Comment : My whole interview experience with Cognizant went pretty smooth, except minor hiccups. I was interviewed for a Strategy role within a Business Unit, whose head & strategy function was based out of Pune and at that time I was located in Bengaluru so most of the process was supposed to be remote (which didn't happened exactly that way as mentioned below) Here are the details: Pre-Interview Connect: Received a call from Strategy function head to provide details on the role and understand my interest in the same. Also, I asked many questions to clarify the role. Overall, the discussion went well with an indication to schedule a formal interview. Later on I got a call from Strategy head that he's travelling to Bengaluru and he can schedule a formal face to face interview, which was scheduled by HR later. Business Interview (Round-1): I expected the Interview setting to be very formal considering this was a Strategy role but it was semi-formal and also it was more discussion oriented rather than Q&A style. We discussed lot about the way IT Services companies manage balance sheets and P&L and different components within those and how it's different from other industries. Also what drives a successful Strategy? is it rooted in core business fundamentals or it's something exclusively discussed in Board rooms and MBA grads from top tier colleges. It went really well and i was able to connect well with the interviewer Business Interview (Round-2): Initially I was supposed to meet business unit head face to face in Bengaluru but he could not meet as he was running late from last meeting and he had to catch a flight to Pune. Later on HR scheduled a video call with him. He first asked what kind of Strategy related projects I am working on in my current job. During the conversation, I mentioned about the book "Playing to Win" written by Lafley & Martin which highlights a framework to define strategy. Looks like he also read it so we discussed multiple aspects of that book and he specifically asked how to identify "Where to Play" and "Where not to Play", which i described in much detail. Interview went really well and again it was more of discussion oriented.

Comment : I still remember the name of the interviewer Mr. Syed Hussain.He was very nice and professional.Even though it was a late evening interview and I was a bit uncomfortable with background noise at home, he made me feel extremely comfortable.Took the time to explain the role and also spoke about the larger opportunities that Cognizant presents.It was a delight.I had to drop the offer only because i wasnt able to convince my family to relocate to Chennai.