u/Commercial_Answer160

I’m looking into AI training/data annotation platforms like Outlier, Mercor, Alignerr, Handshake AI, DataAnnotation, TELUS Digital, CrowdGen/Appen, and other similar platforms.

For people working from India, I’d really appreciate some real experiences:

Which platform are you getting projects from?

Roughly how much have you earned, and how long did it take to get your first project after passing the assessment/interview?

Any mistakes or things you wish you knew before taking the assessment/interview?

We all know the current job market is bad, but many of us who received TCS offer letters are now stuck waiting for joining letters with no clear update.

Some candidates who received their offer letters in January/February are still waiting for their joining, while some candidates who got their offer letters later in April/May/June have already received joining letters. If TCS is calling candidates in batches, there should at least be some clear order or explanation for how the joining process is being decided.

For many of us, it has already been more than 8 months since we received our offer letters. During this time, TCS keeps sending Xplore surveys, IPA/CPA exams and other updates, but we still don't know when we are actually going to join.

We understand that business needs and project availability can affect joining dates. But if there aren't enough projects, why were so many candidates hired without giving us a proper joining timeline? We all have our own responsibilities, education loans, financial needs and career plans. Sitting at home for months without knowing when we can start working is becoming very difficult.

This also affects our families. After sitting at home for so long, some parents may even start wondering whether the offer is real or whether we are simply wasting our time.

We are not asking TCS to join everyone immediately. We are asking for a clear timeline. Even an approximate joining month would help us plan our careers and finances.

According to the Post Offer Engagement (POE) enrollment statistics, more than 25,000 candidates across India are reportedly waiting for their joining dates. This is not a problem faced by just a few people.

So why don't we come together as a community and try to get TCS's attention?

We can share our experiences on Reddit, X/Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media platforms, use the same hashtags, tag the relevant TCS accounts and share the posts with other affected candidates.

If we all come together and do this properly, we can make our voices heard.

Please comment your ideas on how we can trend this topic and get a response from TCS. Which hashtags should we use? Which platform will reach more people? Should we choose a specific date and time and post together?

Let's discuss this and make a proper plan instead of everyone trying separately.

Our time matters too. We just want a clear answer about our joining.

TL;DR

25,000+ TCS candidates are reportedly waiting for joining dates, with many waiting for 8+ months after receiving their offer letters. We need a clear joining timeline from TCS. Let's come together as a community, post across Reddit, X/Twitter, LinkedIn and other platforms, and figure out the best way to get TCS's attention and a proper response.

For people who started their career as TCS Ninja and later moved up

I want to know how your career went after joining TCS. Was it difficult to get promotions or switch to another company?

How did you upskill yourself and get better opportunities?

For those who wrote the Wings exam, did it actually help you move from Ninja to Digital? How difficult was it?

Also how did you handle the 90 day notice period when switching companies? Did you already have an offer before resigning and were companies willing to wait?

If you know someone who started as TCS Ninja and later moved to a better role or company, their experience would also be helpful.

I would really like to hear some real experiences and advice from people who have been through it.

To all current and ex-TCS employees who started their career as TCS Ninja

What kind of struggles did you face when trying to get promotions inside TCS or when switching to other companies?

How did you upskill yourself and move to a better role or company?

Also how realistic is the TCS Wings exam for moving from Ninja to Digital? Has anyone actually done it and how difficult was it?

And how did you manage the 90 day notice period when switching to another company? Did you get an offer first and then serve the notice period or was it difficult to find companies willing to wait?

If you’re not from TCS but have friends or relatives who started as Ninja and later built a good career please feel free to share their experience too.

Those who have been waiting for the joining letter since Jan/Feb, what are you guys actually doing now?

Are you just waiting for the JL for months, or are you still trying for off-campus jobs, internships, upskilling, doing projects etc?

Honestly, waiting for months without even knowing when we’re going to join is really frustrating. The job market is already so bad. I’ve applied to 500+ companies, cold emailed 250+ companies and asked for referrals from at least 100 people on LinkedIn, but nothing worked out and I couldn’t even get an internship these past few months.

After trying so much and getting almost nothing back, I’ve kind of lost hope and motivation. Nowadays I’m not even trying that much.

And seeing friends around you figure out their careers and move forward while you’re just sitting at home with nothing to do is honestly depressing.

Just wanted to know what others in the same situation are doing. Are you guys still applying? Doing internships/projects? Preparing for something else? Or just waiting for the JL?