10 Most Difficult Tech Firms For Interviews

Interviews can be hard for anyone, but several companies tend to make the interview process difficult in order to separate the wheat from the chaff. Technology companies are particularly notorious for making the interviews tough, posing difficult questions to assess how applicants fare on various criteria.

Professional networking website Glassdoor has released the list of companies with the most difficult interview processes. We bring to you the technology with the toughest interviews, as well as details like average span of the interview process and the kind of experience that the interviewees have. Click to find out the 10 tech companies with the most difficult interviews:

1. ThoughtWorks
ThoughtWorks grabbed the top spot among technology companies when it came to the most difficult interview process, with an average difficulty rating of 3.9. Seventy three percent of the interviewees surveyed by Glassdoor reported a positive experience, while 14% had a bad experience.

The typical interview process at ThoughtWorks lasts 43 days, with interviewees giving it an employee satisfaction rating of 4.1 out of 5.

2. Google
Google has an average difficulty rating of 3.6 out of 5, with a typical interview lasting 37 days. Sixty four percent interviewees had a pleasant experience, while 23% had a negative experience, with the company getting an average employee satisfaction rating of 3.3.

3. Hubspot
Software maker HubSpot has an average difficulty rating of 3.5 and employee satisfaction rating of 4.1 out of 5. The interview process takes 20 days on an average and 62% people had a good interview experience, while 27% had a bad one.

4. Avaya
Avaya takes the fourth spot in the list, with average difficulty rating of 3.4 and employee satisfaction score of 2.9. Eighty six percent interviewees had a good experience, while 10% experienced a bad time, with the average process time being 30 days.

5. Microsoft
Software titan Microsoft secured an average difficulty rating of 3.4, while its employee satisfaction score is 3.7. The average interview process lasts 29 days, with 70% respondents having a positive experience and 14% reporting a negative time.

6. Sapient
With an average difficulty rating of 3.4 and employee satisfaction score of 3.8, Sapient takes the sixth spot in the list. Average interview process at Sapient takes 12 days, with 76% respondents having a good experience and 13% having a negative time.

7. Citrix
Citrix grabs the seventh position in the ranking, with an average difficulty score of 3.4 and employee satisfaction rating of 3.8. The overall interview process on an average takes 29 days at the company, and 56% people report a positive experience and 26% have a negative time.

8. Nvidia
Nvidia gets an average difficulty rating of 3.4 and employee satisfaction score of 3.8. The company on an average takes 22 days to complete an interview; 81% people in the survey had a positive experience, while 7% had a bad one.

9. Informatica
Informatica scores 3.4 in terms of average difficulty of the interview and 3.9 in employee satisfaction. In the survey, 83% of the respondents said they had a positive experience, while 11% had a negative time; average length of interviews at the company is 19 days.

10. Facebook
Facebook has a difficulty score of 3.3 in the survey and employee satisfaction rating of 3.9; interview process goes for 30 days on an average. Seventy two percent of the respondents reported a positive experience and 14% had a bad time.

Old list:
Below is  Glassdoor’s list of the 25 Companies That Give the Toughest Job Interviews(as per Aug 2013):

1. McKinsey & Company

2. ThoughtWorks

3. The Boston Consulting Group

4. Gartner

5. Bain & Company

6. Rolls Royce

7. ZS Associates

8. Google

9. Stryker

10. HubSpot

11. Paycom

12. Vistaprint

13. Teach For America

14. Procter & Gamble

15. Avaya

16. Microsoft

17. BlackRock

18. Sapient

19. Citrix

20. Nvidia

21. Informatica

22. Facebook

23. Guidewire

24. Caterpillar

25. Rackspace

8 hottest IT skills for 2014

Wonder what are the most-sought after IT skills for 2014. ComputerWorld's annual IT skills survey uncovers the skill-sets that IT managers will be looking for in 2014. From 'Networking' to 'Project management', here is a list of the hottest skills that will work in your favour in 2014.

1. Programming/application development
Topping the ComputerWorld's hottest skills for 2014 list is 'programming/application development'. The skill ranked at top position in last year's Hot skills survey too. According to the survey, 49% of respondents said that they plan to hire for this skill in the coming 12 months.

As per the survey, developer and programmer job openings are the most difficult to fill. The hottest specialties within this category are mobile development expertise and experience building secure applications.

