Written test was purely of technical nature.
Total time: 60 minutes
Total questions:47 (it varies year to year)
Total marks:100

Questions were from drilling,production and reservoir engineering.Focus on basic concepts.
Don't forget to bring a calculator.Don't spend much time on a particular question.Keep moving through the paper.
51 students were shortlisted after the written test.10 were finally selected.

Cairn GD topics are mostly related to current affairs and are opinion based,factual type.I have not seen any abstract topic being given in a Cairn GD.

The topic of my group discussion was"Should oil prices be deregulated?"

No GPA criteria.All students were eligible for the written test.But GPA does play an important role in your final selection;so maintain a decent GPA.

I was the first one to be interviewed.My interview was 90% technical and 10% HR.They will ask you questions from your answer-sheet and then it can go to any direction therefrom.My first priority was drilling team and 2nd was production team.As I had done exceptionally well in reservoir engineering part they asked me to reconsider my preferences.Then they asked me questions about the things I had seen during my internship.

I am listing some of the questions that were asked during interview:
(1)Draw the block diagram of circulation system on a drilling rig and describe its parts.
(2)What are the sand control techniques?What is uniformity coefficient?How gravel size is determined?
(3)What is relationship b/w contact angle and waterflooding performance?
(4)Mobility ratio and its significance?
(5)How will you control a kick?Driller's method and wait and weight method?Block diagram of BOP preventer?which BOP is first used during a kick:Annular or Ram type?
(6)Skin,flow coupling,blast joint,type of perforation system,advantages of TCP,nipple,mandrel etc.

As I said my interview was mostly technical in nature.some of the HR questions that I was asked were:
(1)Tell me about yourself?your family background?
(2)Why do you want to join drilling team?
(3)Suppose you are a CEO of a company which has made a huge oil field discovery.Now imagine you are a CEO of another company which has made a huge gas field discovery.what will be your first concern for these two fields as the CEO of the company?)(This question was asked as I was having a dual degree in petroleum engineering:B.Tech in petroleum engineering and M.Tech in Petroleum Management.)

For a company like cairn you must be technically strong.Try to have a good understanding of all areas of petroleum engineering.Good GPA is good but its not everything.There were 6 pointers and 7 pointers also in the final selection list.

For GD round develop habit of reading newspapers on a daily basis at least 2 months prior to final selection day.Know what is going on around the world and in our country.Be confident while speaking.Don't speak just for sake of speaking.you should make some sense also.2 to 3 good points and you are through.

For interview round prepare some HR questions from some standard books.Keep a smiling face and make environment friendly.Interviewers are very friendly if you have a good sense of humour.Don't be nervous of the interviewers;they are also human being :always keep that in your mind.

Around 80 students appeared in written test.51 qualified for GD.After GD round 24 were shortlisted for personal interviews.Finally 10 were selected.

I think the most important factor in my selection was my good GPA,summer internship I did at the company and 3rd highest score in the written test.I was topper of dual degree branch and was 2nd ranked amongst all applicants(B.tech Dual Degree).My sound technical knowledge helped me a lot during the interview.