Off-Campus Walkin Interview Experience in Xerox

Everybody is aware that work is the most important activity of life, if she wants better life in a human society. Of course, it is not so easy to find the appropriate job according to your preference.

After completing my graduation in B.Com, I was a fresher who was looking out for the job in Finance or IT Domain for my better carrier and future like everyone aspires. According to me I was good at my communication skills and was a quick learner. One of my friends referred me through his brother in a company called Xerox for position of financial analyst .The Company is a huge MNC in India. For me this was a dream come true. This was “THE” Opportunity which I never wanted to loose at any cost. I started preparing myself on accounting subject, And here it was my first Interview visit, and trust me is was not so easy! As it was through the employee referral channel so I was familiar about the job profile and work culture.

The following information was given in the email:

Venue Details (Bangalore):

Xerox Services
Level 1, Aviator Block, SEZ ITPB Whitefield Road
Bangalore, Karnataka, India-560 066

Documents Required: Photo ID Proof(Original), Copy of Resume

I was informed to reach there by 10:00 am sharp. As it was my first interview experience in life, so I started a bit early so that I would not get delayed. Well, I reached on time there. For the benefit of others, I am listing down the options to reach the Xerox office in Bangalore

How to reach Xerox Office in ITPL:

It is situated in Aviator block of ITPB. It is well connected to different part of Bangalore by bus. You can take the following option:

• If you are travelling by Metro, You can get down at Byappanahalli Metro station. From there you can take a bus going towards ITPL or Hope Farm. ITPL would be 8-9 km from the metro station.
• There would be several buses coming to ITPL. Route number 335E will directly drop you at the venue. This bus comes from The Majestic Bus stand. If you are coming from Silk board you can take 500F series buses. If you are coming from Hebbal, some 500 series bus will come directly, otherwise get down at KR Puram and take the bus for ITPL. It will be 6-7 km. from KR Puram railway station.

Once I reached there, I had to fill up the entrance form at the ITPL main gate. As this an SEZ zone, so strict security procedures are followed. I had to submit one original govt. photo id. They clicked my picture using a webcam, and then they gave me a temporary pass. After that I walked down the Aviator Building. It was a hot summer day in April, but there was enough greenery in the campus to feel relaxed. I finally reached my destination: Innovator Building. There was a big hall there and about hundreds candidates were waiting for their chance. I could make out from those faces itself they were experienced professionals. Seeing them, my nervousness couldn’t stop & my heart beat was increased. It seemed like my self-confidence had collapsed. On that Day, 3 rounds of interview were scheduled by the organization:

1st Round:

I was asked to introduce myself…..where I started with my name, education, aspirations and then coming to my family background I spoke about my parents, siblings their occupation. Lastly I was told to speak about my personal hobbies. Here they checked out how to I was able to express myself.

2nd Round:

It was a GD (Group Discussion) round including 45 applicants in a room. We were called individually and asked to speak continuously for at least 2 minutes on the topic provided by them on the spot. Some sample topics for GD are given below

• T20 overcoming one day series of Cricket Match
• Olympics in India
• Merits and demerits of social media sites on younger generations.

Expressing and defending your views in front of other 44 other participants was seriously a challenge. But somehow I managed to talk confidently on the topic and performed to the best of my ability.

I cleared my first two rounds this helped me to gain my lost confidence.

3rd Round:

Now I was in the third round. It was an aptitude test for 45 mins with 50 questions mingled up with basic accounts and some practical questions. Some questions included

• Arrange the purchases and sales in chronological order
• Define depreciation, amalgamation, and amortization.
• Questions to make journal entries and banking transactions etc..

After attending the 3rd round, I found the basics was easy and was bit confident that will clear this round too. I was asked to wait for 2 hours for the results. At this time world seems blank for me for next two hours.

Later when results were announced I wasn’t selected for the further process of the interview It was like world coming to an end for me. I was really upset coming back empty hand. My self-confidence was broken completely and I thought I was failure. Back at home tears were continuously rolling down my eyes for few hours. It was really hard again to come back to normalcy.

Next day when I woke up I made a decision that both success and failure are part of life so it’s no use letting down myself. It was just a beginning of my career. I started the day with positive attitude and was successful to regain myself for the next step.

Lesson Learnt: Don’t expect only objective questions in Accounts. You should know the subject well to attempt practical questions too. I am sure that my communication skill is good but I should have improved on the core subject a bit professionally. Having bookish knowledge didn’t help me. Hands on is important.

“To understand your decision and interpreting it is the first step of success; where mistakes and failures are part of some unique discovery.” – Nida