I was selected for the TCS Digital role through TCS NQT Priority Hiring for some institutes.

There were two rounds:

1. Technical + Managerial Round
2. HR Interview

Technical + Managerial Interview

After the initial registration, our resumes were scanned. My TCS application was marked with AWS, Azure, and GCP.

The technical interview started with:

• Introduce yourself

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:

• Can you explain how an SQL query runs, meaning how it executes internally?

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.

Overall Experience

• 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