The interview was bizarre and unprofessional. To give some context, I got accepted into Cognizant’s Java Full Stack Pre-Apprentice Program partnered with DPI August 2022 with the promise of an interview once completed. This was meant for non-tech professionals to get their foot in the door within the tech industry. I come from a healthcare background so this sounded like a promising opportunity. Prior to the program I was told the tentative timeline would be that the program ends mid Dec 2022 and within the next week we would interview with Cognizant. Before the program ended we were told they would ask one technical question, and then test our knowledge of OOP and SQL. This seemed fair, and after speaking with past cohorts about their experience, I felt confident in my skills. Once the program ended, we were told by our program director that interviews would not be until early Jan after persistently emailing them when we would be able to schedule an interview. By this time, I have already been studying algorithms and OOP concepts for a couple weeks, and was angry, disappointed, and burnt out as I was fully prepared to interview in December. Within the following week, we were told interviews were postponed even more due to Cognizant wanting to create a “portal” to assist in the hiring process. I would think they would have known this months in advance and not within weeks, but I digress. The director could not provide a definitive timeline and we were left in the dark about when interviews will actually be conducted. Finally in February of 2023, we were told we would have to do a Hacker Rank Assessment before we can have an interview. This was never mentioned prior to applying to this program so this was a shock and frustrating for us all. Not only that, but you had to get a score greater than 70% to be offered an interview, which was not disclosed to us until after we submitted our assessments. The assessment was completely unfair with only 2/3 questions being on topics we reviewed in the bootcamp. The third one was for an HTTP Request and even my boyfriend who is DevOps engineer complained that that question was not appropriate especially since the program never reviewed HTTP Requests. I felt we were already set up to fail. I eventually found out I passed the Hacker Rank, and was invited to interview for their Digital Engineering healthcare team as a Software Engineer within Cognizant. The email stated, “The digital engineering unit is currently in the process of interviewing resources for future hiring needs.” The wording was confusing as it made it seem like they are not currently hiring, but wanting to create a pool of potential candidates. I figured I can just ask during the interview. Not only that, but we were told we would be in their apprenticeship program being paid to train and eventually be paired with a client. Based on this email, this did not seem like the case. Cognizant also did not ask for my availability for when I would be free to interview, and just gave me a date and time that worked for them. Luckily, I was free and did not have to reschedule, however, that is not the situation for everybody. I was also told via email that “This is a technical interview so be prepared to answer any questions related to full stack-java, including logic.” With only 48 hours to prepare, needless to say I was stressed and did not have the confidence I was going to perform well. I had my interview yesterday, and not only was the interviewer unprofessional, he was also uninformed. The interviewer was 15 minutes late, asked if I was currently a cognizant employee (look at my resume), and then asked about my general experience with Java. No OOP or technical questions at all. He also proceeded to ask, “Do you have any questions? I have a meeting after this.” This comment made me feel rushed and that I was not worthy of his time. Eventually I asked if there was another interview after this to test my technical skills, and he said “no, I do not think so.” I asked for a tentative timeline about when this position starts, and he did not know. He did not know when I would even hear back after this interview. Overall this interview was maybe 10 minutes and with him being late, and with his lack of knowledge of the position in general, I felt like we wasted both of our times. I know Cognizant has a bad reputation, but after hearing the other cohort’s testimonies, I thought the outcome would be different. All in all, if you interview with Cognizant, be apprehensive about what you are interviewing for. Do not let them rush you as your time is just as important as the time they spend with others, and make sure all of your questions are not left unanswered. However, there is a high chance they will not know the answer to your question. I was not offered a position nor rejected yet, but if they were to extend an offer I would strongly decline based on my experience thus far.