Cogizant's famous employee friendly culture nearly depleted
There are only 2 sides in Cognizant. In the project that I worked, I was given no leave. We used to work late nights and on weekends without benefits. Its like we were just objects for the upper management to earn in dollars. Just squeeze us like lemon and take all the juice. Then we saw the other side, who had literally no work and enjoyed playing games etc during office hours. Unfortunately the remuneration will be the same no matter which side you end up. From the upper managements point of view no matter how hard you work, you are all billed the same dollars. So we are all the same.
Since the time I began working at Cognizant India, it's famous employee friendly culture has only been degrading. As in most companies, here too there is a lot of internal politics for promotion, performance rating, work visa. Most upper management are incompetent and so they know that politics is the only way for them to survive. Instead of trimming billable resources, Cognizant should trim this "dead wood" at the top who have spoiled the culture for everyone. Their only competency is bending in front of clients and shaking their heads for whatever they say, agree on low billing to get contracts(and get their own promotions), and make the employees below work their ### off to complete the project within unrealistic deadlines. The only motivation is through fake promises of promotion, visa etc. When you dont get anything as promised they will put in more fake promises.
The talent manage
ProsNothing
ConsLong hours, fake promises, incompetent management, politics, burn out
• Proficient in Accounts Receivables\Payable, Reconciliations, A\R reporting and Analysis.
Accounts Receivables and Collections:-
Financial Reporting and Analysis of all the on account credits, past due aging invoices, posting of invoices, bank statements deposits and Details report to the Clients based on the companies and cost centres they are responsible.
Accountable of all the cash received through cheques, credit card, and wire etc., remittances.
Processing and auditing all the cash posting applications of A\R process.
Creating batches and receipts for the received BOA Lockboxes in Oracle through interface and manually per business rules.
Processing reapplication and researching on Unapplied, Unidentified receipts.
Tracking prepayments and applying the invoices the same on billing basis.
Lockboxes and Credit card reconciliation of BOA report with Oracle.
Preparing monthly accruals of the received batches of the BOA lockboxes and sending daily Lockboxes detail report to Clients.
Processing Invoice Adjustments Customer Courtesy, Sales Tax, Customer Disputes etc,
Creating Debit-Memo for refunds, Bad debts recovery and unapplied receipts to reserve.
Preparing of check request refunds forms of A\R process and sending request to A/P for payments with approvals.
Preparing and analysing past due invoice reports on aging.
Preparing Bad debts invoices report and sending for adjustment approval.
Sending e-mails regarding past due invoices for payments, follow-up e-mails and Final Demand Letters to past due customers.
Report
Technical Skills:
Experience in VMware - ESXi 4.1/5.1/5.5
Configuration of ESX Servers, vSphere Client and Vcenter Server
Performed Upgrades from ESXi 4.1 to ESXi 5.1/5.5
Performance and resource management
Managing & configuring ESXi servers on HA clustered environment
Handling datastore clusters & LUNs
Performed P2V and V2V operations.
Health Check for VMs and ESX hosts
Deploy Virtual Machines and use Clones, Snapshots, templates
Manage VM hardware resources – Disk space, Memory, CPU, NIC, VMTools
Troubleshooting Issues related to Virtual Machines & ESXi servers.
Experience in Windows Servers (2003, 2008 & 2008R2 | R2)
Install new / rebuild existing servers and configure services, settings, directories, storage, etc. in accordance with standards and project/operational requirements
Research and recommend innovative, and where possible automated approaches for system administration tasks.
Configuring windows Clusters on multiple virtual Machines
Performance Tuning and Resource management
Perform daily system monitoring, OS Health checks (Disk Usage, CPU and Memory Monitoring)
Verifying the integrity and availability of all hardware, server resources, systems and key processes, reviewing system and application logs, and verifying completion of scheduled jobs such as backups.
Perform daily backup operations, ensuring all required file systems and system data are successfully backed up.
