Placement Preparation Strategy for Product, Service, and Analytics Based Companies

Placement Preparation Strategy for Product, Service, and Analytics Based Companies

Preparing for placements can be a little overwhelming and tedious. But compared to preparation for competitive exams like CAT, GMAT, GRE, etc, placement preparation is easier.

This article helps you strategise your placement preparation and gives you a step by step preparation guide to land up in your dream job.




Categories of companies hiring freshers


a) Product based companies


  • Product based companies work on core products (primarily restricted to the development of products).
  • Candidates with a keen interest in learning and implementing the latest technologies and softwares are a good fit for product based companies.
  • Product based companies primarily look for good programming skills and quantitative ability. These companies emphasize on technical skills and problem-solving skills than on soft skills.




Some of the product-based companies are Google, Oracle, Microsoft, Paypal, Thought works, VMWare, Amazon, Zoho, Virtusa, Flipkart


b) Service based companies


  • Service-based companies use the products developed by product based companies to cater to their client requirements.
  • Candidates with good communication skills, people management skills, and a good vibe are better suited.
  • Service-based companies look for candidates with acceptable English and Logical
  • Reasoning, strong Quantitative Ability skills and basic programming skills. Strong fundamentals in programming can be an added advantage.


Some of the service based companies are TCS, Infosys, Cognizant, Accenture, Wipro, iNauti, GGK Technologies, IBM, KPIT, HCL, Aricent, Hewlett Packard Enterprise,TechMahindra


c) Analytics based companies


  • These companies provide data analytics support for product/service based companies.
  • Candidates who are interested in analyzing data and have good logical skills are well suited for these companies.
  • These companies generally look for candidates with an impressive command of English and sound knowledge in both Quantitative and Logical Reasoning.


Some of the analytics-based companies are Mu Sigma,Deloitte, KPMG,System Insights, Fractal Analytics, AbsolutData, Latent View, Numerify etc.


d) Service + Product based companies


Some companies fall under both product and service-based companies. A few of them are Cognizant, Wipro Turbo, Mindtree, Capgemini, L&T Infotech, NTT Data etc.


Various skills required for a fresher


a) Aptitude / Problem-solving


placement preparation guide - aptitude


Irrespective of the role/company, an aptitude test is a basic test that is conducted by almost all the companies. However, the questions asked aren’t very tricky or complicated. They involve pretty basic math.


Tip 1:Brush through all the basic concepts in Aptitude here – Aptipedia. Do not try to memorize the answers. Instead, get a good understanding of the concepts.

Tip 2:Practice at least 20-30 questions per topic. To practice, click here.This is a one-time effort but will help you go a long way in acing selection rounds.

Tip 3:Firstly, concentrate on getting the concepts right. Later focus on solving faster within the given time by learning a few shortcuts.





Learn/ Revise Aptitude Concepts

Practice Aptitude Problems


Also, follow our YouTube channel to get a hang of the shortcuts to solve Quantitative Aptitude. Subscribe now.



b) Technical

placement preparation guide - technical

In recent days, more importance is given to technical skills. A candidate with good basic tech skills is more likely to be selected and becomes eligible for higher packages.

The technical skills required vary based on the category of the company as discussed above.Technical skills are usually evaluated in one of the following methods.

  • Programming MCQs Test
  • Coding in a simulated online editor

Some companies use both the above-mentioned methods to evaluate candidates. Following are the important topics asked by companies subject wise.


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Check out the below links to learn and practice these topics.


Note: Questions from Operating systems and Computer networks are only asked in the programming MCQs round.

It is recommended to brush up basic concepts in the above-mentioned topics and be thorough in one topic so that you can tackle tech interview.


c) Essay Writing / Group Discussion


placement preparation guide - group discussion


This round is to evaluate the business communication skills of a candidate. A common topic will be given and the candidate will be asked to write an essay or discuss it within a specified time limit.


Skills evaluated in essay writing are:


  • English writing skills
  • Logical structuring of the article
  • Ability to write w/o grammatical errors


Skills evaluated in a GD are:


  • Understanding of the topic
  • Communication skills
  • Problem-handling skills

These rounds do not require complicated Shakespeare kind of English. The essay should be logically structured and free of grammatical errors and your communication should be clear and understandable.


d) Interview


placement preparation guide - interview


The final yet the toughest hurdle is the interview. Companies generally focus on these kinds of interviews.

Technical Interview: To test the practical and subject knowledge of the candidate on various technical aspects. Check out these links with most commonly asked programming questions in the interviews.



HR interview: To test the candidate’s communication, attitude, ability to handle stress and meet the requirements.


Most frequently asked HR interview questions?


If you are prepared to face the above-mentioned rounds, then getting placed in your dream company becomes extremely easy.


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