2. Help desk/technical support
Ranked at no. 2, help desk/tech support has moved up one position from its last year's ranking. According to the survey, 37% of respondents said that they plan to hire for this skill in the coming 12 months.

The fact that many companies are bringing help-desk functions back in-house is contributing to the rise in demand for this skill, says the report.

3. Networking
Another sought-after IT skill in 2014 will be 'networking', ranked at no. 3 in the survey. As per the study, 31% of respondents said that they plan to hire for this skill in the coming 12 months. 'Networking' ranked at no. 8 in last year's ranking.

The spurt in demand for wireless connectivity is probably behind the interest in networking professionals, claims the survey quoting Scot Melland, CEO of Dice Holdings.

4. Mobile applications and device management
The fourth hottest skill for 2014 is 'mobile applications and device management'. Some 27% of survey respondents said that they plan to hire for this skill in the next 12 months. The increasing proliferation of mobile devices seems to have catapulted the skill to no. 4 from its last year's position of no. 9.

According to the survey, mobile expertise is the third most difficult skill to find, after development and BI/analytics skills.

5. Project management
'Project management' is next on the list of hottest skills for 2014. Some 25% of respondents surveyed said that they plan to hire for this skill in the next 12 months. While project management fell from its no. 2 position of last year, it still continues to be among the highly sought-after skills.

The demand for project managers is second only to that of software developers/engineers, says ComputerWorld report quoting Dice's CEO

6. Database administration
At no. 6 on the list is 'Database Administration'. Some 24% of respondents said that they plan to hire for this skill in coming 12 months. The growing enterprise interest in Big data appears to be fuelling the interest in the demand for 'Database Administration' professionals.

7. Security compliance/governance
Security Compliance/Governance ranks next on the list. Some 21% of respondents surveyed said that they plan to hire for this skill. The growth of ecommerce and increasing cases of malware and cyberattacks globally has led to a sharp rise in the demand for security professionals.

The demand for 'Security Compliance/Governance' professionals is up 23 percent according to the survey.

8. Business intelligence/analytics
Business intelligence/analytics ranks at no. 8 on the list. Some 18% of the respondents said that they plan to hire for this skill in the next 12 months, as per the survey.

One of the fastest-growing skills, the demand for business intelligence/analytics professionals has seen a 100% jump, says the report quoting Dice's Melland. BI professionals are also often reported to command high salaries.

Note: The results are based on the responses of IT executives who responded to ComputerWorld's survey.

Source: ComputerWorld

Adaequare plans to hire 150 professionals by March end

Data engineering and analytics solutions provider Adaequare plans to hire 150 professionals by end of this fiscal. 

The Hyderabad-based company is also looking to acquire small-sized companies with niche tools to drive growth. 

"Adaequare is looking at a good mix of organic and inorganic growth to continue staying ahead of the curve in the Data Engineering and Analytics space. We plan to hire 150 professionals by end of this fiscal," said Raju Bhupati, who has been elevated to the position of COO, said in a statement. 

"We are also looking at acquiring small firms with 30-50 people in areas such as testing. A few firms are on the radar. We are evaluating them," he said.

Wipro to hire 1,000 employees in Germany over the next three years

IT services major WiproBSE 0.00 % Ltd on Wednesday said it will triple its headcount in Germany by hiring over 1,000 people over the next three years with an aim to expand its operations in the key European nation. According to industry estimates Germany's IT market size stood at around $80 billion last year.

"Wipro plans to triple its employee strength in Germany over the next three years, by hiring over 1,000 professionals," the company said in a release.

At present, the Bangalore-headquartered firm has over 500 employees in Germany, which serve more than 30 clients. It has 145,000 employees across 98 countries as on March 31, 2013.

Source: Economic Times

Ericsson hires 4,000 employees in India

Ericsson, the world's largest mobile network equipment maker, has increased staff headcount of its global services unit in India, buoyed by a sharp surge in its managed services business.

The Swedish vendor has hired more than 4,000 techies at Ericsson India Global Services, accounting for nearly 90% of its India workforce expansion in calendar year 2011, executives aware of the development told ET.

Latest employment numbers shared by Ericsson reveal its India workforce climbed nearly 72% last year to 11,535 from 6,710 reported in December 2010.

