ZS Interview Questions and Answers for Freshers

Round: Test
Experience: Around 110 students were shortlisted for the online test (CGPA>=7) from all branches of B.Tech. Online test had 4 sections namely Simple Quantitative, Logical Reasoning, Verbal and attention to detail. 30 students were shortlisted for interviews based on the online test and interviews were taken according to the profile opted.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: In case interview, a case study would be given and one is supposed to analyze it within the time limit.

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: Technical interview varies for each profile, for BOA and BAA it would be mostly puzzles, case analysis and a brief on one's projects and internships.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: HR would be a bit tough, try to be confident. 11 students were offered placement. The whole interview process goes for a day long.

General Tips: It's challenging to crack the tests, interviews and get placed but at the same time don't get exhausted or dejected ever. From all that we have experienced, patience and wait always rewards you. Don't just sit for a company unless you the profile suits you. Once you are placed in a dream company you cannot sit for others. So choose wisely before you act.
Skill Tips: Use your summer effectively, though you are busy with internships and projects, a little beforehand preparation for placements would be really helpful. Do know about the company and job profile before going to an interview and pay attention to the company pre-placement talk. Knowing about the placement process helps too. If, you are applying for a core company, know your basic concepts thoroughly, be clear about your academic projects and internships.
College Name: NIT SURATHKAL

Round: Test
Experience: Quantitative: There were 2 questions. One was based on speed, distance & time and the other was on probability. Both of them needed a little bit of intuition and common sense. 
Analytical: 3 questions were analytical and required subjective answers and thus a good IQ and writing skills were essential.
Duration: 60 minutes

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: There were 8 of us for the GD round. We were then taken to the board room and were asked to sit in a circular fashion around the table. We were provided with notepads and pens, one per person. The topic was then announced by the panel members and we were given two minutes time to get prepared. Soon, we were asked to start the discussion. Over the span of 15-16 minutes, I brought to the table a few valid points such as the current national political scenario and the responses of many International bodies with regards to the deal. In the end, we were asked to summarize and conclude the discussion individually. Other than the GD, there was also a case study where I was given the task of analyzing a fictitious candy company's sales and set local goals for the salesmen. Also there was a round called 'Guesstimate' where I was asked to logically predict/guess the total number of cricket balls sold in India in one year.
Duration: 15 minutes

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: There was only one interview for me. It was a mixture of technical and HR. As far as the technical part goes, I was tested for my knowledge of engineering mathematics, probability distribution curves, etc.. I was quite prepared for these questions and answered them as I deemed fit.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: It was a thoroughly enriching experience for me. Initially, at the Pre-Placement talk, I was dazzled by the credentials of the delegation from ZS Associates. The manner in which the process of PPT was conducted was very professional and all the aspects were covered in the one and a half hour presentation. Although it was a very serious occasion, the delegation made me feel comfortable and were very encouraging throughout the process. All in all, it was a day whose memories I will cherish throughout my lifetime.

Skill Tips: My suggestion to juniors would be: 
1)Brush up your intermediate and engineering level mathematics. 
2)Keep yourself abreast of current affairs as they are of vital importance to sail through the GD and the Case Study rounds. 3)Improve your Communicative skills. 
4)Have an idea about the 'Guesstimate' and learn how to logically approach a given problem. 
5)A good statistical approach is essential to provide a convincing solution to the problem stated in the case interviews. 
6)Be prepared for all kinds of HR questions. 
7)Also, a high level of confidence and enthusiasm are sought after by the company.
College Name: NIT WARANGAL

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: Resume preparation was not a difficult task since I knew why I did things that were in my resume. To cover everything in detail I took help of HLPQ- a set of some 218 questions. There is no need to mug up answers to these questions. It should be read just once to get an idea of questions that can come up during an interview. I attended almost all pre-placement talks. These sessions definitely give a good idea about the company, the profile they are offering and the people therein. I consulted few seniors to make a choice between companies.

