TCS Email Writing Test - Tips / Tricks / Study Tips

TCS has introduced an email writing test for all the fresher candidates. We've been getting queries about how to crack the test, tips to prepare for the test. We're dedicating this discussion for all the questions, queries and experience sharing for the TCS email test.

I'd like someone to write about the format of the test and what exactly is checked by TCS recruiters. We can then come up with strategies to prepare for it.

Replies

  • Neda Hashmi
    Neda Hashmi
    i asked my friend what the exact question TCS is asking.
    she said that they will give certain terms or group of words which you have to use exactly as it is without any change. and there is word limit that the email must contain more than 70 words. and there is time limit of 10 mins. and also there is permissible limit of mistakes.
  • durga ch
    durga ch
    humble opinion

    Few things are best left aspirant's brain. writing an email?? seriously?
  • Kaustubh Katdare
    Kaustubh Katdare
    durga
    humble opinion
    Few things are best left aspirant's brain. writing an email?? seriously?
    I think it's still an important test. Students are never exposed to writing proper emails and I think a lot of them mess up. But I'm still curious to know what they're judging. Students need to be trained on writing professional emails. Testing them without any training is not justified.
  • durga ch
    durga ch
    testing without training might not be a scale for judgment. It might only be a measure to understand how quickly can a student draft sensible email.
    Remember all those same objectives in resume - : seeking a job opportunity with prestigious organisation to fully utilise my potential and contribute to company's growth along with growing personally?". everyone has same statement , like every Miss Universe wanting World Peace and idolises Mother Theressa.
  • Anoop Kumar
    Anoop Kumar
    I would say it's all depends on Company vision.
    Why the hell you want to measure email writing capability of a guy who is going to work in environment of Software Complexity.
    An employee automatically learns these things in a year or two.
  • atul-namdeo
    atul-namdeo
    I have cleared the TCS written test including with writing a business email. As in Pre-placement Seminar was held in our college one day before campus placement, the TCS M.P. division head Mr. Nikhil had given the seminar and he made it clear that TCS needs an employee with best communication skill, so i think the purpose of that test is to measure that how quickly can a student draft sensible email as well as to see whether he has a good command over his communication skills or not because they have less time and more no. of students.
  • Ankita Katdare
    Ankita Katdare
    I think TCS has done away with the email writing test. Anyhow, they make the freshers go through soft-skills training where email-writting sessions are more than an hour long! 👍
  • Akanksha Gupta
    Akanksha Gupta
    i think e-mail writing is to check how fast, short and skilled the person is
  • kratika jain
    kratika jain
    yeah.. with my opinion it's one of the important part of there interview bcoz with the help of this round they also check candidates thinking ..how they think in dat situation nd in which direction nd they also bound candidate with restiction of words..so by this they check
  • LUCKY(NABEEL)
    LUCKY(NABEEL)
    Kaustubh Katdare
    TCS has introduced an email writing test for all the fresher candidates. We've been getting queries about how to crack the test, tips to prepare for the test. We're dedicating this discussion for all the questions, queries and experience sharing for the TCS email test.

    I'd like someone to write about the format of the test and what exactly is checked by TCS recruiters. We can then come up with strategies to prepare for it.
    SO HOW I COULD PRACTICE
  • MAYUR KUMAR AGARWAL
    MAYUR KUMAR AGARWAL
    Many students appearing in placements don't even know how to write email.

    this is the reason they are asking to write an email in letter format
  • MAYUR KUMAR AGARWAL
    MAYUR KUMAR AGARWAL
    Ankita Katdare
    I think TCS has done away with the email writing test. Anyhow, they make the freshers go through soft-skills training where email-writting sessions are more than an hour long! 👍
    can you send some models of such emails for different letters like business letter etc.which will be useful for freshers in their placements.
  • Kaustubh Katdare
    Kaustubh Katdare
    MAYUR KUMAR AGARWAL
    can you send some models of such emails for different letters like business letter etc.which will be useful for freshers in their placements.
    There are lot of sample emails available on the Internet if you search. If you want, you can try to write a few emails below and we can then find out what needs an improvement. Let's do this exercise. Write the email below for specific purpose and we'll tell you how can it be improved.