Worked on services like IIS, Telnet, DNS, DHCP
Group Policy and
During joining Cognizant's Management never ask for your work interest and also they give very short training of 45 days.They don't provide full training.They select people for technology training on the basis of Your First name initial. Example,People whose name starts with A-J will get "Advanced Java", name initial N-R will get ".NET" and S-W will get Software testing training.It's seems to be peculiar method but the company follows it.
So as a fresher ,if you want to learn work, Cognizant is not good company to join in.Cognizant mainly focuses on lateral hires from other well established Indian software companies. Cognizant main business come from testing services only.Cognizant get projects whose development is done either by TCS,Wipro,Infosys,HCL,HP. Only testing part comes to Cognizant.Cognizant recruits in bulk but company didn't spend much money on giving training.That's may be the one reason for huge profits.
Cognizant believes in quantity and not in quality hires.
Cognizant work culture is same as all other software firms.Sometime you have to do work for 22 hours for a day and sometimes you don't have work at all.
Internal politics is also unstated tradition of Cognizant, I saw many of Manager allot lowest ratings to the employees who come from Southern Part especially in Pune center.
Cognizant 75% strength is below 28 years of age.If you are in this category then you have to do tough work, but it doesn't means that it will be good learning and qualit
ProsNo bond, but 60 days notice period
ConsShort training not good for fresher from non IT background
• Creating VLAN’s based on network design, MSTP and HSRP configuration to load balance End user traffic .
• Mutual Redistribution of routing protocols, summarization of routes, monitoring and fine-tuning of network.
• Troubleshooting of VLAN, VTP, Trunking, Inter-VLAN routing, redistribution , Inter vlan restriction.
• Implementation and troubleshooting HSRP, interface-tracking and load-balancing.
• Implementation of secure switched environment, which includes enabling port security and configuration of ACL's among others.
• Communicate and interact with client to perform troubleshooting on outages.
• Isolate LAN related issues and other issues like Circuit down, intermittent, packet loss etc.
• Work on various tools like Putty, Smart, HP open View, Vital suite, Reflection, Net watch.
• Firewall, IPSEC, SSH, DMZ, Tunneling, VPN, AAA.
• Wireshark is used for network layer troubleshoot and security purposes.
• Enhanced security and backup plans are provided for client.
• Individually handled the establishment of connectivity between Cognizant offshore development centers using Site-to-Site VPN tunnels over internet to Client’s network. It involved the study of the requirements of our client and our internal development team. Interact with client’s network/security team, to collect the necessary information like encryption standard, hashing algorithm, shared keys and networks to be allowed in the tunnel, to establish the link. Configure the
Over 10 years of experience in delivering Investment Banking applications at various roles ranging from developer to Delivery Lead. Worked on the development of Corporate action notification platform, PnL Application, Back Office Reconciliation System, Sales commission . Also lead the delivery of many investment bank applications System as Delivery Lead/Lead Designer. Played multiple roles in Cognizant SCM, Module Lead, Delivery Lead and SME for few of the application.
Extensive experience in technical, functional, people and line management gained over years of working in Financial/non-Financial domains. Sound technical experience in building high quality, highly resilient software for business critical / Tier A applications.
Experienced in managing and operating global team with diverse team dynamics. Experienced in senior stakeholder & business relationship management. Experienced program management capability facilitating work prioritization, budgeting/forecasting and resource management.
• Good skills and proven track record in leading & managing multiple Projects with Multi-Site, Multi-Vendor & Multi-Cultural teams.
• Management skills include vast experience of software development life cycle (SDLC) involving stakeholder management, mentoring of the workforce, process compliance, client management, resource management, program level risk identification and mitigation, tracking account profit and loss, project planning and tracking, ensuring quality deliverables
I have been working at Cognizant Technology Solutions full-time
Pros
I joined Cognizant in July, 2014 as a fresher and fortunately, I am going to leave it in few days. There are not much pros. After thinking hard, I was able to come across with few of them.
1. If you do not want to work much or stretch yourself, this is a place for you. It is a relaxed kind of job for freshers like any government job
2. Basic amenities and infrastructure of any location are very good.
Cons
1. It is often tough for a fresher to get his/her first project after the completion of training. 50% of them remain in bench for a lond period of time which does not count to their professional experience much.
