Name: Naman Agarwal 

Interest: Software 

Placed in: Reliance. 4.5 lacs p.a.   

Location: Most probably Jamnagar 

Interview: 

I was interested in the software sector, so left the core companies that came earlier including ONGC 
and Nestle. But ultimately, when I could not see things going my way, I went for Reliance. 

Problem with IIT System: 

The problem with the placement system in IITs is that they are held in December whereas all the 
vacancies are out by the month of March. So, companies usually recruit people from second tier 
colleges in March and hence, by the time they come to recruit to IITs, their vacancies are almost 
filled. 

 Written: 

Written is not that tough as one might think. People usually think that they can cheat their way out 
of it. However, it is quite tough to do that. Besides, a good score in written also helps in the 
interview. 

How to Prepare: 

People usually take CAT coaching. Their tests and questions help a lot in the aptitude exams. 

A few companies like Delloite etc. which come to all IITs, they have a common paper. So, if you have 
friends at IIT D and other places, you can come to know about the kind of written paper they have. 

Interview: 

One should have good communication skills and if you want to go for a core company, you should 
have a project or intern. You should know about everything that is written in your resume. 
Sometimes it is also beneficial to write only 2 topics in your resume and be very well prepared with 
them. People have done that in the past and produces great results in placements. 

Resources: www.freshersworld.com for Aptitude Questions 

Tip: Choose your PR very seriously. He is very important to open more companies for Chemical and 
otherwise also. 

 
 

Name: Manish Gupta 

Placed in: Mahattan Associates   5.5 lacs p.a. 

Location: Bangalooru 

Tried for: Schlum, ITC 

What were the resources you used? 

I took help from internet and friends. Although, I don’t remember any particular site as such. 

How important are attending PPTs? 

I attended PPTs for shell, ITC etc. It helps. It is very important to know about the company before 
you for an interview. 

Which way of preparation is better: Group/individual? 

Group Preparation is always better as you can practice mock questions and frame up better answers 
in a group. 

What kind of question were there in the written test? 

Analytical, aptitude, puzzles etc. 

What problems did you face in Schlum? 

They asked me a question on the Nandigram issue and I couldn’t justify my point very well. 

Are you applying for off campus placements? What is the process? 

I am not applying. 

Tips: Read company profile very carefully before you go for an interview. 

Prepare for HR interviews well. Questions like what are your strengths, weaknesses etc. are often 
asked. 

 
MAYANK (Placed in INDIAN OIL CORPORATION LTD.(IOCL)) 

Questions which were put up:‐ 

Q.   Tell us about your Family background? 

A.   Just tell about your family background.  

Q.   Tell something about how the campus placements are going on? 

A.   As I was the first person to be interviewed, I was asked this question. I answered             this 
very  factually  that  the  placement  scenario  is  very  fine  as  it  was  at  that  time.  Chemical  was 
leading at that time among all the branches from placement perspective. 

  

Q.  Tell something about your current batch? 

A.      I  answered  this  by  telling  my  class  strength  and  the  no.  of  students  in  B.Tech  and  IDD 
(Integrated Dual Degree). 

Q.   Do you know about our company’s branches and its major products? 

A.   I satisfied them by telling them about all their branches spread in whole of the country. I also 
mentioned about the company’s major refinery products and areas in which it is involved.  

Q.  Where did you have your 3rd yr. internship and training? 

A. I told them from where I had done my internship. It was IOCL itself. I told them about the 
branch of IOCL. I told some major things which I learnt during my internship training. 
 

Q. Why do you want to join IOCL ? 
A.  I answered them in the way that I was keen to join an oil company. 
 

Q.  Do you want to be a process or production engineer? 

A.  I replied that I wanted to go for process engineering.(This is totally your personal opinion.) 

 
 SOME USEFUL ADVICES FROM MY SIDE: 

• You  should  have  some  skill  in  yourself  that  each  and  every  company  wants  in  its 
employee. 
• If you are going for a core company, then you must have a quite good knowledge of your 
core  subjects.  No  need  of  software  knowledge  for  core  companies.  Catalyst  temp, 
cyclone etc technical thing 
 

• To know about your skills, make your own skill chart. 
 

 
Anurag Chaudhary(Placed in ONGC) 

Questions that were put up:‐ 

Q.  Tell about your family background? 

A.  I answered the question accordingly. 

Q.  In which project were you involved and where did you complete that? 

A.  I answered from where I had my internship. I also provided all the necessary details      

      whatever they asked me about my industrial project. 

Q.  Who is the PM of our country? 

A.  I answered the question correctly. By such type of questions, they try to check our                                                         

      general knowledge. 