    BUT: Only write original emails. If you copy paste from some source, we will delete it.
  • akritic
    akritic
    Is there any restriction of writtng only small letters or capital lerrers in emails.
    Or we can write as per grammar rules.
  • Kaustubh Katdare
    Kaustubh Katdare
    akritic
    Is there any restriction of writtng only small letters or capital lerrers in emails.
    Or we can write as per grammar rules.
    Didn't get what you mean. Can you provide examples?
  • Manonmani K
    Manonmani K
    I am having tcs interview on coming week in my college.How many marks had e-mail writing section? How many questions should I attend in analytical ability? Because negative marks also considered.
  • Sumanto Ghosh
    Sumanto Ghosh
    HI ! I am a trainer from Kolkata and do guide students for various campus selections. Based on Information gathered from Sesame (the practice website of TCS for campus selection, given access to students at various colleges) here are some tips; There are 2 sections in the test Sec A- verbal ability Test - duration 10 minutes where you need to write an email based on key words provided (50-70 words min {as mentioned in question} and max 100 words {sometimes mentioned in the question}). Section B has Analytical ability Test (duration 80 min) with 30 questions (may include a sodoku puzzle too) where 2 -3 questions carry more marks than the others (marked with a * and mentioned on top of the paper). If you do not press submit button after section A you are automatically taken to Section B with autosave of whatever work you have done. It is always better to press the submit button. Sequence of phrases provided may not be exactly maintained in the email but all phrases / words must be used. The paper is fully tested by computers, including grammar. Generally student possessing 75%+ all throughout (X, XII, BTech till 6th semester and / or the TOP 5 in the class with aggregate above 75%) are exempted from the Section B, but every student has to appear for Section A.
  • Sumanto Ghosh
    Sumanto Ghosh
    I ! I am a trainer from Kolkata and do guide students for various campus selections. Based on Information gathered from Sesame (the practice website of TCS for campus selection, given access to students at various colleges) here are some tips; There are 2 sections in the test Sec A- verbal ability Test - duration 10 minutes where you need to write an email based on key words provided (50-70 words min {as mentioned in question} and max 100 words {sometimes mentioned in the question}). Section B has Analytical ability Test (duration 80 min) with 30 questions (may include a sodoku puzzle too) where 2 -3 questions carry more marks than the others (marked with a * and mentioned on top of the paper). If you do not press submit button after section A you are automatically taken to Section B with autosave of whatever work you have done. It is always better to press the submit button. Sequence of phrases provided may not be exactly maintained in the email but all phrases / words must be used. The paper is fully tested by computers, including grammar. Generally student possessing 75%+ all throughout (X, XII, BTech till 6th semester and / or the TOP 5 in the class with aggregate above 75%) are exempted from the Section B, but every student has to appear for Section A {this exemption varies from college to college} .
  • Sumanto Ghosh
    Sumanto Ghosh
    Sample Section ASec-1
  • R.Hema Nagadei
    R.Hema Nagadei
    I don't know about email writing. how could i crack the email writing test will you please give me instructions.
    Time limit,grammatical mistakes,spellings and how much time taken to complete the email those things are consider or not
  • paridhi gupta
    paridhi gupta
    Dear Mr. Gill,
    For the project"payment processing system " the scheduled date was tenth may(friday). However,due to unexpected power outage of three days,the project has suffered a lot. There may be an overall delay of seven days,includes recovery of lost work. I enure you that this inconvinence will not recur. You are a valuable customer for our company. Expecting a long term relationship.

    Thanks and Regards.
    Project leader
    Roy
  • Kaustubh Katdare
    Kaustubh Katdare
    R.Hema Nagadei
    I don't know about email writing. how could i crack the email writing test will you please give me instructions.
    Time limit,grammatical mistakes,spellings and how much time taken to complete the email those things are consider or not
    This may help you: How to write professional email to client / boss [Guide]
  • Kaustubh Katdare
    Kaustubh Katdare
    paridhi gupta
    Dear Mr. Gill,
    For the project"payment processing system " the scheduled date was tenth may(friday). However,due to unexpected power outage of three days,the project has suffered a lot. There may be an overall delay of seven days,includes recovery of lost work. I enure you that this inconvinence will not recur. You are a valuable customer for our company. Expecting a long term relationship.

    Thanks and Regards.
    Project leader
    Roy
    That definitely looks good. I'll suggest the following changes:-

    "Dear Mr. Gill" : If you've known the person only then use Mr. or Ms. You can simply do away with first name.

    It's likely that the project manager already knows what the project name is. There is no point in repeating it. Also, how will you ensure that the inconvenience will not repeat? Can you guarantee it? If not, don't make false promises. The entire mail could have been written in following way (and this is how any experienced project leader will write it) :

    Dear Robert (or Mr. Gill),

    Hope you are doing well. As you are aware, there was a major power outage at our office since Monday and our power backup systems could handle the load only for about a day. This unfortunate incident will delay our schedule by about seven business days as we continue to recover all our lost data.

