I applied through an employee referral. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at CGI (Mumbai) in May 2010
Interview
1. The Junior HR called me and connected to Testing Analyst team.
2. Telephonic interview was not very hard to crack. Also the testing basics were easy to answer.
3. Then the one on one interview was scheduled with Testing leads and the Manager.
4. Basics were checked and the comments were passed on the same at that moment.
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at CGI in Oct 2009
Interview
One of the requirements for this position was an intermediate knowledge of German. This was listed in the recruiter's advertisement. Within the first ninety seconds of the interview, the interviewer told me that he required German fluency. This was a blatant contradiction.
Interviewer and I conversed in German and English and at the end, told me that I would have a second interview with his account manager within a week. That did not happen. I was rejected on the language issue.
This is a serious integrity problem. When one makes a commitment to anyone, grounds for mutual trust is a prerequisite. I can neither trust this manager nor the company he works for after this experience.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
The issue regarding German proficiency. In writing, intermediate. In the interview, fluent.
I applied online. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at CGI (Fairfax, VA) in Jul 2009
Interview
I had previously applied for this job listing, but put a salary range in closer to what I was currently earning. I did not receive a response. About 2-3 months later, I came across the posting again and applied for it again, this time entering a lower salary. I got the interview this time. You can never be sure, of course, with how candidates are selected, but I was suspicious that they were looking to fill at a relatively low cost.
The HR person emailed me and set up a screening interview via phone with her. Typical stuff, though there was one of those awkward "company culture" type of questions - something to the effect of "What are your 3 most important things?". I asked for clarification, but she (half-heartedly) said they leave it open-ended on purpose. I think she thought it was pretty pointless, too.
I was subsequently invited to interview with the development team. I was scheduled to speak with 4 people - group manager, project manager, technical manager, and team member. As it turned out, only the PM was in the office. The other 3 I spoke to via phone. This particular CGI team had many remote members, meaning I would be able to work from home (a good thing).
I thought the interview went pretty well. The people seemed to like working for CGI. A recurrent theme they kept bringing up was the flexibility of the company - work location, hours, work-life balance, etc. The benefits were typical for a large company - I don't recall anything that stood out either way.
As far as the job itself, it was clear that I was over-qualified for the position. I'm pretty certain this was their thinking, too. We never discussed salary, but I doubted that it would be in the range I was seeking.
The HR person sent me an email the next week saying that they had actually decided to close the position for the time being. My guess is that it was kind of a "luxury" position - they could have used another set of hands on the project, but only if they could get someone competent at a bargain price.
I responded by thanking the HR person for the time and if there was any constructive feedback from those that interviewed me. I never received a response, which I didn't think was terribly professional. I certainly wasn't expecting her to send me back a lengthy and thorough analysis, but even a minimal acknowledgement (a sentence or two) would have been more appropriate.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
One interviewer kept hammering away on formal procedures/methodologies (CMMI, ISO 9000), kind of belaboring the point.