The HCLTech AMP program — short for Ascend, Momentum and Polaris — is HCLTech's merit-based campus hiring framework. Its pitch is simple: your skills decide your salary. Every candidate enters through the same drive, and assessment performance places you on one of three pay tiers.
The three AMP tiers
| Tier | Package | Who gets it |
|---|---|---|
| Ascend | ₹3.75 LPA (New Vistas) / ₹4.5 LPA (other locations) | Everyone who clears the standard assessment and interviews |
| Momentum | ~₹6 LPA | Top Ascend scorers who clear the Momentum upgrade assessment |
| Polaris | ~₹10 LPA | The best performers across the upgrade assessments |
The Ascend assessment
- Cognitive test (90 minutes) — numerical, verbal and reasoning ability, same topics as the HCLTech syllabus.
- Coding / technical test (60–90 minutes) — programming problems and technical MCQs.
- Versant English test — automated spoken/written English evaluation; a minimum B1 level (score ~46–56) is required.
Roughly the top 10% of Ascend candidates are invited to attempt the Momentum and Polaris upgrades — harder DSA problems where optimized solutions and clean edge-case handling matter.
Beyond engineers
AMP covers more than B.E/B.Tech: MBA/PGDM graduates join as Management Graduates, BCA/B.Sc/B.Com and other degrees as Graduate Trainees, and CA/Law/PhD professionals through the Skilled Hiring track. Engineering candidates at partner colleges also get the Primus campus curriculum, which waives the mandatory pre-joining training.
Strategy: treat Ascend as the floor, not the goal. The candidates who reach Momentum/Polaris are the ones who practiced real DSA beyond the standard coding round — the payoff is up to ₹10 LPA from the same campus drive.