/ MBA? If you are a BPO aspirant, you need to highlight your ability to deal with all kinds of people, chase targets and work in shifts. If you are an engineer, your resume should clearly talk about your projects and internships. Expect a fair number of questions from these areas in the interview. An MBA student would also need to write about projects and training.

World's 'first hack-free' software developed

Scientists have developed what they claim is the world's first hack-free softwarewhich can protect systems from failure or malicious attacks.

The 'seL4' microkernel has been developed by a team led by Australia's ICT Research Centre of Excellence's spinout company -- Open Kernel Labs(OK Labs). It is a small operating system kernel which regulates access to a computer's hardware.

Its unique feature is that it has been mathematically proven to operate correctly, enabling it to separate trusted from untrusted software, protecting critical services from a failure or a malicious attack, say the scientists.

In future applications, seL4 could ensure that trusted financial transaction software from secure sources like banks or stock exchanges can operate securely on a customer's mobile phone alongside "untrusted" software, such as games downloaded from the Internet, according to its developers.

It could also provide a secure and reliable environment for mission-critical defence data, operating on the same platform as everyday applications like email. Or, it could protect the life-supporting functions of an implanted medical device, such as a pacemaker, from hacking, they say.

"Our seL4 microkernel is the only operating system kernel in existence whose source code has been mathematically proven to implement its specification correctly. Under the assumptions of the proof, the seL4 kernel for ARM11 will always do precisely what its specification says it will do," lead scientist Gerwin Klein said.

Added another scientist Gernot Heiser, "Verification of operating-system kernels has been attempted since the 1970s -- we pulled it off!"

The Great Minds Tech Quiz Online Quizzes

IBM launches yet another platform for all the engineering students to showcase their talent!

This time it is the one which requires one to tease their grey cells! The Great Mind Tech Quiz is India's first technology related quiz open to any engineering & MCA students of any year.

It is happening at 4 major cities across India. Lots of Prizes at stake to be won!

Hurry and register soon!

To register please log on to http://quizzing.in/registration/tgmq/registration.htm
More details - http://www.quizzing.in/the-great-minds-tech-quiz-online-quizzes

The Quiz will be hosted in 4 locations – Pune, Bhubaneshwar, Chennai and Bangalore. The quiz series will culminate with a National Final in Bangalore later in the year.

As a precursor to The Great Minds Tech Quiz, Quizzing.in brings to all Engineering & MCA students two online quizzes with fabulous prizes.

The Online Quizzes are scheduled as follows:

TGMTQ Online Quiz#1 – Jan 20th 2011 to Jan 28th 2011

TGMTQ Online Quiz#2 – Jan 21st 2011 to Jan 30th 2011

So, Register now and participate in the Online Tech Quizzes

Details of The Great Minds Tech Quiz Offline Rounds are as below:

QuizWorks in partnership with IBM’s The Great Mind Challenge brings to you India’s first National Level Tech Quiz for Engineering Students - The Great Minds Tech Quiz.

The Great Minds Tech Quiz will be held in 4 cities with a National final later during the year. The cities and venue partners are mentioned below:

Pune:                         24th January 2011: Indira College of Engineering & Management, Pune

Bhubaneshwar:     25th January 2011: Gandhi Engineering College, Bhubaneshwar

Chennai:                    27th January 2011: Dr M.G.R Educational and Research Institute, Chennai

Bangalore :               28th January 2011: Dayanand Sagar Institution, Bangalore

More details about The Great Minds Tech Quiz can be found here: http://www.quizzing.in/the-great-minds-tech-quiz

Quizzing.in also running two online quizzes on 20th and 21st January 2011 . Pls register for the same here: http://quizzing.in/registration/tgmq/registration.htm