Job Profile
System Administrator for a nationalized bank. /* I went as a fresher */.
Location
It was a big conference room, enough to accommodate 50 computers. I was sitting on a metal chair with no arm-rests in front of a panel of seven-eight interviewers. All are middle-aged, seemed to be high-profile except for one – an old man with long white hair and beard and easily mistaken for a swamiji.
Time
Around 2 PM on a hot afternoon day and I was sitting there with a half-stomach.
And so, the interview had started and the questions were shot at me in such a way that on more than one occasion I was looking to run away from there.
Why?
There was no gap between the questions and replies – It went as a quick session. I am giving only a snapshot of the marathon 1.5 hour interview!
You graduated in CSE. Why do you want to join a bank?
/* Why did I come for interview? */
Basically, I don’t like big cities like Chennai and Bangalore. IT companies exist only in such cities. I want to work in small cities.
If we post you in Mumbai, will you go?
/* If I’m getting the job, location doesn’t matter */
I will.
You said you don’t like big cities. If you go there, won’t you work half-heartedly? Won’t it affect your performance?
/* Err…. */
I can adapt myself into any situation. I…
Recently, Microsoft was in news for its site getting hacked.What is hacking?
Hacking is … blah.. blah.. blah.. /* Continued for 3 minutes. */
That’s it? Where did you get this info?
/* Trying to get some impression */
During engineering, in addition to academic books, we used to read computer journals like Chip, Digit, etc.
Do they have only this much info?
Err. Actually, we were too busy with our academics that we could get enough time to only browse through headings.
Do you read your textbooks also like this?
Not exactly… but…
What are your favorite subjects?
Operating Systems, Artificial Intelligence, Computer Graphics… /* Not now */
/* I was not finished, one interviewer was already opening my resume and marklists. */
Which semester do you have OS?
2nd year 2nd sem
You got only 65? You told that’s your favorite subject?
Mmm. Our batch was the unluckiest in our university. They generally do a tough evaluation and only one or two go past 80%.
/* Not leaving */
But you got 94 in Probability and Statistics?
/* This is the highlight of all. */
Ok. Have you visited our website?
/* Should get back some impression */
Yes, I had. It was www.abcxyz.com.
What did you see there?
The website mentions some schemes, different deposits available, bank history…
You said you were preparing for GATE. Haven’t you gone through the Education Loan schemes?
No. I think I might not need one.
Ok. What else did you see?
/* Ahhh! How much can one see on a bank website? Feeling hungry, tired and ready to hit*/
The Home page lists Board of Directors and their photos… and …
Is anyone of those sitting here? Can you identify?
/* I started staring at each one’s face. They were smiling at each other. These were old and bald fellows and the website had images of similar old persons. I gave up.*/
Ok. Let’s do some technical questions.
The interview went on. I felt like I went to a civil services interview. I rate it as my best performance.
p.s. Later I found out that the swamiji was the Chairman of the bank.
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