Company details

Teaneck, NH

HEADCOUNT

10000+

ORG TYPE

Corporate

SECTOR

Professional Services

WEBSITE

https://www.cognizant.com/

About the company

Cognizant is a global IT services and consulting company that builds and runs technology for large organisations, including digital engineering, cloud, data and AI, and business operations support. The company serves enterprises across industries such as healthcare, financial services, retail, and manufacturing. Cognizant delivers work through a mix of client-site teams, consulting groups, and large delivery centres, with a big presence in India alongside operations across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. Early-career hiring is visible through student and new grad pathways, a structured internship brand, and paid apprenticeships.

Locations and presence

Cognizant operates globally, with major hubs across the US, India, and multiple APAC and European locations. Cognizant roles span on-site, hybrid, and remote depending on client and function, with public reporting showing a three-days-per-week office expectation for many India-based employees alongside continued remote postings in some markets.

Palpable Score

75.8

/ 100

Cognizant offers several concrete entry routes for early-career candidates, including a branded internship program, student and graduate pathways by region, and a paid apprenticeship model designed for career switchers and new entrants. The score is capped because Cognizant does not publish early-career conversion, promotion, or retention outcomes by program, so results rely on program design and third-party experience reports rather than measured early-career cohort data.

Pillar 1: Early-career access

Score

17.8

/ 20

The company runs a dedicated “Students and new grads” hub that routes candidates into regional early-career programs rather than treating junior hiring as ad hoc.

Cognizant markets the Fusion internship as a repeatable nine-week summer intake across technology, consulting, and corporate teams, which signals recurring early-career volume.

The company operates a one-year paid Apprenticeship Program with built-in learning time, expanding entry-level access beyond traditional degree-only internships.

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Pillar 2: Hiring fairness and transparency

Score

14.2

/ 20

The company publishes a “How we hire” page that lays out a five-step journey from application through onboarding, including when screening and interviews typically happen.
Cognizant shares an interview preparation guide with example behavioural prompts and candidate-led questions, which gives applicants a clearer target than “come prepared.”
The company posts a formal fraud-alert notice that warns candidates about fake offers and payment requests, but the company does not commit publicly to feedback standards or consistent timelines by role.

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Pillar 3: Learning and support

Score

16.6

/ 20

The company’s Apprenticeship Program sets aside dedicated time for learning alongside on-the-job training across service lines, which is a concrete support design for novices.
Cognizant’s Fusion internship materials spell out mentorship and structured development activities, including AI training and hackathons alongside project delivery.
The company has externally visible early-career training signals in employee reviews that reference structured onboarding and access to mentors for freshers, but consistency likely varies across client accounts and geographies.

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Pillar 4: Pay fairness and stability

Score

14.8

/ 20

The company includes pay ranges on many public job postings (including hourly roles), which improves compensation clarity for entry-level applicants in markets where ranges are shown.
Cognizant’s Fusion internship listings commonly include a stated hourly rate and, for some formats, covered travel and accommodation for required in-person periods, reducing the “internship cost burden.”
The company publicly communicated that broad merit increases were delayed and then implemented on a revised schedule for much of the workforce, which adds some uncertainty even though Cognizant remains a large, stable employer.

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Pillar 5: Early-career outcomes

Score

12.4

/ 20

The company reports company-wide indicators like headcount and voluntary attrition for Tech Services, which gives a partial read on workforce stability, but not early-career retention specifically.
Cognizant showcases intern outputs such as presenting project findings to leadership within the Fusion program, which is an early-career outcome signal around visibility and real deliverables rather than shadowing.
The company has public early-career sentiment data (for example, intern-specific review aggregates and fresher-focused reviews mentioning training quality), but Cognizant does not publish internship-to-offer conversion rates or promotion velocity for junior cohorts, limiting outcome confidence.

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