Important Tips for IT Jobs_Test

Snapshot about the Exam

IT jobs recruitment tests are usually conducted by IT companies as an integral part of their hiring procedure. The format of the test may vary from company to company but the areas tested generally remain the same. Such tests are designed to assess your intellectual performance. These tests are conducted by most IT companies as a part of their recruitment procedure.

Eligibility Most IT companies have a minimum cut off of 60% in Engineering, this cut off however may vary depending on the experience, job profile and the requirements. Also, some companies have a relaxation in the cut off depending on your academic/professional background.

How to Prepare

If you are currently applying for jobs then you will need to inevitably sit for recruitment and selection tests as part of the process. The questions are usually multiple choice ones. In online tests, the difficulty level increases as you proceed. Not everyone can complete the test, the aim is to give as many correct answers as possible. Your result is then assessed against the average score of a control group which includes other job applicants who have taken that test in the past. You do not need any hardcore preparations for such tests as their purpose is to just check your IQ level.

Important Dates

No specific dates. These tests are usually part of the recruitment & selection process of various IT companies and have to be taken before the interview.

Skills Required for a GROUP DISCUSSION

Be it for admission to a B-school or a campus placement as part of your MBA curriculum or for recruitment to a multinational company, you should emerge as a leader in the truest sense. Everyone looks for a person who is smart, knowledgeable and projects the qualities of a manager. And that is why a GROUP DISCUSSION becomes an important determinant of a true leader!

As most of you have embarked on the path of becoming a manager (common entrance test for MBA 2012), do remember that there are certain skills and traits that are essential to becoming one. While some of them are inherent in us, some can be imbibed and honed. And the purpose of holding a GD and PI in process is to identify those raw gems so that they can be polished off as rare diamonds!

If you have further queries, refer to the following:

• Why is Group Discussion (GD) an important part of MBA?

• 10 Tips for a Successful GD

• Keep Your Cool during Group Discussion & Personal Interview (GDPI)

• Group Discussion: Tips & Tricks

So the big question then is, what are the points on which MBA students/ MBA aspirants are judged or assessed by the Panelists?

During a Group Discussion panelists assess you on:

A) COMMUNICATION SKILLS

1) Good communication skills are essential in today’s competitive world. Having good communication skills show that you are a good listener and a speaker, the top qualities of a leader

2) Good communication skills emphasize clarity of thought, hence leaving less scope for misunderstandings.

3) Good communication skills will help MBA students grab the attention of the panelists.

4) The MBA candidate should be well conversant with whatever medium of communication the candidate is comfortable with in order to get an edge over other candidates. Also, giving a others a chance to speak or acknowledging others’ opinions also works in your favor.

5) How well you can drive your point across in a simple language, supported by data and information will help you get an edge over other participants of the MBA GD.

B) Cooperation Skills

Say you are someone who knows everything about the Group discussion topic given and has performed well too (spoken enough to make it to the PI round). But when the results are out, you are shocked to see that your name is not even there in spite of the fact that you were most knowledgeable in your entire group!

Well, a true leader does not bash others to become successful, but carries his team along to climb the ladders of success. And here’s where your co-operation skills will come to the fore. There are some things you should do in a GD. Some of these include:

1) Acknowledging other’s point of view

2) Giving others a chance to speak

3) If someone has said something that you agree with, re-phrase it coherently giving that person due credit

4)If someone is struggling to speak up, give that person an opening ti speak up boasts your knowledge in a GD or you are someone who continuously jabbers throughout the course of the  GD without giving others the opportunity to speak up, will definitely

C) Leadership Qualities

As said earlier, a true leader takes his team through the maze of success. In a Group Discussion too, you should display true leadership qualities:

1) Give others an opportunity to speak

2) Acknowledge other’s points with due credit

3) If you disagree, put your point through politely stating the reasons

4) Don’t lose your temper or insult anyone

5) Display a pleasing personality trait and uphold the etiquette of a group discussion

D) Analytical Skills

A true leader never believes blindly. He/ she assess, verify and then take a decision. In the group discussion too, you should:

1) First analyze the topic and then speak up with a relevant statement, fact or statement.

2) Blabbering without making any point will definitely take you to the bad books of the panelists. Make sure that whatever point you make has a direction.

3) Be open to suggestions and different opinions.

3) When the discussion is nearing its end, make sure to summaries/ conclude the group discussion with relevant points (inputs from all the members) and come to a conclusion.

E) Subject Knowledge

In a group discussion, panelists see how well you are aware of things/ events happening or taking place around you. Hence:

1) You should read a lot and gain significant knowledge on various topics spanning commerce, politics, arts, law, media, social causes etc. so that speaking up in the discussion come naturally to you.