2. Even if some freshers get deployed into project immediately after the training (the lucky ones), they may get maintenance work, ticketing etc. which is a sheer waste of their talent. Only around 20% of the people ( who are deployed into the project) get some good work like that of a developer. Hence, we see that around 10% of the freshers manage to get some good stuff.
3. Salary is very bad for the freshers. Hike is also extremely poor.
4. Unlike other IT companies like Infosys, low level management is extremely bad. There will be absolutely no one to guide you if you want some kind of help. They do not care about freshers. Many a times, it is like you are on your own.
5. Bad training. Seriously, their only aim is to anyhow complete the training.
6. Deployment of freshers into the proj
Validate CEP Reports for GPDC Sub Groups.
Analysis of Quarterly, Half yearly & annual reports.
Follow up with Sub Group POCs for data points.
Update in Share point within TAT.
Incorporate the data in Standard Template for further validation.
Ensure data is published in Dashboard.
Collate participants list & other mandatory information pertaining to Coaching & FCoE groups after every session completion.
Utilization reports for the Coaching & FCoE teams.
Follow up with Coachee & Coach for both Internal/External trainers.
Organize meeting schedules & collect respective forms & save in share point.
Tracker updation & share with leads periodically.
Ensure all Training requests pertaining to D+ Audience are recorded in System (Synergi)
Ensure all Trainings are completed within TAT.
Consolidate participants list from LD POC once the training program is over for Feedback collection & post follow-up.
Maintain & manage all D+ programs Tracker.
Holistic Reports to leads are circulated every month.
POC for Acumen programs in 2013.
Follow up with participants to complete their profiles (Style, V&I) & ensure they complete before the program starts.
Handle Acumen online assessment related queries.
Connect with vendor to create the PRT (People Reading Tool) link for participants before end of the session.
Update the Tracker as & when attendance sheet is received from LD POC.
Dashboard
Good place to work if you're all about career. Everything else takes a back seat
Worked with various BPO teams throughout my tenure here at cognizant and I have managed to survive.
In my first two teams, I enjoyed my work and my managers would never let me spend half an hour extra after my work timings (irrespective of whether its billable or not - they were just against the idea of staying back and working).
My third team (non-delivery team) wasn't bad either but the demand and stress was difficult and my routine fell out of place. There are days I spent 13-14h at work and then there are days I'd do nothing all day as no work. It started affecting my health and then there were ways in which certain things were dealt with, which I didn't appreciate. It was a three to four member team and all workload boiled down to me. And when I'd ask for assistance, all my manager would say "I've sent you files, go through it and figure your way out". I tried but every file that went through was always sent back. If he helped me out in the first place, probably double work could have been avoided. And slowly, everyday, I started getting demotivated. I realized that I didn't feel like coming to work anymore. I didn't have that satisfaction I used to at the end of the day. Maybe, it wasn't my cup of tea but the way things were dealt with could have been better.
But I've learnt from all my three managers and I'm affirmative that it'll help me in the long run.
W.R.T work culture, I work/worked in only BPO environments. Although very slow/lethargic, a lot of t
ProsLearning enhanced environment, Good management
Do not start your career here, if you are concerned about your progress
The mid-level Managers are mostly a mediocre bunch, hired to do timekeeper and class leader duty. Daily work involves repetitive stuff with the managers chasing you to do stuff in 9 hours, that you can positively complete in 2 hours. Going above and beyond what is expected off of you, is not appreciated. I learnt through lots of trials and tribulations at this place that hard and honest work is not appreciated, but will draw the ire of your managers and the people above them.
The crowd varies from city to city. What kind of crowd you chance upon really depends on your luck.
I had the opportunity to interact with the upper level management during a review meeting for a complaint I filed against my Manager, I got to know that no one cares in this Company if the employee lives or dies. The only thing they would worry, in case you even die, is that your deliverables would get affected until your replacement is ready to fill in.