Facebook offers Rs 1.34 cr package to Allahabad engineering student

Social networking giant Facebook has hired an engineering student here for a fat annual pay package of Rs 1.34 crore, one of the biggest offers made to alumnus of any technical institution of the country.

According to P Chakravarti, Director of the Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology (MNNIT), a B.Tech student from the institute, who has requested that his name be withheld for "security reasons", received a letter on March 27 from Facebook confirming his appointment and the annual pay package on offer was stated to be USD 262,500 (around Rs 1.34 crore).

Interestingly, the MNNIT Director said the recruitment process began with a mail from Facebook "in October last year which was followed by nine rounds of telephonic interviews" before he was finally selected for the plush job which would require the student, who hails from Kanpur, to move to Menlo Park in California after finishing his software engineering course at the institute.

Tata Communications to hire 1,200 new staff, may raise debt

Tata Communications will recruit an extra 1,200 staff over the next 12 months in its outsourcing, sales and engineering divisions as it tries to turn around nearly three years of losses, the firm's CEO said on Wednesday.

The operator will also consider upping its debt if the potential returns justify it, Vinod Kumar, Tata Communications chief executive, told Reuters. Kumar declined to comment on the prospects of Tata buying Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CWW).

Tata said in a regulatory filing on March 1 its plans for an all-cash bid for CWW were "at a very preliminary stage", adding it would decide on whether to make an offer by March 29.

iGate Patni plans to hire 1,500 for product engineering business

Technology firm iGATE Patni expects nearly 25 per cent of its overall revenue to come from the product engineering services (PES) business in 2-3 years.

"We expect almost 25 per cent of our total revenues to come from the PES business in 2-3 years. Currently, about 15 per cent of the revenues accrue from PES business," said iGate Patni Executive Vice-President and Head of PES Satish Joshi.

PES business provides end-to-end product development and product life cycle management -- right from research and evaluation, electronic and engineering design, up to sustenance and maintenance. The business caters to sectors such as auto, industrial automation and control, consumer electronics, mobiles and semiconductor.

Snapdeal to hire 500 people in 6 months; keen on acquisitions

eCommerce major Snapdeal plans to increase its headcount over the next six months by adding 500 people.

Snapdeal, which claims to have over 15 million users, employs about 1,000 people at present.

"We have seen 80-90 per cent growth in traffic month-on-month over the last three quarters. We have been gradually increasing the pace of hiring and over the next six months, we will add about 500 people," Snapdeal Chief Executive Director Kunal Behl said.

The addition would be done in the areas of engineering and analytics, he added.

Infosys to set up another centre in Tamil Nadu

Infosys Technologies, the country’s second-largest information technology (IT) services exporter, has approached the Tamil Nadu government for 200 acres of land near Chennai for setting up a development centre, according to a senior state government official. The Bangalore-based company confirmed talks with the state government representatives, but refused to comment further.

The official said Kris Gopalakrishnan, chief executive officer and managing director of Infosys Technologies, met Deputy Chief Minister M K Stalin on Monday discussed on the company’s future expansion in the state.

Intelenet to hire 7,000 in India

Leading BPO services provider Intelenet Global Services has said it plans to expand its footprint overseas and hire around 7,000 personnel in FY '11.

"The IT sector is expected to grow at 15-20 per cent and so is the BPO sector. With the US economy back on the recovery path, we expect double-digit growth as against four-seven per cent last fiscal. We are, hence, planning to expand our business and hire more people. We plan to hire 7,000 personnel across the country this year," Intelenet CEO Susir Kumar said.

Currently, Intelenet employs over 32,000 people across the globe at 35 delivery centers at strategic locations. It has a headcount of 18,000 in India.

Mumbai-based Intelenet, that operates its BPO arm under BSE-listed Sparsh BPO, also plans to open more offices overseas and is focussing on markets such as China, the Middle-East and South America.

"The emerging markets such as the Middle-East, China and Latin America have tremendous potential. We are planning to open a few offices there. Besides, we are also looking at expanding our domestic operations to Tier II and III towns," Kumar said.

He, however, refused to divulge details on how many offices it plans to open and the amount of investment to be made in fiscal 2010-11.

Intelenet, with a global turnover of $350 million, already has offices in the US, Poland, the Philippines, Mauritius, the UK and Australia, to cater to the needs of several Fortune 500 companies there.