Q.  Why did  not you go for some other company? 

A.  I wanted to join a core company. So I have chosen this one. 

SOME ADVICES THAT I WOULD LIKE TO GIVE:‐ 

• Do not get over confident. 
• Do not intend to be over smart 
• Maintain your Aptitude Level good. 
• Be very honest in front of them. 
• Improve your personality. 
• Do not hesitate while answering the questions. 
 

 
Vikas Kumar (Placed in Manhattan Associates) 

Questions that were asked:‐ 

Q.  Tell us about your family background? 

A.  I answered them accordingly. 

Q.  Why do want to go for a software company? 

A.  I told them about my interest in software sector. 

Q.  Answer a puzzle: “We want to arrange four trees equidistant from each other. What will be the 
arrangement we are going to have? 

A.  The right answer was tetragon. So I answered it correctly. 

Q.  Where do you want to get placed? 

A.  I answered as any one would have done, nearby to my home town. 

Q.  How many years will you work with us? 

A.  I answered it somewhat politically. You can answer it whatever way seems you to be right. 

SOME ADVICES FROM MY SIDE: 

• Be Confident.  
• Have Presence of mind. 
• Be aware always. 
• You should have the Capability and will to learn new things. 
• Be prepared for the interviews. Don’t go bare handed. 
• Solve as many puzzles you can. 
• Don’t lie in front of them. They will catch you. 
• Team work is considered. 
• Be cool and calm. 
 

 
Name: Devendra Singh 
Department: Chemical Engineering 
Placed in: Manhattan Associates 

• If someone wants to appear for these companies, what all should he/she ideally prepare? (If 
you could draw from your mistakes, it would help a lot.) 
Well, Manhattan Associates ask you some puzzles during the interview hence you must 
regularly practice solving puzzles, to get used to them. The puzzles they ask is quite 
similar to those asked in CAT .You got to have good communication skills if you want to 
get a job at Manhattan Associates. 

• Is any pre knowledge of programming languages needed when it comes to Manhattan 
Associates? 
It’s not essential. But if you are familiar with C++ and all, you would certainly have an 
advantage. A the same time  you should be able to answer any question they ask about 
that language. I myself didn’t have any knowledge of C++ and I admitted to them the 
above fact. 

• What different types of questions were you asked in the interview? 
I was asked questions regarding my personality. I was asked to describe myself. And 
the most important question which they asked was why I didn’t want to join Core 
Company. 

• What were the different rounds, you had to go through? 
After the short listing there was a G.D. and then Personal interview. There    was no 
case study as is in the case of others. 

• What package were you offered? 
         Well 5.626 lac per annum and in hand 36‐38 thousand per month. 

 
Name: Balbeer Singh 
Department: Chemical Engineering 

Placed in: Dr.Reddy’s 

• If someone wants to appear for these companies, what all should he/she ideally prepare? (If 
you could draw from your mistakes, it would help a lot.) 
As far as Dr. Reddy’s is concerned the candidate must have sound technical knowledge. 

• What different types of questions were you asked in the interview? 
Well, I was asked questions about myself as well as technical questions. I was asked 
questions on distillation, reaction engineering – equipment design, simulation etc. the 
question which was of prime importance to them seemed to be me willing to go for MBA or 
not. They also asked questions about the projects I  had listed in my resume. There was no 
puzzle asked during the interview. 
VAISHALI AGGARWAL

Placed at British Gas Group, considered to be a world leader in natural gas.

The entire placement procedure took around 6 hrs, most of it focused on non-
technical aspects. After short listing 12 students of various branches on CGPA
basis, there was no further elimination round and cumulative performance was
taken into accord in selection procedure.

It started with an Assessment group discussion that started with division of

students into 2 groups with 6 members in each of them. It took around 1 hour,
20 min of studying case study + 40 min of group discussion. The case study
comprised of 2 sheets- one containing the information about a company, that
wants to get associated with BG group, the other contained general criterion of
BG requirements. Each member of the GD was given a different company, and
the motive was to represent and discuss the pros & cons to membership of that
company. The GD certainly aimed at understanding the requirements of the
company and meeting them & at the same time convince others that their
company can do it better than others.

The II was a Role-Play round (1 hour), which means to enact it out. It was
divided into two parts (1/2 hr each). It was told that you are an employee in BG,
the managers are not willing to send you for a project that you are aiming at.
So, in the first half the project was to be studied and in the second half 2
managers were to be convinced on your point. There was cross-questioning done
and communication skills were judged. So, this ½ hour of enacting required a
hell lot of effort & skills to persuade the managers.

Later came the Executive summary writing round. It required to study about a
business partner of BG and to find out whether this company is working to the
demands of BG. This was a written round.

