What GATE for PSU recruitment is
GATE, the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering, is primarily an admission exam for master’s and doctoral engineering programs, conducted by the IITs and IISc on rotation. Separately, a number of central Public Sector Undertakings, including companies such as NTPC, ONGC, BHEL, IOCL and others that vary by year, use a candidate’s GATE score to shortlist for their own graduate engineer recruitment, rather than conducting their own separate written test.
This is an important structural point: GATE itself does not recruit you into a PSU. You sit GATE for its own purpose, then separately apply to whichever PSUs are using GATE scores that year, each of which runs its own shortlisting, further stages and final selection process on top of your GATE score. A high GATE score opens the door to apply; it does not itself constitute a job offer.
Who can apply
A bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Technology or Architecture, or in some disciplines a relevant master’s degree in Science, qualifies you to sit GATE itself, as set out in the GATE notification for your chosen paper. Separately, each PSU sets its own eligibility criteria for using your GATE score, commonly including a minimum GATE score, a specific degree discipline relevant to that PSU’s engineering functions, and sometimes an age limit that GATE itself does not impose. Always check both the GATE notification and the specific PSU’s recruitment notification, since they are not the same document and do not have the same requirements.
How the process runs
GATE itself is a three hour computer based test of General Aptitude and a chosen engineering or science discipline paper, producing a GATE score valid for a period GATE specifies.
From there, each interested PSU separately invites applications from candidates with a qualifying GATE score in a relevant discipline, shortlists based on that score, and then runs its own further process, commonly a Group Discussion, a Personal Interview, or both, depending on the PSU. Some PSUs also verify a minimum score threshold specific to their own recruitment rather than GATE’s own qualifying cutoff. Final selection is entirely the PSU’s own process from this point, and differs meaningfully between companies.
Preparing the application
For GATE itself, photograph and signature specifications are set out in each year’s GATE notification. For each PSU’s own recruitment stage, that PSU sets its own specification separately, which may or may not match GATE’s. The tools on this site can resize your photograph to whatever specific target either notification states.
On exam day
For the GATE examination itself, arrive at least an hour before the reporting time on your admit card, with the printed admit card and a government photo identification matching the name and photo on the admit card. No electronic devices are permitted inside the hall.
There is no single “PSU exam day” since PSU shortlisting happens after GATE using your score, not through a separate test; any further stage a specific PSU runs (interview, group discussion) follows that PSU’s own separately notified schedule.
The official GATE website, linked above, carries the current GATE syllabus, papers and schedule; each interested PSU publishes its own recruitment notification separately on its own website when it chooses to recruit through GATE scores that year.