The company, which provides BPO solutions on banking and financial services, travel, hospitality and telecom, has recently added manufacturing services to its portfolio. It has over 90 clients across these sectors.

Indian cos' hiring activity picks up 1.5 % in March

India Inc's hiring activity picked up 1.5 per cent in March, led by IT-enabled services, insurance and auto sectors, a report by job portal naukri.Com has said.

Job portal naukri.Com's monthly Job Speak survey reflected renewed optimism among recruiters, with the new job index moving up to 962 in March compared to 947 in February.

The portal takes into account not only the jobs posted online by its clients but also those made by them with the help of the website's tele-calling team.

"The hiring intentions of companies in most industry sectors seem to be moving in a positive direction as reflected by the consecutively upward moving Job index in the first quarter of 2010. It seems 'cautious optimism' among employers has given way to definite optimism," said Sumeet Singh, the National Head (Marketing and Communication) of Info Edge, which owns the website.

Hiring in ITeS and insurance sectors have seen maximum movement with the index moving up by 13 per cent and 15 per cent respectively in March over the last month.

Recruitment in auto sector moved up by 8 per cent and in pharma sector by 7 per cent in March, the report said.

Professionals in production, banking and HR also witnessed an increase in hiring by 8 to 12 per cent in March over February, the report said.

Overall, the index seems to be moving in a robust manner with hiring moving up across all industry verticals, functional areas and cities.

Among cities, Delhi have emerged as the most bullish on hiring, with the city-wise job index moving up 13 per cent over the last month.

iGate to hire 500, eyes acquisitions

IT services company iGate said it will hire 500 professionals in the next two quarters to support its expanding operations.

"Most of the 500 people we plan to hire in over the next six months will be in India and some in Mexico and the US. They will be employed in both services in BPO areas," iGate CEO Phaneesh Murthy said.

The Nasdaq-listed company, which has been eyeing acquisitions in $30-70 million range for some time, is hopeful making it in 2010.

"We are aggressively pursuing it... We have $100 million cash on our balance sheet. We are eyeing acquisitions in $30-70 million range and we should finalise it in few months," he said. The company is looking at healthcare and financial BPO services.

There is a large pent-up demand... I think the bigger recovery is in the financial services," he said.

iGate said its net income more than doubled to $11.6 million for the January-March quarter compared to compared to $5 million registered in the same period last year, Murthy said.

Revenue was up 29 per cent at $57.9 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2010, compared to $44.8 million during the same period last year, he added.

iGate Chief Financial Officer Sujit Sircar said, "While we had an excellent performance in Q1 and expect revenues to grow, margins are likely to be under pressure due to increased hiring, rupee appreciation and wage inflation. Our cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments crossed the $100 million mark."

The company ended Q1 with 7,357 employees, a net addition of 447 employees during the quarter. Seven new customers were added by iGate during the quarter.

TCS to hire 30,000 in next fiscal

IT major, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), today said that its growth momentum in the last quarter of this fiscal would be better than the previous quarter and that the entire IT industry would see an improvement in the deal pipeline.

"The growth is definitely there and we should stick to what we have said earlier...The growth momentum in the last two quarters will continue this quarter also but we have to see whether it will be better than those during the boom days," TCS Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director, S Mahalingam, told reporters on the sidelines of a CII-IFRS summit here.

On increments to its employees, Mahalingam said that the company would be announcing the same around April but he would not be able to divulge the quantum now.

The TCS official, however, said that it would definitely be as per industry standards and keeping in view the prevailing economic scenario.

Mahalingam said that the company has planned to hire 30,000 personnel in the next fiscal.

Convergys to recruit over 1,000 employees

Convergys, global human resource and billing services provider, on Wednesday, said that it would hire more than 1,000 employees in Gurgaon (Haryana) in the next three months.

The company said 30 per cent of the hiring would include fresh graduates while the rest would be experienced talent.

“It has been a positive year for us and we have started a premium candidate programme under which we will be hiring employees aged between 20-25 years. The hiring has started from Wednesday and would be over in the next three months,” director (recruitment) Convergys’ Customer Management Operations in India, Ashutosh Sinha told Financial Chronicle on phone.