    We are working with the IT department to ensure the integrity of data in case of such accidents. I will get back to you with a status update in the next 48 hours.

    I thank you for your patience and look forward to your cooperation. If you have any questions or concerns, I will be happy to assist.

    Regards,
    Roy
    Project Leader | Payment Processing System | Phone: | Email:
  • Anilparigi
    Anilparigi
    it is better to write a subject line inn email during professional mail to client are manager
  • Kaustubh Katdare
    Kaustubh Katdare
    Anilparigi
    it is better to write a subject line inn email during professional mail to client are manager
    The subject of the email should be mentioned in the 'subject' field of your email; not in the body of the email. The purpose of the subject is to inform the user what the email is about. For example, the title of this discussion "TCS Email Writing Test - Tips / Tricks / Study Tips" clearly informs the reader what to expect in this discussion.
  • Anilparigi
    Anilparigi
    ok so it is need nott to write the subject in tcs verbal test

    how many words have to be framed then it will lead to higher score?
  • Dharmednra
    Dharmednra
    Please tell me that is necessary to write comma in emai writing at starting like:
    Dear Roy,
  • Sanchari Das
    Sanchari Das
    sumonto sir I would like to know that whether there is any save button in email portion .. do we have to save the email
  • Kaustubh Katdare
    Kaustubh Katdare
    Anilparigi
    ok so it is need nott to write the subject in tcs verbal test
    how many words have to be framed then it will lead to higher score?
    Not sure about the subject. But in professional email writing, the email programs have a separate 'Subject' field where you write the subject of your email.

    You don't want to make your email lengthy. The most important part of any business email is that it must be TO-THE-POINT. Do not try to add humour or unnecessary 'quotes' in your email.

    Dharmednra
    Please tell me that is necessary to write comma in emai writing at starting like:
    Dear Roy,
    Yes, that's the correct way to start writing your email.

    Sanchari Das
    sumonto sir I would like to know that whether there is any save button in email portion .. do we have to save the email
    Not sure about the way TCS conducts their email writing test. However, most of the email writing tools will automatically save the draft of your text. If TCS's software does not have it on auto-mode, you should better click on the 'save' button every one or two minutes.
  • Anand Bharadwaj M
    Anand Bharadwaj M
    TCS is included email drafting test in written exam. This is because we have to learn formal and professional way to communicate with the people while mailing them.
    We all know that communicating i formal way is very different as compared to informal.
    precautions
    1. we should include all the words which are given as hints
    2. our email should be having some structure
    3. try to avoid using backspace mostly, our actions are recorded
    4. email should not cross the barrier like 70-100 words.
  • Debasmita Banerjee
    Debasmita Banerjee
    It might be true that many of the job aspirants don't have a clear idea on email writing but I think it's one of those skills that which one acquires with daily writing experiences. If I have to compare the best with the worst I would mention that the best formal electronic mail appeared in my email inbox was very clear,concise and courteous. 3 'C', appearing with constructive interference makes an email the best one to read and comprehend. After all, if it's formal it bears an important news which must be notified to you and depending on which you would take further actions.

    Please don't take it otherwise, but I have experienced that companies in USA, I mean USA branches of those companies do write the best email. They are pretty clear with their terms and I find it's very easy to understand. Regarding this, I would like to share one of my experiences which made me believe in this proper distinction.

