I was selected for the TCS Digital role through TCS NQT Priority Hiring for some institutes.
There were two rounds:
After the initial registration, our resumes were scanned. My TCS application was marked with AWS, Azure, and GCP.
Then the interviewer asked:
Can you write an SQL query to find employees with NULL salary?
What are procedures in SQL?
What are triggers in SQL?
Write an SQL query for the 2nd highest salary in a table
Write an SQL query for the 3rd highest salary
Now write it without using OFFSET
Can you generalize it for the Nth highest salary?
I answered all of them
Then he referred to my resume and said:
You have mentioned MongoDB. Can you tell me the difference between MongoDB and SQL?
How does MongoDB store its data in the database?
Do you know about sharding?
I answerd all this too
Since I have an AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner certification, he asked me one cloud-related question. It was about pipelines, and I answered it well.
After that, he said the certification is basic and stated that I would not be able to write code on paper if he gave me a task.
I replied that I could at least try, but he said:
“No, you won’t be able to.”
He then proceeded to ask:
I answered that as well.
Then he asked:
Have you worked with SQL in any of your projects?
I replied that I had used it, but at that moment I was unable to recall the exact structure and flow.
After that, he said:
Tell me about your projects
I have three projects on my resume:
A chat application
A bus application for boarding and sharing the bus location with members
An online blogging platform
After listening, he said:
“You only know how to make websites and stuff.”
“You don’t know how to code AI.”
He again repeated that if he gave me something to write on paper, I would not be able to write it.
I requested him to please ask something and told him I would try with my full potential, but he again said:
“You won’t be able to.”
Then he asked:
Do you have any other offers?
I told him that I had an offer from another organization.
Then he asked:
If we give you TCS Ninja, will you accept it?
What will you choose between TCS and the other organization?
I answered his questions.
At the end of the technical + MR round, I asked him for feedback.
He said:
“Feedback is very subjective. You only know how to make websites. TCS needs people who can write AI and all that.”
My resume included:
CodeChef 3★
Codeforces Pupil (around 50 contests, 300+ problems solved)
LeetCode rating ~1730 (around 45 contests)
Open-source contributions on GitHub
Generative AI used in one of my projects
All of this was completely disregarded.
I mentioned that I had used Generative AI in one project, and he replied again:
“You can’t write it on paper if I make you write.”
He then left the cabin.
HR Interview
After around 5 minutes, the HR interviewer came in and asked standard questions:
Why TCS?
Will you be able to relocate?
Do you have any other offers?
Are you open to working on weekends?
Are you open to night shifts?
The interview ended after that.
Interview duration: 30–35 minutes
No DSA questions
No in-depth project discussion
No system design
No questions on OS, CN, or OOPs
The entire technical interview felt focused on repeatedly saying
“you can’t write AI on paper”, rather than actually evaluating skills.
UPDATE - OFFERED TCS ASE Trainee