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: GD Topic: Should the government lay more stress on building infrastructure facilities before inviting/giving permissions to MNCs
Tips: I prepared in groups of 2/3. I think preparation should be done in groups, but with few members (max 4/5), so that everybody gains from it. Prepare with different groups &its because after some time , all group members start thinking in the same way and no new ideas come up. It also helps in knowing different perspectives about the same issue.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Case Interview: A candy company wants to increase its sales, what should it do to enhance sales in three given segments and how much compensation should it offer to its sales people? Also what should be the criteria to decide compensation? Lot of data was given- questions regarding best ways to analyze various kinds of data manually and using excel were also asked.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: HR Interview: Why ZS? How can you contribute to the firm? Some mathematical puzzles and graphical questions. If someone wants to appear for this company, what all should he/she ideally prepare? Nothing much…general case study preparation will be of help. Prepare questions like - Why ZS and What skills do you have to add value to the company. Rest all was general awareness…a little knowledge about what all excel can do.

General Tips: For case interviews, I gave fewer options for a particular problem & told them only what I thought could be the problem. After getting the feedback, I guess they were looking for a person who could suggest all possible options, prioritize them and then tell them reasons for choosing/ rejecting a particular option. Any key tips for interview-day, viz. dressing, etiquette. Dress properly and smartly .Be very confident Don't think too much about not being able to get through the company .Take your own pen and paper; keep spare copies of resume in a folder . Be energetic and enthusiastic.
College Name: IIT BOMBAY

Round: Test
Experience: The company does not look much into CGPA once you clear the test. The recruited students had CGPA’s ranging from 7.22 (mine) to 9.An online test which consists of quantitative, verbal, logical reasoning and attention to detail sections. It is a simple test for about an hour. CAT preparation is sufficient. As the test is easy, one should be able to solve almost all the questions correctly. The recruiters receive a detailed analysis of your test performance(like the time allocated to different questions etc. I got a glimpse of my performance sheet during one of the interview rounds) and it will be used until the last minute of their recruitment process.
Tips: Don’t waste much time on any single question. The questions are easy and you cannot move onto the next question until a question is answered. The time is also less and the individual sections are also timed. So act wisely

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: Each group consisted of 10 members. The topic was same to all the groups. ‘Arvind Kejriwal’ was the topic of discussion.
Tips: Discuss sensibly. Don’t dominate others. Listening is as important as talking. Listen to what others have to say and make your point when you have something to say.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: During this phase a booklet consisting of a case is given to every one and you are expected to solve the questions in the case booklet in 30 minutes. We were given a case on market entry of a credit card company. There were questions on choosing a customer segment out of given set of segments, allocating different policies for different customer segments, advertising and marketing strategies etc.The case was pretty long and it took around 10 -15 mins just to understand the case. 8 -10 questions are present in the case booklet at certain intervals under different topics. It’s better to go through the entire case before solving any questions for some questions require knowledge from the topics in the earlier pages. Most of the questions require you to interpret various data and working with numbers to choose between different alternatives.The case usually looks complex but as you proceed with patience it will all start making sense. After the case solving is over and the booklets are collected, an interviewer takes the case interview on the same case after some time. She will, in all probability, ask you to explain everything that was done in the case booklet and also some more questions that are not present in the case booklet. I willingly left one-liners as answers for questions like advertising and marketing strategy because I wanted her to ask me the question again so that I could explain my answers in detail.
Tips: You have to be quick with numbers in the data interpretation questions. Questions might be a bit tougher than the usual CAT level. Apart from data interpretation and numbers, some questions on marketing and advertising strategies are also present. Don’t get psyched out by looking at the case. It is not so difficult but the ten page booklet with numbers and graphs might spin your head out of balance.

In case you could n’t solve any question in time, don’t worry, you will have ample amount of time to think and come up with an answer before the case interview. While solving the case don’t strain yourself by writing clear and detailed explanations, your won’t have enough time. Work the figures and present the answers. But while you are presenting the case to the interviewer explain everything in detail.