2) Providing facts and figures (in numbers) give you an added advantage over other candidates in a group discussion.

F) Attitude and Confidence

Besides the above, be smart and pleasant. Your confidence during a GD can get you in the good books of the panelists.

1) Smile while you greet everyone in the room (both panelists and your fellow students)

2) Convey your point to other candidates coherently If you disagree, express the same, but politely citing the reasons.

3) Never try and dominate other candidates. Let them speak without getting into a fight.

4) Maintain your body posture, tapping you fist on the desk in anger.

Group Discussion (GD): an important part of MBA Admissions

As an MBA aspirant, you must have slogged & burnt the proverbial midnight oil; practiced all the sample tests you could get your hands on & taken all the written entrance exams: CAT, SNAP, XAT, IIFT, IRMA etc. You would be expecting a very good score, probably 95 percentile or above. But does that ensure you a place in the top B-schools in India?

No! At least, not yet! For you still haven’t cleared the next hurdle; a step that is a part of the selection procedure at almost all the reputed B-schools of the country - the Group Discussion, popularly referred to as “GD” by B-school aspirants.

If you had been not paying much attention to preparing for the Group Discussion assuming that it would be a cake walk, think again. There have always been instances where students with extremely good scores (98+ percentile) couldn't get through good MBA colleges just because they could not ace the GD round.

So let’s try & understand what exactly a GD is, why GD is an important step to get into your dream B-school & what personality traits are tested in a typical GD:

What is a Group Discussion (GD)?

A group discussion is a selection (sometimes elimination) round where a group of 8-10 students are given group discussion topics to discuss for a given time period. After the topic is announced, you would be given 10-15 minutes to gather & compose your thoughts. Then the discussion begins.

A panel of judges would be sitting & observing the proceedings & would be marking you according to your performance in the GD.

The number of candidates who are short-listed from this group may vary. Sometimes 2-3 or 4-5 candidates can selected from a group of 10. There have also been cases where the entire group was rejected.

A successful group discussion should ideally proceed like a well-coordinated football team, where every player passes on the ball to achieve a common goal. A GD should not proceed to look like a fish market where everyone is trying to drown out the other’s opinion.

Why is GD an Important part of the Selection Procedures in B-Schools?

A question often asked by many students: Why GD, why not just a personal interview (PI) or why not just the written test? After all, engineering colleges don’t have GDs, neither do medical, law schools.

The answer is pretty obvious: business schools are selecting students who are going to be future managers & CEOs. And a good manager ought to be firm yet flexible, innovative, possess good communication skills, take quick decisions, have sound reasoning abilities & be a good leader. These skill-sets can be best gauged by the panel of judges or best displayed by a potential candidate only in a group activity like the group discussion.

By making GD a part of their selection procedures, the top B-schools are ensuring that they only select candidates who not only have good analytical, quantitative skills (assessed by their written exam score) but also possess excellent soft skills. So a Group Discussion round is a very important part of selecting a student in a B-school.

Personality Traits that are Tested in a Group Discussion:

1. General Awareness: “What” you speak in a GD matters more than “how” you say it. The panel of judges would check how much you know about what’s happening around you. So if the group discussion topic is “Commercialization of Health Care: Good or Bad?”, you should ideally be aware of the latest developments in the healthcare industry, you should know who is the Minister of Health and Family Welfare (it’s Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad) etc. There is no particular field from which the group discussion topic is selected. The GD topics can be based on a current hot topic "Is the Local Bill the best way to tackle Corruption in India" or they can be random topics like "Advertising is a form of brainwashing". It is therefore very important to be aware of what is happening around you & also to have a good GK quotient.

2. Team Spirit: As mentioned earlier, there have often been cases when an entire group has been rejected by the panel. This is usually because everyone or most participants in the GD were not team players. Extreme cases of one-upmanship (trying to outdo your competitor) are not appreciated & usually do not go down well with the judges. After all, you as a future manager are supposed to work in/with a team.

3. Leadership: If a group discussion loses steam or ends up in chaos or digresses from the topic, a participant with good leadership skills will usually try to coordinate & sort out the confusion or steer the GD back to the right track. Having leadership skills will always work in your favor. Some of you may have natural leadership skills, others will have to work & inculcate this personality trait into your skill-set.

4. Confidence: The way you put forth your points, your body language etc. should exude confidence. But be careful that your assertiveness does not translate into aggressiveness.

5. Adaptability: Being stubborn & unyielding on your opinion/point of view in a GD never helps. On the other hand if you are willing to see others’ point of view & are open to re-evaluating your own ideas, you will come across as a flexible person who is open to changes/suggestions (if they are viable). This is a positive trait & contributes towards a successful GD.