The salary is really sub-standard. There is no scope of reasonable pay rise in any term. Organic growth is nil or inexistent.
The hardest part of the work is to put up with all the 'honorable' mid-level managers.
The most enjoyable part is that if you are lucky you can meet a lot of wonderful people who can make your time working here worthwhile.
The happiest day in my recent past ( since joining this place) is to turn in my resignation. There was no provision here to give negative score or zero stars.
ProsThe Cafeteria and other facilities are good, however the quality can be a hit or miss.
Typical day at work would be with several conference calls with a dozen or more people... stressful for me b/c it was hard to understand through the cultural gap (as an American while everyone else is from India) & often the only way to pick up relevant information.
I learned a lot, but it was hard to connect with the team as everyone is always so busy I could never get more than 1-2 sentences from them at a time without them ever looking up from their laptop.
Management often just told what they want to hear, then angry when unrealistic demands not met.
Workplace culture is that of India office--12 hour days not uncommon and expected to attend 'celebration' dinners for 3 hrs after work hours.
Hardest part of the job was being the only American around and having to depend on others for help when they are so busy you can't get more than 1-2 sentence responses from them.
Most enjoyable part of the job was when there was something I actually understood the requirements for and could do some work.
Overall, not the worst place to work--competitive pay, benefits are there, and it a LOT depends on the project you land in but this was my experience...
First, it is awkward being the only American in the room at all times. Even face to face communication is difficult. Half the time conversations are being held in another language so I missed out on a lot (even when I politely & repeatedly asked "what are you talking about? I don't want to miss out on anything.").
ProsCompetitive pay/benefits, exposure to big projects
ConsNo work/life balance, foreign culture, more emphasis on appearance than substance
4.0
Quality Assurance Manager | Stamford, CT | 2 Feb 2015
QA LEAD/SENIOR QUALITY ASSURANCE
Expertise on Retail, Business Process Management (BPM) and Business Rules Engines (BRE) applications in Pega Systems - Pega Rules Process Commander (PRPC) in Pharmacy Benefit Management and Siebel CRM Applications
Expertise in designing and developing Test Strategy, Test Plan, Test Cases by understanding the business logic and User requirements. Generating test reports, defect reports and product quality assurance documentation. Expertise in implementing SDLC methodologies including Waterfall Model, Agile Methodology and Rational Unified Process (RUP). Experience in testing applications built on SOA Architecture
Responsible for testing and reviewing of ETL mapping and transformation specifications based on the business requirements from various teams and the business teams
Handle the tasks of ETL jobs that are scheduled for file transfers from Operational Data Stores to designated file systems/directories. Expertise in Problem solving and Bug Reports using Defect Tracking Tools like Quality Center/ALM, JIRA, Bug Zilla, Issue Tracker and Rational Clear Quest
Expertise with Black Box Test design Techniques like Boundary Value Analysis, Equivalence portioning, Decision Table Testing, State Transition Testing and Error guessing techniques, Smoke, Functional, Regression, Beta testing and Integration Testing. Expertise testing the application on data driven testing to test the application UI
Working with development team to create a suite of test data (both input files and exp
MANAGEMENT
• Rich Project Management experience in Implementation, Rollout, Upgrade and Application support engagements
• Maximized resource utilization through comprehensive business analysis, leadership and project management skills.
• Assessed and Analyzed the legacy eco-systems Roadmap / Health / Sunset points by conducting impact analysis keeping completeness of the Business Processes
• In-depth knowledge and experience of PMO deliverables and metrics.
• Worked closely along with the Client Project Manager and other stake holders for defining project milestones and metrics to adhere to timelines and deliverables.
• Formation of change control body, and monitoring and driving each change and having close monitor on the scope creep
• Worked on both ASAP methodology and other traditional Project management methodologies.