The fourth stage comprised of data interpolation. This was mainly centered
around numerical tests and evaluating mathematical skills and also
interpretation skills from graphs and other statistical data.

Another test was named Verbal Ability Test. It comprised of reading various
extracts and each extract was followed by some 4-5 questions, which were
either to be answered true or false or irrelevant.

Finally was the Personal Interview, scary and quite interesting one. The 2
interviewers asked to talk about you for 2 min. The questions were very
commonly asked one. They aimed at seeking situation of being a team member,
situation where you did some result oriented work. She put up the answer that
had less technical relevance and she had to manage to travel from Jamnagar to
Mumbai. When asked about the time when you had to take your own decision,
she told that she was the captian of swimming team and had to make many
decisions by her own. She had also quoted some incidents from her experience
in dramatics section when asked about convincing a group on your point.

 
 

PRAGYA GODARA

Got her branch changed from metallurgy to chemical, got placed at 3M India Ltd.
This company was formerly Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing and is now an
American Multinational conglomerate corporation with a worldwide presence.

After the inclusion of these very heavy words, which hardly have a relevance to
our motive let’s begin with the selection procedure. 3M short listed around 80-85
students out of which 60-70 actually appeared for first round that was a group
discussion (5 min). A group of 6-7 students were made. They were given a
general topic (like “how are the call centers affecting the employment scenario in
India”). A 4 min discussion session was followed by 1 min of concluding session.
Out of them 13 students got short listed who were interviewed for 12-13 min
each. The interview constituted the general questions put like – why do want to
join this company? extra-curricular, areas of interest, technical questions from
the areas of interest like basic principles of laws of thermodynamics etc. They
looked for the ratio of team work and individuality in the individual. They
certainly preferred those with more of team building skills. They finally recruited
2 students and our PG was one among them.

 
 

K. SRAVANI

The DR-2 of chem. 4th year, got placed at Deloitte.

Deloitte is basically a consulting firm that provides audit, financial advisory, risk
management and tax services to selected clients.

It short listed around 550-600 from various branches. The first round was a
written test wherein 40 questions were asked, that had CAT/Aptitude test
approach. 80 students got short listed who gave the first round of interview.
Shravni’s interview took around 50 min.20 min of the interview were solely
concentrated on why was she opting for a job like this where as she has a bright
future in technical fields, GRE etc. She got the panel convinced that she is not
going to opt for higher studies. She also had to give an explanation for such a
high CGPA. Then the interviewed some general puzzles, the HR questions that
comprises team management, Quick thinking, logical and technical aptitude etc.
35 students got short listed and had to give the second round of interview. Then
interview almost revolved the HR stuff. The panel asked to justify the qualities
such as team work by reciting a real life incident. They asked about the
strengths and weaknesses. Sravani finds her lucky enough to get her weakness
known that the first interviewer had put upon the form that was passed on to
the second one. She explained that it was not the temper that made people feel
she is aggressive but it was the high pitch of her voice. A flattening and phodoo
answer altogether.

She told Deloitte basically looks good communication skills, clarity of thoughts,
technology integrating aptitude, convincing and persuasive personality etc etc…
 

SMITA NAINANI

Another phodu mam, who got her branch change from metallurgy to chemical,
got placed at shell. SHELL opened up for Chem (Btech + IDD), Electrical, Civil,
Mtech cources, Geology, Earth Sciences. Shell is a world-wide group of oil, gas
and petrochemical companies with interest in biofuels, wind and solar power and
hydrogen. It short listed around 60 students.

The placement procedure constituted of 3 stages. The first one was a find of
presentation (without laptop/slide-show). It basically dealt about one of the
projects, its scope and approach. Their was a 1 hour questionnaire session
seeking for reason for the applied approach.

Around 27 students got shortlisted and entered the second stage of placement
procedure. 20-25 set of shees included formal letters, mails their
replies,government issued notices. 1 hour 20 min time was given to this
casestudy. There after it was said that “you are a temporary manager in the
firm, start with the various problems the company is facing, current situation,
short and long term plans the plans must undertake and optimum utilization of
its resources to be presented”. Then there was a questionnaire session of 25 min

The third was a group discussion round wherein 11 students were short listed. 2
groups one with 5 students and the other with 6 were made. Smita was in 2nd
one. This was further subdivided into 3 groups (each representing village,
district and state level projects). Now each group had to finalize two projects out
of 4 on their level. Then there was a common GD of 6 members and had to
finalize 2 projects. Just at the end of GD,it was announced that an earthquake
has taken place, so what two projects will they chose.

All 11 got through this brain storming session.