Getting A Job At Cognizant
Founded in 1994, Cognizant is a global consultancy firm providing clients with digital transformation services and IT solutions. It employs some 318,000 people worldwide, with offices across North and South America, Europe, India, the Middle East and Asia Pacific.
A leading name in innovation for the digital age, Cognizant's services include:
- Artificial intelligence
- Business process services
- Software product engineering
- Intelligent process automation
- Digital strategy
- Quality engineering and assurance
- Cloud enablement
It provides these services to clients across a broad range of industries, such as:
The diversity and depth of Cognizant's operations present an exciting opportunity for those looking to launch or progress a career in the world of tech.
Cognizant Values
Cognizant works by a set of core values that define its culture, and how its people work together to deliver results. These values are:
- Start with a point of view
- Seek data, build knowledge
- Always strive, never settle
- Work as one
- Create conditions for everyone to thrive
- Do the right thing, the right way
As an aspiring Cognizant employee, it's important that you demonstrate these values throughout your application, and show a commitment to the inclusive, supportive, performance-driven culture the company promotes.
Types Of Roles At Cognizant
Cognizant offers employment opportunities at various stages, from student and early career openings to professional and executive-level posts.
Early-stage openings exist at undergraduate, graduate and Master's degree level, and can be found in a number of professional fields, including:
- Technology and engineering
- Sales and marketing
- Consulting
- Business processes
- Digital
- IT infrastructure
- Delivery management
All programmes come with full training and support, with plenty of scope for professional development.
Hiring Process At Cognizant
Whilst the exact process may vary slightly depending on the entry path and role applied for,
Cognizant hopefuls should prepare themselves for a competitive, multistage hiring process.
The typical structure of this includes an initial application, pre-employment testing, and one or more formal interviews.
Cognizant Online Application
On identifying a suitable role, the first step is to complete the Cognizant online application. Here you'll upload your CV, fill out some standard personal details, and complete some initial screening questions.
Make sure your CV is tailored to the specific role and highlights the key skills laid out in the job description. You should also refer back to Cognizant's core values, incorporating them into the answers you give to the screening questions asked.
The strength of your online application will determine whether you progress to the next round, so make sure it's well polished before you submit it.
Cognizant Aptitude Tests
If the hiring team considers you a strong candidate based on your application, you'll be invited to complete an online aptitude test.
This is typically split into four sections, each measuring a set of core skills and abilities. Each section is timed, and whilst the questions themselves may not be of an advanced difficulty level, the time pressure makes these online assessments a challenging task.
Cognizant Quantitative Aptitude
The quantitative section is a measure of your numerical reasoning ability and your grasp of key mathematical concepts. You'll be required to evaluate and draw conclusions from sets of data and apply standard calculations to solve business-related problems.
Topics covered include probability, profit and loss, averages, decimal fractions and power, and logarithms.
Cognizant Logical Reasoning Test
The logical reasoning section of the test looks at your critical thinking and analytical skills. A strong performance in this section shows Cognizant that you are quick to process information - a skill that influences both your problem-solving ability and your capacity for learning.
Questions are a combination of deductive and inductive reasoning and may include word problems such as syllogisms and inferences, number series, and pattern recognition tasks.
Cognizant English Comprehension
This part of the aptitude test looks at your vocabulary, grammar, reading comprehension and verbal reasoning ability. Questions will ask you to analyse passages of text and answer questions relating to them, which may involve drawing conclusions, evaluating arguments, or identifying assumptions.
Other tasks include error checking, sentence completion, word selection and tenses. Your score in this section tells Cognizant whether you have the language skills needed for effective communication, and how well you're able to process written information.
Cognizant Code Debugging
The final section of the aptitude test takes a practical nature and is actually more of a skills-based test. For each question, you'll be given lines of code in which errors are purposefully present. You'll need to identify these errors and fix them.
The questions you face will largely be based on data structures, number and string operations, and basic search and sort algorithms.
Cognizant Programming Test
In some cases, you may also be required to sit a specific coding test. This is typically split into four tasks - two of intermediate difficulty and two advanced - and looks to assess your programming skills in greater depth.
Tasks may revolve around input-output, pattern programming, identifying least common multiples (LCM) or greatest common divisors (GCD).
Cognizant Interview
If you successfully pass the required tests, you'll be invited to interview - the nature and number of which will depend on the role you've applied for.
For roles of a technical nature, both a technical interview and an HR interview will be held. The former will focus on your programming knowledge and capability, the latter on competency-based questions, personal strengths and weaknesses, and career aspirations.
What Is It Like To Work At Cognizant?
Cognizant cites itself as a diverse and inclusive community of top talent. It supports employee development through education and training initiatives and optional job rotations.
Competitive salaries are complemented by benefits packages and health care plans, and the company actively encourages a 'give back' culture through community-based and environmental projects.
Top Tips For Getting Hired At Cognizant
Be Proficient In One Particular Programming Language
For technical roles, your performance in the programming test will hold significant weight over your application. At present, this must be completed in either Java or Python, so it's advisable to focus on proficiency in either one of these programming languages.
Show A Desire To Learn
Cognizant is all about innovation, and it looks for talented minds that are eager to explore new ideas and approaches. Throughout the application process, and in particular, at the interview, show a keen interest in your own personal and professional development, and do your best to articulate how your desire to grow aligns with the company's strategic objectives.
Practice For The Cognizant Assessments
For both the programming skills and the aptitude test, plenty of practice is vital. If you've never come across them before, aptitude tests can be daunting, and the best way to overcome that is to familiarise yourself with the format and the different types of questions you'll encounter.
Try taking practice tests under timed conditions, as balancing speed with accuracy is perhaps the most challenging aspect of this type of assessment.