• Project Monitoring through effective co-ordination with various client team, status meeting, Monthly Steering committee meeting along with the project updates to client management for a successful implementation
• Communication and effective co-ordination with both internal & client team to avoid all the ambiguities
SALES
• As SAP certified consultant responded over hundreds of RFP/RFI/ made presentations and demos to ‘C’ Level key decision makers effectively selling the product capabilities its credentials
• Exclusively worked on the template designing for SAP Pre-configured solution for Automotive and Process industries so as to reduce the implementatio
I am going to be heavily biased here but I must stress I can only talk about my time during training. I sincerely wouldn't recommend Cognizant Technology Solutions as an employer to any graduate that is looking for a trustworthy company with organised employees, planning and communications.
Despite informing the representative during my interview that I would be lacking in technical skills such as Java compared to the other candidates, I was assured that the training would compensate for this. It did not, the UNPAID training itself is a crash course in the technologies Cognizant want you to know, getting thrown into mini projects with other candidates during certain weeks.
I severely debated leaving at the end of the first week, however decided to stick it out in the hopes it got better, again, it didn't as I felt completely out of my depth, but was still getting told by my trainers that I was doing fine.
During the 10 week period there were at least 5 times Cognizant were supposedly due to visit us to check our progress, but never did.
On the two or three occasions that they came to speak with us, the representative seemed to know less and less information, scrambling for answers to our many questions, but not checking in with us or the trainers to track our progress; giving the impression we were an inconvenience to them.
To emphasise my point, during the final two weeks of the training a new cohort started in the room next to us, and in those 2 weeks before we fin
ProsFree accommodation in Media City, Salford for training, good trainers at QA
ConsLittle communication, organisation, unpaid training
Currently giving large infrastructure support to one of the largest retails client in Canada as a Team Lead of Storage Team. My responsible is to manage onsite and offshore team as well as level 4 support.
Project Description:
Loblaw Companies Limited (Loblaw) is Canada's largest food retailer and a leading provider of drugstore, general merchandise and financial products and services. It’s providing Canadians with a wide, growing and successful range of products and services to meet their everyday household demands. Loblaw is the largest retail grocery store in Canada, with more than 1,000 stores across the country.
Loblaw’s mission is to be Canada’s best food, health and home retailer by exceeding customer expectations through innovative products at great prices.
Cognizant’s Involvement: After evaluation CTS selected as a best vendor to manage Loblaw’s IT infrastructure, CTS is giving onsite and offshore infra support from last 4 years.
Role and Responsibilities:
• Leading more than 10 members of Storage infrastructure team including onsite and offshore in Loblaw infrastructure.
• Planning and Leading Loblaw DR Server and SAN migration from old Data center to New Data center.
• Designing, Planning and implementing Legacy SAN segregation to separate Legacy devices from current Production SAN environment.
• Implementing Backup fabric separation from Production SAN fabric to improve PR SAN performance.
• Implementing Hitachi USPV to VSP Storage migration using
Easy to get in, impossible to crawl up
Positive
They pay your health insurance for you and your dependants (partner, kids), which is a great benefit in Switzerland.
It is fairly easy to pass the interviews if there are any. If you are relocating it can be a good step to start with.
Cons
DISCLAIMER: this review is based on my experience and it can differ based on the client you are outsourced to and on your direct manager.
It is a billing service. They magically get contracts with huge companies to outsource people for some services. From this point all they care about is whether they can bill after you or not.
If your client gives a free day before Christmas for their employees, you will still have to work on that day or take a day off because no matter what the billing has to go on.
Performance based evaluations are missing, because in most cases they don't get any feedback back from the client or they don't even have a clue about what is the actual work that you are doing. Getting a raise or promotion os only possible if they can bill more after you, which makes it quite impossible.
Trainings are usually done online, don't expect to go to a multi day training or conference during your job, because again the billing has to go on.
The health insurance is a great benefit, but be aware that they have a pretty bad deal with their insurance provider and if you decide to leave the company you will have to pay the same package for the rest of the calendar year.
Mana
Prostime to do other stuff hence to the low paced work
Consstupid processes, no connection with your manager, no clear career paths
As a former employee with seven years of service at Cognizant, I feel compelled to share my personal experience with the company, including its organizational culture, management, and leadership issues. While I was initially enthusiastic about working for a globally recognized technology services company, my time at Cognizant left me feeling undervalued and disillusioned.
Organizational Culture: The corporate culture at Cognizant leaves a lot to be desired. Despite the company's focus on innovation and growth, its internal atmosphere fosters a stifling, bureaucratic environment. Employees are often caught up in red tape and internal politics, which can hinder professional growth and discourage open communication. Additionally, there is a general lack of work-life balance, with employees frequently expected to work long hours and manage unrealistic deadlines.
Management and Leadership: Unfortunately, the management and leadership at Cognizant appear to be more focused on short-term goals and numbers rather than the long-term success and satisfaction of their employees. I have witnessed a lack of transparency and frequent miscommunication from the management, which led to confusion and frustration for employees. Furthermore, the company often fails to recognize and reward hard work and dedication, leaving many employees feeling unappreciated.
Personal Experience: My personal experience at Cognizant has been a rollercoaster ride. After seven years of dedicated service and rec
ProsGlobal Presence, Learning Opportunities, Competitive Compensation, Wide Range of Services
ConsOrganizational Culture, Work-Life Balance, Management and Leadership, Bench Policy
Started right out of college in the US, got a salary I was content with, told I would learn new things. Right out of the gate I was concerned b/c the 'training' was just the last batch of new recruits dumping their study notes on us... not really an expert or anything. Oh well, fine--they helped get us through the tests we wanted to pass. Spent months studying for certifications waiting for an assignment, almost hit the time out point where I would be let go. Got placed at a client site finally, and luckily I knew some of the languages/tech being used (none of the stuff I had been studying at the company's request but what I knew from school). More of the 'training' from other people on site that were busy with their own work. Kind of a 'sink or swim' scenario, which is fine, I guess it just bugged me a bit that they called the half hour or hour long info dumps 'training'. Part of the problem for me was the cultural gap (all my coworkers were on H1B visas), so I had to ask people to repeat themselves a lot, and it made me self conscious about asking for help, BUT, I will say that they did all help me how they could, and that made me want to get past the hurdles and be a part of the team. As I talked to some other new people I met during orientation that got sent to different client sites, I learned that I got really lucky perhaps. My experience was a good one, where others were worked very hard, mean managers, no niceties, sometimes no gig even and got let go (there's
Prossome experience, competitive wage right out of school
Conscultural gap for americans, bad internal websites, confusing expectations
Questions And Answers about Cognizant Technology Solutions
What should you wear to an interview at Cognizant Technology Solutions?
Asked 15 Mar 2017
Light colour shirt with proper tie
Answered 6 May 2022
As of now, during the pandemic, interviews are going to be held online on Aspiring Minds platform itself.
For BOYS/MEN :
1. Proper Gromming.
2. Wear Light Color Shirt with proper Tie.
Thats all. No one is going to look below your stomach.
For GIRLS/WOMEN :
1. Well Groomed
2. Formal Shirt + Scarf
For An Inperson Interview,
For MEN/BOYS:
1. Proper Grooming
2. Light Color Shirt + Tie
3. Dark Color Trousers + Blazer both of same set
4. Black/Dark Tan Shoes
5. Belt of same color as of Shoes.
6. Black Socks(Knee Length Socks)
For WOMEN/GIRLS :
Same as Boys, but you need to wear scarf instead of Tie.
Answered 31 Dec 2020
How often do you get a raise at Cognizant Technology Solutions?
Asked 7 Nov 2022
Yearly
Answered 20 May 2023
Once in a Year
Answered 19 May 2023
What is the promotion process like at Cognizant Technology Solutions?
Asked 10 Nov 2022
It's based upon the management in the project.
Answered 3 Jun 2023
Good
Answered 24 May 2023
If you were to leave Cognizant Technology Solutions, what would be the reason?
Asked 18 Mar 2017
Better prospects
Answered 5 Dec 2018
I want to increase my knowledge in another organisation and need on package
Answered 29 Jun 2018
Why did you leave your job at Cognizant Technology Solutions?