These non-numeric questions generally test your creativity and use this opportunity to impress the interviewer with some good answers. Trust me this will go a long way during the entire recruitment process. Practice cases from ‘case in point’ to get a hang of some good cases related to advertising and marketing strategies.

Round: Behavioural Interview
Experience: A 40 minute one on one HR round with some senior ZS official. In my case, it was an american working in the Indian office who pretty much asked every possible HR question followed by guesstimate.
Tips: Be thorough with your CV. You should able to discuss ,for 2 minutes at-least, anything that is mentioned in your CV. Have some answers ready for the general HR questions. When asked, don’t just spit them out. Speak as if you are having a conversation with the interviewer. Do not panic during the interview. If you’re unable to understand a question, feel free to ask the question again, interviewers appreciate this. Take a few seconds before answering an unexpected question, this will help you in framing your answer well. In the CV, make sure you mention your exact role during an event/ sport and the result of your work as well. Be prompt and expect the unexpected. While solving the guesstimate make sure you have the right approach to solve the problem. When i was solving the guesstimate, I got stuck after a few minutes. So I told him that I wanted to solve the guesstimate using a different approach. I did but ended up with the wrong answer as i assumed some wrong statistics. It didn’t matter as my approach was right. So don’t worry about the answer, focus on the approach.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: This round of interview was with the partner of one of the ZS offices. 9 out of 10 people who made it to this round were hired. This round is to make sure that you’re a perfect fit for the organisation. Again a 20-30 minute HR interview ,mostly based on your CV and your interest in a particular job profile, was held.

I was asked to describe a situation when people looked down upon me and what I did to come out of it and how I got everyone to appreciate me after that. As to the answer for this question, I described my school journey from an average student to the state topper of RMO.
Tips: Have a solid answer for why you want this particular job. This round is a little bit intimidating but don’t give in. Feel free to ask questions. Asking questions is very important for several reasons during this round. One, you can change the tune of the interview by preventing the interviewer from cross questioning based on flawed answers. Two, it shows how much you have researched and thought about this job. The interviewer answered my questions for more than 10 mins and he actually seemed interested to answer my questions rather than rebuking me for asking too many. To ask some good questions, you must study the company in and out.
If there is anything special about you, this is your best chance to prove it and the impression you make on somebody like a partner will help a lot.

General Tips: Involvement in some kind of extracurricular activity is helpful in acing the behavioral rounds of the interview. This is particularly important because ZS generally employs rigorous behavioral rounds. Most of the recruits have had decent extra-academics. You can expect a good number of questions on various aspects of leadership qualities, team skills etc., from the extra academics mentioned. Involvement in hall activities, societies,sports - anything will do as long as you present them well.

Projects do matter. Recruiters are interested in knowing the practical applications of the projects like BTP. You must prepared to explain your projects in layman terms. Same With the internships, it doesn’t matter even if you have big names under your internship column.The work that was done during the period is all important.

Don’t worry too much about anything, be it CG or extra acads or whatever during the placements period. There isn’t much you can do now. Just prepare well. That’s all you can do. On top of everything, have that brash confidence that you are just as qualified as everyone else out there. After all we all have cleared same JEE. Good luck and happy hunting.
Skill Tips: CAT preparation helps a lot.
Skills: Quantitative skills, Case solving, logical reasoning skills
College Name: IIT KHARAGPUR

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: I attended the workshop organized by Mckinsey & Co. on resume writing. It was of great help for me when I started writing my resume. I first made my resume on my own and then I looked at some of the resumes of my passed out friends. If you have any friend in Mckinsey or BCG, have a look at his resume it will help you a lot. Then I got my resume corrected and checked by my friends of my batch and some passed out seniors. It is always good to get opinion of 2-3 people on your resume. It really helps to improve.
Tips: I tried to attend PPTs as many as possible. First thing is u get free pizza and second u get to know about the company, their recruiting procedure, the job they are offering and the pay package. Try to attend as much ppt as possible. People who come to give ppt are very smart and they also tell you how to prepare for interviews. If someone wants to appear for this company, what all should he/she ideally prepare? Prepare your HR well. Do some case studies. Familiarize yourself with some commonly used business jargon's and be confident.

