CGI

CGI hires freshers through campus recruitment and periodic off-campus drives, and experienced professionals through its careers portal, job portals such as Jobaaj, referrals and staffing partners. The process is largely virtual.

1. Application and eligibility screening

For fresher drives CGI typically asks for a B.E., B.Tech, M.Tech, MCA or M.Sc. in a relevant discipline, an aggregate of around 60 to 65 percent through tenth, twelfth and graduation, and no active backlogs. Lateral candidates are screened against the skills and years of experience listed for the role.

2. Online assessment

Fresher candidates take an online test with aptitude sections on quantitative ability, logical reasoning and verbal ability, plus a technical section on programming fundamentals and one or two coding questions. Lateral candidates in some skills also complete a technical test or a coding exercise.

3. Technical interview

A 30 to 45 minute interview with a senior engineer or technical lead covering your core language, data structures, databases, projects and, for laterals, hands-on depth in your stack. You may be asked to write or explain code on screen.

4. Managerial or second technical interview

Some roles include a second round with a delivery manager to assess problem solving, teamwork, client communication and fit for a specific project. Laterals often get a deeper technical or design discussion here.

5. HR interview

HR discusses your motivation, location preference, shift flexibility for support roles, salary expectations and notice period, and explains CGI's benefits including the share purchase plan.

6. Offer, verification and onboarding

Selected candidates receive an offer letter, complete background verification and join an induction. Freshers go through a training programme on their assigned technology before moving to a project.

The rounds below describe the fresher Associate Software Engineer track. Lateral hires normally skip the online test and have two to three interviews focused on their skill area.

Round 1: Online assessment

Roughly 90 to 120 minutes, online and proctored, with sectional cut-offs. The coding questions are usually easy to medium and can be attempted in common languages such as Java, Python, C++ or C#.

• Quantitative aptitude and data interpretation
• Logical reasoning and verbal ability
• Programming fundamentals: output prediction, OOP concepts, basic SQL
• One or two coding problems on arrays, strings or simple algorithms

Round 2: Technical interview

30 to 45 minutes with a technical lead. Expect the interviewer to pick one language from your resume and go deep on it, then move to your projects.

• OOP concepts with examples: inheritance, polymorphism, interfaces
• Data structures: arrays, linked lists, hash maps, and when to use each
• SQL joins, indexing and normalisation
• Detailed walkthrough of your final-year project

Round 3: Second technical or managerial interview

Used for many roles and for most lateral positions. A delivery manager or architect assesses how you approach problems and fit into a client-facing delivery team.

• Debug a small piece of code or explain a design choice
• How you would handle a production incident on a client system
• Working across time zones and with offshore or onsite teams

Round 4: HR interview

A 15 to 30 minute conversation on fit and logistics.

• Why CGI and what you know about its business
• Willingness to relocate across CGI's five India cities and to work in shifts if needed
• Salary expectations, notice period and service agreement for freshers