6. Communication Skills: Good articulation skills are a must for any future manager. Without good communication skills how will you put across new ideas, manage a team; ensure everyone’s on the same page as you are? This trait is also required to bring forth the traits discussed earlier. Without good communication skills, it would be difficult to display your leadership skills, convey the information you have, steer the discussion successfully.

7. Listening Skills: It is important to be articulate & to make your point as often as you can in a GD, but it is equally important to listen when others speak. If you keep interrupting others & don't care to listen when others speak you lose points. Remember, the panel is always closely observing you!

Now that you know WHAT a group discussion is & WHY it is conducted by most B-schools & what PERSONALITY TRAITS are tested in a group discussion, go ahead & find out what are the 10 steps for a successful GD!

Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award winners

Top Honors Awarded at Intel ISEF 2013

Following a week-long celebration of science at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, Intel Corporation and Society for Science & the Public announced the top award winners for 2013.

Ionut Budisteanu, 19, of Romania, received top honors with the Gordon E. Moore Award and a USD 75,000 prize. Eesha Khare, 18, of Saratoga, California, and Henry Wanjune Lin, 17, of Shreveport, Louisiana, each received an Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award and a USD 50,000 scholarship.

In addition, more than 400 Intel ISEF competitors received scholarships and prizes for innovative research presented at the competition. This included 17 "Best of Category" winners, as well as grants to the winners' schools and their Intel ISEF-affiliated fairs.

Intel ISEF awards included more than USD 4 million in scholarships and prizes.

Gordon E. Moore Award winner

Ionut Alexandru Budisteanu, 19, of Romania, won the Gordon E. Moore Award for using artificial intelligence to create a viable model for a low-cost, self-driving car. Ionut’s research addresses a major global issue. Annually, car accidents cause 1.24 million deaths worldwide¹, 90 percent of which result from driver error². With 3-D radar and mounted cameras, Ionut created a feasible design for an autonomously controlled car that could detect traffic lanes and curbs, along with the real-time position of the car. And the cost: only $4,000. The Gordon E. Moore Award, named in honor of the Intel co-founder and retired chairman/CEO, includes USD 75,000 in scholarship funds.

Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award winners

 

Runners-up honors went to two individuals named as Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award winners. Each of these students received USD 50,000 in scholarship funds for their ground-breaking projects.

With the rapid adoption of portable electronics, Eesha Khare, 18, of Saratoga, California, recognized the crucial need for energy-efficient storage devices. She developed a tiny device that fits inside cell phone batteries, allowing them to fully charge within 20-30 seconds. Eesha’s invention also has potential applications for car batteries.

By simulating thousands of clusters of galaxies, Henry Wanjune Lin, 17, of Shreveport, Louisiana, has provided scientists with valuable new data, allowing them to better understand the mysteries of astrophysics, including dark matter, dark energy and the balance of heating and cooling in the universe’s most massive objects.

A SCHOOL UNDER A METRO BRIDGE IN DELHI

A SCHOOL UNDER A METRO BRIDGE IN DELHI

Rajesh Kumar Sharma teaches underprivileged children under a Metro bridge

A torn rug to sit on, a metro bridge for a roof, a patch of wall painted black for a blackboard and a shopkeeper for a teacher. This may look like a scene out of a Hindi movie but is the everyday reality of 39 children from villages near the Yamuna bank.

Rajesh Kumar Sharma (40), started this makeshift school a year ago. Five days a week, he takes out two hours to teach when his younger brother replaces him at his general store in Shakarpur. His students are children of laborers, rickshaw-pullers and farm workers. His three children go to regular schools in Mayur Vihar.

Compelled to quit college in the third year of his BSc due to financial constraints, Sharma says he does not want anyone to meet the same fate. “Whenever I passed by this area, I would notice that children were spending all their time in the fields or playing around,” he says. Parents wanted their children to work instead of going to school as they would add to the family income. He argued with the parents and persuaded many of them.

Sharma, who came to Delhi from Aligarh 20 years ago, has been teaching underprivileged children in other parts of the city too. “I mostly taught laborers’ children. As they moved from site to site, it got difficult to follow them everywhere,” he says.

Sharma starts at the basics and goes on to prepare the children for admission to government schools. He started with approximately 140 students, and 70 of them are in government schools now. “They still come here every day. I manage to keep them ahead of the school curriculum,” Sharma says with pride.

Sharma’s students are just as proud of him. “Our teacher has told us that when poverty strikes, you should open your mind, and that can be done only through education,” says 15-year-old Abhishek who studies at the local Rajkiya Pratibha Vikas Vidyalaya. He enjoys studying English and aspires to become an engineer. He spends two hours in Sharma’s class under the bridge and then goes to school at 1 pm. Sharma says once Abhishek even corrected his teacher at school who had not solved a sum correctly.