Round: Test
Experience: First there was a written test in which about 50 people got short listed. Then it was followed by a GD after which about 30 people got short listed and then a case study round after which 18 got short listed and finally one HR. They made 8 offers finally Walk us through the GDs/Interviews of this company. In the written test, there were about 8 questions comprising of 4 HR questions and 4 puzzles. Puzzles were mostly logical and were easy to solve. HR questions included questions like why you want to join ZS, what are your 3 most important strengths, how will you help ZS in growing etc. It was followed by a GD where the topic was “Privatization of Government sectors- Good or Bad
Tips: There are lots of books on case studies available in IIT on various servers. There are few websites also for puzzles, but I think a community on Orkut with the name Puzzles is the best place to practice puzzles.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Then case study was not a typical business case study, it was more data analyzing kind of thing. Some charts and data tables were given and we were asked to come up with a model to decide how much incentive should be given to sales force
Tips: .For interviews and case studies, I believe preparing in groups is the best policy. Don’t make very big group for case studies. A group of 2, max 3 is enough. Try to do case studies with different persons, you will get different perspectives. Don’t mug up your HR answers, but thinking about and telling it to your friend will be of immense help

Round: HR Interview
Experience: In final HR round they asked me about myself, my internship, my strengths, my weaknesses and one simple supply demand problem.

College Name: IIT BOMBAY

Round: Test
Experience: Quantitative: There were 2 questions. One was based on speed, distance & time and the other was on probability. Both of them needed a little bit of intuition and common sense. Analytical: 3 questions were analytical and required subjective answers and thus a good IQ and writing skills were essential.
Duration: 60 minutes

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: There were 16 of us for the GD round.First we were divided into two groups of 8 each and then each group was then taken to separate board rooms and were asked to sit in a circular fashion around the table. We were provided with notepads and pens, one per person. The topic was then announced by the panel members and we were given two minutes time to get prepared. Soon, we were asked to start the discussion. Over the span of 15-16 mins, I talked about a few valid points such as the importance of the deal in the development of India and how it can provide a solution to reduce the dependency on non-renewable sources of energy to produce electricity.I also discussed a few points regarding the national security and integrity. In the end, we were asked to summarize and conclude the discussion individually.
Duration: 15 minutes

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: Nothing technical was asked.

Round: Behavioural Interview
Experience: First round was a behavioral interview and I was asked about my projects,club activities,hobbies etc. Finally I was asked to solve a guesstimate.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: In the second round of case interview I was supposed to prepare a report for a fictitious company to predict the effectiveness of a sales force that they had hired.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: The final interview as they called it Principal interview consisted of some questions based on basic mathematics as well as some HR questions like what do you expect from your first job and how ZS will help you to fulfill them.Basically it was an HR interview and nothing very technical was asked. It was completely a new kind of experience for me. During the Pre-Placement talk, I was enthralled by the credentials of the delegation from ZS Associates. The manner in which the process of PPT was conducted was very professional and all the aspects were covered in the one and a half hour presentation. The recruitment team was very helpful and supportive at each stage of the recruitment procedure. They were very dignified and despite of their huge achievements I found them to be very humble and down-to-earth. At the end of the day my feeling about the company was that this is the place where I long to belong.

Skill Tips: My suggestion to juniors would be: 
1)Brush up your intermediate and engineering level mathematics. 
2)Keep yourself
updated of current affairs and general knowledge as they are of vital importance to sail through the GD and the Case Study rounds. 
3)Make your Communication skills better so that you are able to express your solutions lucidly to impress the interviewer. 
4)Have an idea about the 'Guesstimate' and learn what should be the right approach to provide a solution to the given problem.
5)A good statistical approach is essential to provide a convincing solution to the problems stated in the case interviews. 
6)Be prepared for all kinds of HR questions. 
7)Also, a high level of confidence and enthusiasm are sought after by the company.
College Name: NIT WARANGAL