Vault’s Verdict

Wipro is an enormous firm that, while international, has its strongest presence in India. In recent years, the firm has shifted from its initial focus on outsourcing to a more traditional consulting offering. The firm has a distinct focus in the IT industry, and the technology culture is strong within the firm. Wipro seeks consultants with an aptitude for technology, with the experience to back it up, and the academic achievement that suggests they are well-prepared to thrive in an industry that requires constant learning. Learning, and the drive and independence to drive your own learning experience, is an important component of professional development at Wipro—a firm that offers a plethora of training opportunities, but requires its consultants to take the initiative to pursue them.

The size and scale of Wipro leads to difficulties in understanding promotion processes, as well as complex hierarchies that can make certain teams feel isolated or unable to stand out. While there’s a diverse portfolio of exciting projects, and camaraderie within teams, consultants often feel stymied by red tape and lack of visibility. There are inconsistencies in experiences across the different offices we surveyed, making it hard to quantify exactly what the “Wipro experience” is. As we echoed last year, Wipro is a place where experiences run the gamut, and where your own experience falls on that spectrum depends on how well-informed you are going in.

Firm Culture

• “Excellent projects and good leaders, but we’re still feeling the pains of an internal transformation towards more diversity.”

• “Good opportunities, but you need to push yourself. IT’s okay to ask for a little help sometimes.”

• “Great experience with self-initiated projects. However, the firm is least progressive when it comes to career growth.”

• “Wipro pushes you to take on roles and responsibilities that challenge you and help you grow as a consultant.”

• “A good firm to work for. It’s a little chaotic, but it gets the job done. Career progression, however, is difficult internally.”

• “There is an opportunity to take on roles and responsibilities that, in other places, would not have been possible. The experience gained in such roles is invaluable. It matures you as a consultant and helps you grow as an individual. This is a very big positive.”

Quality of Life

• “There is a focus on having people onsite, therefore travel is frequent. Fortunately, there is some flexibility in how often you travel for an engagement.”

• "We have flexibility in working. Travel is predominantly driven by meetings with clients. We need to plan in well in advance for taking time off from work.”

• “Best: individually, immediate managers within the hierarchy are accommodating of work/life balance. Worst: institutionally, the firm as a whole exhibits less appreciation of work/life balance.”

• “Taking time off is easy. However, projects can get hectic all at once, in which case working hours can go for a toss. During RFP submissions, effort can be erratic."

• “Wipro needs to improve work/life balance when organizing projects. It seems to be the norm to think that people are free to attend calls late evening, on weekends, and whilst on leave. A better work/life balance could improve productivity.”

• “Although there is consideration for family time, there feels as if there is an unspoken expectation to be available during non-business hours.”

Career Development

• "Wipro provides opportunities in terms of training, career development, personal development, skill improvement, etc. The promotion process is also streamlined from yearly to quarterly, which will be very helpful in developing our skills and knowledge about client requirements and other activities. Wipro provides online training opportunities to improve our growth and career development.”

• “There are various opportunities for exposure to all latest technologies, so good learning is available. However, we need more transparency for promotion processes.”

• “Diversity (in all its aspects) is an issue that is being actively tackled by senior management to the benefit of everyone. It is very easy to move around within Wipro and the work is varied and challenging.”

• “For the junior cadre, much more formal training is required since the current approach seems to rely on on-the-job training, but with new talent and technology proliferation, this method should be revisited.”

• "Best: ample opportunities for able candidates.  Ease of access to seniors for guidance. Worst: strategic vision is lacking. Brand image as a consulting partner is below average.”

• “Wipro provides many internal training opportunities.  However, for many of us, the workload and responsibility makes it difficult to pursue these, and the emails remind you of training opportunities simply become white noise.”

Compensation

• “The starting salaries are generally good and the bonus is mostly based on whether you have been chargeable in a quarter, not on someone's opinion, which is good. However, yearly pay increases are very small and progression is rare.”

• "Wipro has a pay structure that is made up of various elements, which is great.  However, in the basic salary element, Wipro has fallen behind in terms of yearly salary raises. Over the last four years, they have failed to keep up with the minimum inflation rate. Wipro should also consider giving a differentiating pay raise when a promotion is received.”

• “There are no extra financial incentives; the company has never had company cars, so we have had relatively simple tax returns. Non-taxable spot awards are occasionally available.”

• “Some of the benefits were removed last year, like the home internet contribution. In regards to salary progression and hikes to maintain a level of living, last year was okay.”

• “Salary needs to be revised for employees on deployment, as there is a huge disparity between local hire and deployment employees.”

• "Pension contribution is about average. Private medical is basic coverage as far as the policy is concerned, but allows for family policies. Quarterly bonuses are great.”

Outlook

• “There is an ongoing transformation process towards digital, which will make the global teams very well prepared for the future.”

• “Growth is driven by digital, which is exciting, and brings new opportunities. New leadership is driving new ideas into the company and generating positive feelings about the future and overall business outlook. After a couple of quite flat years, the mood is more optimistic.”

• “The overall Wipro Technology culture prevails. The journey towards becoming a consulting firm, from a body-shopping firm, is still not complete.”

• “We had challenges in Q4 performance because of issues with two of our major clients and acquisitions going wrong. The employee is morale is low because of this. However, we are working towards a strategy for growth and are investing in the right areas. BFSI vertical has done very well last year compared to our competition.”

• “Best: strategically, the Business is well-positioned for future innovation. Worst: resource-wise, there are established pockets of the organization that will struggle with new ways of working.”

• “Recent acquisitions have been positive. The firm is well-placed with cognitive technology offerings and crowd sourcing platforms.”

Hiring Process

• "We have two rounds of interview, typically, and more if there are additional questions. The first interview is about an hour and covers the basics of the subject matter, delves into the CV and the development of the interviewee in question. The second is typically two hours with a practice partner and involves a case study and presentation, and a deeper dive into the person as well as their technical capabilities."

• “Two rounds of interviews. Scenario presentations. We’re looking for self-motivated, articulate, and digital aware candidates.”

• “The interview process is reasonably efficient, though formalizing an offer can take time. We’re looking for good, customer-facing consultants with a breadth and depth of experience in relevant technologies and a passion for technology.”

• “Interview questions were standard and aligned with the requirements of the job.”

Interview Tips & Questions

• “Specific skills and competency questions to ensure clarity of experience and ability. Industry-standard qualification questions.”

• “We generally have three to four rounds of interview: two interviews to evaluate subject matter expertise, experience, and practice fit, interpersonal skills, etc. For senior hires, we have scenario-based interviews in addition to other interviews. The candidate is given a scenario (client problem) and will have to present the approach and solution, and convince the panel why this approach will work.”

• “The process can involve a case-study looking at priorities and roadmap for investment.”

• “We stress hands-on experience, and leverage various tools and technologies for assessments.”

• “Describe how you would move a company from on premise to the cloud.”

• “Defined strategy case with 24 hours’ notice. Role playing: defend against client challenges.”