CAT 2013 dates announced, new exam centers added

Dates for Common Admission Test (CAT) 2013 have been declared. The much-anticipated exam will be conducted over 20 days from October 16 to November 11 at 40 locations, including four new centers at Surat, Udaipur, Trivandrum and Vijayawada.

Gateway to admission in country’s top B-Schools, the CAT vouchers will be available at selected Axis Bank branches from July 29 to September 24. The registration window will be open from July 29 to September 26, informed Parametric India, test development and delivery provider.

"Getting to know the dates well in advance of the registration and testing window will enable candidates to prepare better for a successful future," said Professor Rohit Kapoor, CAT 2013 convenor. Professor Kapoor is a senior faculty member of IIM Indore. The five-year contract signed between the IIMs and Prometric for conducting the CAT will come to an end in 2013.

This year, Dusshera falls on October 14, two days before the CAT commences, while Diwali falls on November 3, during the 20-day window.

Common Admission Test, popularly known as CAT, unlocks the door to premier B-schools across India including the IIMs & more than 150 other management institutes. CAT is held annually, and conducted jointly by the IIMs (Indian Institutes of Management--Ahmedabad, Calcutta, Bangalore, Lucknow, Indore, Calicut, Kozhikode, Shillong) for granting admissions to selected candidates in the Post graduate & Fellow management programs of different institutes.

CAT is one of the most competitive entrance examinations, and lakhs of students compete for the limited number of seats in prestigious management colleges of the country. Last year, over 2, 42,000 candidates appeared in CAT exam and battled for 1550+ seats.

The entire selection process of CAT can be segregated into three main steps namely, (a) Computer-based Test, (b) Group Discussions and finally (c) Personal Interview.

Prior to 2009, CAT was a paper & pencil based test. In 2009, this test finally went online. The decision of making CAT a computer-based test was welcomed by most of the Internet-age students; however a bunch of experts had strongly opposed it claiming it to be posing hurdles for non-metro cities students.

To know more about the Institutes that help you prepare for CAT exam in your city, click here.

CAT Eligibility Criteria

For CAT, the candidate must hold a Bachelor's degree with minimum 50% marks or equivalent CGPA (In case of SC/ST/DA categories, it's 45%), awarded by any University, or possess an equivalent qualification recognized by the Ministry of HRD, Government of India. Also, this Bachelor's degree must be of duration of at least 3 years post completion of HSC (10 + 2) or equivalent.

The candidates awaiting the result of final year of graduation are also eligible to apply for CAT. However, they're supposed to produce a certificate duly signed by the Principal/Head of the Department/Registrar/Director of the University/Institution certifying that he/she is currently in the final year awaiting final results.

CAT Syllabus

CAT is a two and half hour examination with test paper comprising of questions, which can be placed under four broad categories namely, (a) Verbal Ability (VA), (b) Quantitative ability (QA), (c) Data Interpretation (DI) & Logical Reasoning (LR) and (d) Reading Comprehension (RC).

CAT Preparation

CAT preparation has to be strategic since CAT tests aspirants on time management skills, problem-solving skills, language, decision-making skills, analytical skills, stress management skills, strategy formulation skills etc. The beginners should start with some diagnostic tests, identify their strong & weak areas, formulate a good effective study plan with considerable focus on Quant, Verbal and DI/Logic sections, and do regular studies. However, the CAT preparation strategy of experienced candidates can be a bit different from that of beginners. The aspirants, who've already made CAT attempts earlier can go for extensive Mock tests, focus more on weak areas (as detected in last CAT attempt) and consistently try for improving the scores.

CAT Sample Paper Questions

CAT Sample papers and CAT Sample questions help aspirants diagnose their current level of aptitude through assessment of performance in the practice tests. Each CAT sample paper has 60 objective type sample questions and is divided into four sections. Each CAT sample question has four to five alternate answer choices, and the test taker is supposed to pick the best answer for each question. Once a candidate finishes the sample paper questions, he/she either gets to view his/her score or he/she can enter his email address to which his test score would be sent.

CAT Result

CAT results are generally declared in the month of January or February. The result of this exam is much awaited by the MBA aspirants, who wish to seek admission in IIMs and other premier management institutes of the country. The CAT results are available online on the official CAT website as well as can be conveniently accessed using SMS facility or email. The names of the successful candidates shortlisted for interviews are also displayed by IIMs on the CAT website.

Institutes for CAT Preparation

With CAT exam going more competitive year by year, MBA aspirants feel confused while making a choice of institute from the huge list of institutes for CAT preparation. Following are some of the top CAT preparation institutes, which offer classroom/correspondence programs for CAT preparation: