Tata Steel Job Interview Questions & Answers

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Brainteaser questions At Tata Steel have become popular for interviews in recent years, as word has gotten out that top tech companies such as Apple, Google, Microsoft and IBM have used this type of question at one time or another.

Companies like Google aren't using these questions so much any more, but many companies, are, and it may be good to prepare for them At Tata Steel. The key to these isn't so much getting the exact answer, as it is showing how you would come up with an answer.

Here's a sample of 12 of the best and most difficult.

1. How many street lights are there in New York City?

2. How many gas stations are there in the United States?

3. How many golf balls can fit in a school bus?

4. How much should you charge to wash all the windows in Seattle?

5. Why are manhole covers round?

6. How many times a day does a clock's hands overlap?

7. How would you test a calculator?

8. Describe the internet to someone who just woke up from a 30-year coma.

9. How much does the Starbucks in Times Square bring in, in annual revenue?

10. You are shrunk to the height of a nickel and thrown into a blender. Your mass is reduced so that your density is the same as usual. The blades start moving in 60 seconds. What do you do?

11. What is the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow? ;)

12. How many golf balls are there in Florida?

Example stories could be a class project, an internal meeting presentation, or a customer facing presentation.

I've always been motivated by the challenge – in my last role, I was responsible for training our new recruits and having a 100% success rate in passing scores. I know that this job is very fast-paced and I'm more than up for the challenge. In fact, I thrive on it.

First, the key is to state the differences in personality to give the interviewer some background. Second, you want to discuss how that was affecting the situation. Third, show how you were able to adapt to the way the person wanted to be communicated with to achieve your goals

It depends on the role - but the better way to answer this is to ask the interviewer what their expectations are with regards to what the role can expense and then simply state that you'll stay within those parameters

Have at least one person you consider a hero or role model. Be ready to explain why they are a hero to you and how they've inspired you to be a better person.

In this question the interviewer is basically looking for a real life example of how you used creativity to solve a problem.

Be proud of your achievement, discuss the results, and explain why you feel most proud of this one. Was it the extra work? Was it the leadership you exhibited? Was it the impact it had?

Behavioral interviews At Tata Steel where popularized by industrial psychologists in the 1970s, and have been used at big companies like AT&T. The idea behind them is that past responses to situations are the best predictor of how candidates will respond in the future.


1. Tell me about a time you faced a conflict while working as part of a team.

2. Talk about a goal you set for yourself. What did you do to make sure you met the goal?

3. Give an example of a time when you had to work with someone with a very different personality from yours.

4. Talk about an instance where you wish you’d handled a situation differently with a team member.

5. What’s the most difficult problem you have had to solve At Tata Steel?

6. Give an example of how you handled a situation where you needed information from a colleague who wasn’t responsive.

7. Talk about a time when you had problems building a relationship with a key team member. What did you do?

8. Tell me about an instance when it was important to make a great impression on a client. What did you do?

9. Tell me about a situation where you had to work with a difficult client.

10. Tell me about a situation where you disappointed a client, and how you tried to fix it.

11. Talk about a time when you had to strategize to meet all your obligations.

12. Talk about a time when you failed at something. How did you react?

13. Talk about a time you took on a leadership role.

14. Tell me about a long-term project you oversaw. How did you keep it focused and on schedule?

15. Talk about a time when you were under a lot of stress. What caused it, and how did you manage?

16. Do you prefer to work alone or with others At Tata Steel?

17. Tell me about a time when you were overwhelmed by the amount of work on your agenda. How did you handle it?

When discussing a professional disappointment, make sure to discuss a scenario you could not control. Be positive about the experience and accept personal responsibility where applicable.

The key is to show that you put a lot of thought (weighing out the pros and cons) but were able to be decisive. Be sure to explain your logic in arriving at the decision.

Prioritize based on business importance. Set clear timelines for each so that you know which ones to knock out first. Get your teammates to help if necessary.

Being good is getting the job done as promised At Tata Steel. Being great is delivering the work in an exceptional way that completely exceeds expectations.

Do not show your fear or uneasiness in handling pressure. Everyone likes to have a worker who can handle pressure calmly and with a clear train of thought. Show how you would logically come to a conclusion in a pressure filled situation.

Be open to sharing hobbies and activities that you enjoy. Make sure you're genuine about it and don't list off things you don't really like because if they ask you a follow up question it'll be harder for you to answer.

It would be great if you did - then you could potentially use them as a referral if they thought highly of you.

Talk about the potential career development, your career aspirations, your work relationships and the learning you'll receive.

We all have difficult decisions in our lives. Show how you were able to arrive at it and then how you decisively acted.

This is a fair question, as potential employers want to know if you're going to be able to get the job done even when things get a little bit stressful. You may say that you thrive under pressure or that you're able to get the job done even when things get a little bit stressful, just make sure to provide some real world examples of your ability to work under pressure in a prior job.

Not every decision is popular. In fact, almost every decision is bound to make someone unhappy at some point. The key is to demonstrate how it impacted others positively and why you chose it.

You could discuss the company's vision, culture and solutions/services as reasons for wanting to join it.

There was a time when I was told I had to get rid of 20% of my people. I had to determine which persons I needed the most by determining who could do what. I had to put aside personal feelings so that I could keep a working crew to handle he same workload with less people.

This would be the first question asked in any interview. Therefore, it is important that you give a proper reply to the question regarding your education. You should have all the documents and certificates pertaining to your education and/or training, although time may not allow the interviewer to review all of them.

Everyone has failed, so don't play dumb or claim you've never messed up At Tata Steel. Think of a time when a work-related situation didn't turn out quite as you had hoped. An interviewer is interested in seeing how you took responsibility for your failure, what you learned from it, and how you would prevent similar failures from happening again.

Keep your answer simple, direct and positive. Some good answers may be the ability to achieve, recognition or challenging assignments.

One of my greatest strengths, and that I am a diligent worker... I care about the work getting done.. I am always willing to help others in the team.. Being patient helps me not jump to conclusions... Patience helps me stay calm when I have to work under pressure.. Being a diligent worker.. It ensures that the team has the same goals in accomplishing certain things.

Drinking at the water cooler together is not the best example. Think of how you can collaborate with teammates to generate new ideas, to create initiatives to impact the business' success for the better (specifically in the department that you're applying for). For example, if you're applying to marketing, collaboration could mean discussing new ways of social media advertising to reach an audience of over a million people to strengthen the brand awareness of the company.

Think of your top 3 mentors and what attributes they exhibit that you want to emulate. Common attributes include passion, desire, will, leadership, ability to influence others, intelligence.

Technology is important to almost every job today but it's not meant to be abused. I believe it's important to increase productivity and not for personal use.

Think again about the job specification and the skills needed for this role At Tata Steel. Have a paragraph prepared highlighting how you will be able to do the job and what you can bring to the team. It goes without saying that this paragraph should be positive.