I applied through an employee referral. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Cognizant (Newark, NJ) in Feb 2012
Interview
A friend of mine had sumitted my resume to the management. I have made it very clear that I have 18 yers of relative and progressive experience and hence, looking for a senior position. After initial correspondence with a Sr. Recruiter, an interview date and time were scheduled. A Monday 12 AM one. Unfortunaely, I had a 'production issue' at work and I requested fo re-schedule, 20 minutes before the interview call. The hiring manager did not recieve the note in time and he called me at 12. I have explained my situation and requested for rescheule and he agreed to do it on Wednesday. Here started the fun. I did not recieve a call from the Manager, nor the other other manager who i reporting to the former. I called and emailed the Sr. recruiter who co-ordinated this call. Unfortunately, that lady was on vacation. So, I called the Jr. Manager, left him a voice mail and requested to notify me whether they would be calling soon. Next week, I received a call, abou the re-schedule, but, again the same story. After 5-6 reschedules, they finally called me at 6 PM. This time, the Jr. Manager, (who is 10 years junior to me) alone interviewed me. At first place i felt insulted as I did not recieve an apoogetic word about the 'no-shows' from CTS. Also, this Jr. Manager who is not knowledgable enough to evaluate my knowldge or credentials, came down with a questionnaire and started asking me questions. BTW, in spite of his 9 years expeience, he did not even know that there are 2 versions of ITIL (v2 & v3). Finally, he suggests what I should do instead of what I have applied for.
So, to sum it up, if this is the level of professionalism you to a Sr. Manager level candidate, I rather not work for such group. I cannot blame the company entirely.... but CTS must review how they want to handle their potential managers.