He said these jobs are the result of new businesses from telecommunications and financial services clients, especially from the US and UK, who will provide a range of voice-based support to the clients’ customers there. Apart from hiring, Sinha said the company would also raise wages for the existing employees including team leaders and managers in the company in the next two-to-three weeks.

“We have decided some bonuses and wage hikes for our existing employees of customer care associates and management staff. Our intent is that as it is a good year for Convergys, so there should be some fruitful results for them too,” he added.

The company at present employs around 11,000 people across India in its eight centres. On asked, what kind of investment the company would pump in for this, Sinha said, “It will be pretty much in par with the international standard. We have done some market analysis on that and will forward with it.”

Convergys, headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio has around 70,000 employees in 82 customer contact centres and other facilities in the US, Canada, Latin America, Europe, West Asia and Asia and our global.

Convergys to hire over 1,000

Global human resource and billing service provider Convergys Corporation today said it will hire more than 1,000 employees in the country over the next three months.

The company would hire over 1,000 people for its Gurgaon office in the country, the New York Stock Exchange-listed firm said in a statement.

"Convergys provides an outstanding quality of service to our clients, which is why they continue to entrust us with more business. We will hire the top quartile of candidates to ensure that we deliver superior service levels consistently," Convergys' Customer Management (India Ops) Director of Recruitment Ashutosh Sinha said.

The new jobs are for supporting its increased business from telecommunications and financial services clients and the employees taken on board would provide a wide range of voice-based support to the clients' customers, it said.

Convergys has about 70,000 employees in 82 customer contact centres and other facilities in the US, Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

In addition to comprehensive training, Convergys offers employees a positive work environment, competitive wages and benefits including tuition reimbursement, the statement added.

Cisco to hire 500 at Bangalore unit

After setting up its Globalisation East centre a couple of years ago, networking major Cisco now plans to make Bangalore one of its three hubs for technical services business. The business unit, presently being reorganised at a global level, will grow its Bangalore strength by 500 engineers in next 24-30 months.

Joe Pinto, senior vice-president - technical services, Cisco Systems told FC that the rapidly growing division is being transitioned to have three concentrated centres including in Bangalore and Raleigh (North Carolina, US) and other smaller units. “Bangalore will be a key centre with several senior engineers. Apart from doing some support for US clients, the team will take care of emerging markets and rest of Asia,” he said.

Presently, the technical services team has 3,500 people globally. In the short term, the unit is expected to add 500 people.

In its Globalisation East centre, Cisco has mirrored all corporate and operational functions at the US HQ. It also is looking to develop solutions and products especially aimed at emerging markets. Pinto sees the Bangalore team gaining from the available talent pool in India and easier access to solutions being developed at the Globalisation centre.

Cisco India's hiring plan on track, says John Chambers

Network-equipment maker Cisco Systems on Friday said it remains committed to the Indian market and its plans to increase headcount to 10,000 is on track.

“With all the appropriate caveats, the global econnomy is turning. We are deeply committed (to India). We are completing construction on two additional areas, which can house as many as 3,000 more,” Cisco CEO John Chambers said at a private function here.

The headcount India is projected to rise to 10,000 from about 6,000 currently, he added. However, Chambers did not divulge the timeframe.

MphasiS set to offer increments

Software services company MphasiS will roll out a salary increment for its 35,000-employees from May 1 this year, CEO Ganesh Ayyar told mediapersons at Pune. The company recently started a 2,000-seater global command and control centre in Pune for its remote infrastructure monitoring business vertical. The centre currently houses 600 technical staff supporting 450 clients worldwide.

While most companies had cut salaries in the slowdown time, MphasiS had retained them, linking the variable portion to the company’s performance as bonus. Mr Ayyar said: “Though this did give more money to the employees, most are still comfortable with the traditional increments, which is why we have decided to effect the hike,” adding that it had no relation to the revival of the economy.

ITC Infotech looks to hire over 1,800 people by March 2011

IT services and solutions firm ITC Infotech is looking to hire over 1,800 employees by March next year in its various offices across the country.

"We are looking to ramp up our headcount by more than 50 per cent to 5,000 employees by March next year," ITC Infotech HR head Anand Talwar told PTI.

The Bangalore-based company's current employee strength is 3,200 across its offices in various cities, including Bangalore, Kolkata and Hyderabad.