TCS Prime Interview Rant: When the TR goes missing, the MR thinks Python = ML, and months of hard work get ruined by sheer bad luck."
This is the story about how TCS Prime Interview happened to my friend today (19/08/2026). It might be lengthy, but hope you read all this stuff. It's for your self awareness of how the reality is.
I need to vent about an incredibly frustrating and unprofessional interview experience my friend went through today for the TCS Prime role. I am one year senior to him (he was a dropper in intermediate for JEE), and I’ve already been through the TCS Digital interview myself. I know exactly what is expected: confidence, problem-solving, and strong technical fundamentals.
I personally prepped him for this.
We covered everything such as SDLC, Version Control, OOPs, complex SQL queries, and advanced DSA (Arrays, Binary Search, Sorting). He is from an EEE background but worked his absolute heart out to transition into IT, mastering Full-Stack Development and Python.
He was completely ready. Then, the panel ruined it.
Here is the absolute circus that happened. I personally feel these are the red flags that happened during the interview.
🚩 The TR Left the Chat
Right at the start of this Prime interview, the Technical Round (TR) interviewer got an "important call" and literally left for 30 minutes. So, the Managerial Round (MR) interviewer who clearly lacked basic technical depth, keep my friend waiting for 10 mins still and TR didn't returning back so MR decided to take over the technical evaluation.
🚩 The "Python = ML" Generalization
My friend mentioned Python as his primary language for coding and problem-solving. The MR immediately attacked him: "You know Python? So why haven't you built any ML or AI projects? Everyone is doing AI. You just learned the ABCD of Python."
He tried to explain that he chose python for problem solving only and understood the importance and assured about learning ML soon.
I am an AIML student myself, so I understand ML expectations for my domain. But expecting an EEE fresher to magically know Scikit-Learn and Neural Networks just because he uses Python for backend and DSA is absurd. Python is a general-purpose programming language, not an exclusive ML tool! We can even do web development, Automation, visualisation and others using python as well.
🚩 Disrespecting Core Engineering Effort
My friend built a complete, full-stack Resume Builder with Node.js, Express, and PostgreSQL (secure auth, dynamic templates, PDF generation). When he explained it, the MR scoffed and said, "What’s the use? We can just get our resumes using ChatGPT."
He completely dismissed the backend architecture, the database schemas, and the API integration. He then had the audacity to tell my friend that his transition from EEE to IT was just "half-half work" and that he got shortlisted for Prime purely by luck. He just seen the Resume Builder as getting easy resumes directly like Chatgpt. Even though my friend explained that many students struggling to create perfect ATS friendly resumes, so he tried to develop a system where the system contains some fixed ATS friendly Templates, so you users can give their details and generate resume easily. But the interviewer never saw the architecture and what he built. He fundamentally misunderstood software development.
ChatGPT can generate the text of a resume, but it does not build the secure authentication routing, the database schemas in PostgreSQL, or the backend API logic required to host a platform. My friend even deployed that project to be visible in public using render/vercel.
🚩 The Climax of Incompetence
After making my friend sit in awkward silence for 10 minutes waiting for the TR, the MR decided to test him. Did he ask about Joins? Subqueries? OOPs? No. He asked him to write a basic CREATE TABLE query.
The most ironic part? The MR didn't even know if the query was correct. When the TR finally strolled back in at the very end of the interview, the MR literally handed the paper to the TR to verify the basic SQL syntax.
Because time was up, the TR just asked a formality question about OOPs, didn't even listen to the explanation, asked if he knew Matplotlib, and told him to leave.
💡 The Bitter Reality
My ego has always refused to accept that "luck" plays a role in placements. I always believed that if you grind hard enough, your skills will speak for themselves. But seeing a panel waste a candidate's time, disrespect their cross-domain hustle, and judge them based on buzzwords rather than engineering logic is a harsh reality check.
Sometimes, you can do everything right, prep flawlessly, and still get derailed because the interviewer on the other side of the table simply doesn't know what they are doing.
To all the freshers and core students grinding for IT: don't let one bad panel define your worth. Keep expanding your skills. I personally wish I faced these types of interviewers. I want to make them shut, and I feel that I know how to respectfully make them shut. Anyway All the best to your preparation.
HR went formally,
They asked about
Why TCS?
Preferred locations and why?
Personal challenges blah blah.