    Around a year back I had to write an email to Microsoft. By mistake I sent that email to their USA office and I got a reply from them in the same business day with a very polite and informative tone that I felt that my problem is half solved. They referred me to Microsoft India. I wrote another email informing them about my issue and I remember they replied to me 3 days later with completely half-hearted tone and information which did not help me at all. I had to clear my issue by myself without any help from them. Not only this, I do receive emails from an association's headquarter(USA) which is,truly speaking, inspiring and helpful. But with almost same reason if I get any email from Indian associations it's full of mistakes and too complicated. I need to send another email with subject "Doubts regarding such and such issue".
    So as a suggestion, I would say any MNC would like to see whether one can write
    • an informative email, which completely conveys the message, company wants to give
    • is concise enough to not bore someone who is reading [don't compare with my answer please] ( and not filled with complicated English words which people don't use )
    • is courteous(neither too rude neither too frank)
    I think at the end it must be pretty simply structured so that a person can concentrate on the message, not on the beautiful format or other stuffs which might act as a noise in the channel.
  • Who_Eshu
    Who_Eshu
    I missed one phrase in tcs email writing as the time given was only 10 minutes. But I managed to solve 21 questions correctly in quantitative section.So what are my chances of clearing the aptitude round?
    Plz reply soon.
  • harika madhavarapu
    harika madhavarapu
    please help me instructions and tips about how to manage email writing in 10minutes which is conducted for TCS written exam
  • Yashi Das
    Yashi Das
    I have myself appeared for TCS on campus drive.And I had written the email very well plus the aptitude also went very good,still I couldn't made through.But, I had a friend who had written the email incorrectly and still he made it through the next round.
  • Debasmita Banerjee
    Debasmita Banerjee
    Yashi Das
    I have myself appeared for TCS on campus drive.And I had written the email very well plus the aptitude also went very good,still I couldn't made through.But, I had a friend who had written the email incorrectly and still he made it through the next round.
    Sorry, please do not get me wrong, but I didn't understand, How did you know that your friend has written "badly" compared to you? Do you have any evidence? I did not know that TCS allows one to see other responses.
  • Yashi Das
    Yashi Das
    #-Link-Snipped-# Yes,it is true that we cannot see other responses.My friend told me that he had deleted the email before submitting it even once.
  • Debasmita Banerjee
    Debasmita Banerjee
    Yashi Das
    #-Link-Snipped-# Yes,it is true that we cannot see other responses.My friend told me that he had deleted the email before submitting it even once.
    If I was you I wouldn't have believed in such thing. ☕ Besides, I think "good" or "bad" is completely perspective. What seemed good to you might not be up to the mark to TCS recruiters and the opposite case is applicable to your friend. But if you get any evidence or at least the piece on which you both were judged, please do share it.
  • Vishruta
    Vishruta
    I just want to know that is it necessary to use the phrases or words as per the sequence it is given in email writing round of tcs.If anyone knows about this please tell.It is clear that we have to use all the phrases that has been given in the instructions but we are allowed to change the sequence or not??
  • Sumanto Ghosh
    Sumanto Ghosh
    Vishruta
    I just want to know that is it necessary to use the phrases or words as per the sequence it is given in email writing round of tcs. If anyone knows about this please tell. It is clear that we have to use all the phrases that has been given in the instructions but we are allowed to change the sequence or not??
    You have to use ALL the phrases but NOT IN SAME SEQUENCE. Yes you are allowed to change the sequence if needed based on the story line that you make.
  • Sumanto Ghosh
    Sumanto Ghosh
    Here is One more example for those who need and idea of TCS email writing question. Time for this Verbal Ability/Section 1 is 10 min. You need to press SUBMIT button to submit your answer (preferably do it before the 10th min, otherwise whatever is stored in the memory only that gets auto submitted). You cannot return back to section 1, once you go to section -2 (Analytical Ability Test).

    Here is another sample question:
    Using the following phrases, write an email with a minimum of 70 to 80 words to your final year project guide explaining the delay in the project submission.
    foreign edition books - Schedule - 12th June - laptop problem - delay in printing – overall status - 10 days - approve the extension - shortage of money
  • Kaustubh Katdare
    Kaustubh Katdare

    Alright, let's attempt at solving these -

    Letter to Mr. Gill Roy about delay; by Maria

    Dear Mr. Gill Roy,

    Subject: Delay in processing payments in May

    I'm writing to inform you about an unexpected delay in processing payments. Our Payments processing system was scheduled to process your payment by Tenth May (Friday). However, there was an unexpected power outage for three days which led to an overall delay of about seven days in processing payments of all our clients.

    The overall challenge included recovery of lost work; which is now complete. I assure you that such incidence will not recur. 

    Accept my apologies for the inconvenience this may cause.

    Regards,

    Maria

    Second Letter

    Dear Prof. #-Link-Snipped-# ,

    Subject: Requesting approval for extension in submission of project

    I am writing to request you to extend the date of submission of project by 10 days. I referred to all the three foreign edition books that you recommended in your lecture last week.

    I was expected to submit the project on 12th June. However, an unexpected problem in my laptop is causing delay in printing the final report. I've had the laptop checked with a local technician and they've promised to get it working in the next 7 working days. 

    Looking at the overall status of my project, I request you to approve 10-day extension for the submission. I am currently facing shortage of money to fix my laptop and I hope to get some aid from my friends.

    Sincerely,

    Kaustubh Katdare

    I hope this helps. 

    I'm not sure why TCS makes it mandatory to have an email that is ~80 words. In real world, most emails that are worthy of reading are max one or two lines!

    ... how do I know? Well, I've had business communication with TCS folks! ? 

  • Ramani Aswath
    Ramani Aswath

    Dear #-Link-Snipped-# ,

                                      An interim handwritten summary would suffice till the laptop gets ready.

    Regards,

    Ramani

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