Being a postgraduate student at MNNIT has been very stimulating and challenging at times, but with continuous hard work and dedication, I have successfully managed to acheive my way to success. I thought I’d share my placement experience with you all.
On 21st december 2009, I got a call from my friend to say… Tarun you got selected as software engineer at IBM. I was absolutely ecstatic as this was the moment I have been waiting for long time. I will never forget how happy I was to hear such good news.
In July 2009, I began my placement year with MNNIT. I was a bit nervous, but the nervousness gets diluted with time as the companies started coming. During May – June 2009, companies like STMicroelectronics (STM), Citrix, Goldman Sachs take students for internship. I got a call from STM and have given 4 interviews. And during these interviews I realise my weaknesses. I didn’t get selected in STM and I started preparing myself for interviews.
During the start of my placement, the routine of getting up early everyday and concentrating for the whole day was daunting and I did struggle to get into a regular pattern in the first few weeks. I made a list of targeted companies whom I like to work with. IBM, Oracle, Accenture, STMicroelectronics, Goldman sachs and TCS tops the list.
4 to 5 top companies got passed away, and I was not able to make it. This was the most frustrating moment for me. STM rejected me, Goldman Sachs didn’t allow M.TECH, and for Oracle I was not shortlisted (2 out of 3 students on pointer 8.125 were called, and the 3 rd student left out was me. I don’t know why they have not called me). Accenture and TCS had no hope of visiting campus. Finally getting into IBM was mandatory for me. Only 2 days before we were told about IBM GBS visit. I know this was not the last chance for me to appear in campus, but I was pretty sure of making this as my last campus. I prepared hard for written exam, as for me, this was the most difficult part to crack. And finally, at around 1:00 PM a mail from TPO called me for the next round.
Time management is the key in written exams.
Group discussion was the major elimination round. My topic was “Test cricket Vs One day cricket”.
Communication skills, Presentation skills, & confidence are key stones.
After clearing GD round, my confidence just double. Next was the tech interview. I was ready with my documents to enter the interview room. My interviewer was a lady. I handed her my resume. She glanced my resume and said good 3 times. I was waiting for her questions and finally she started firing questions. She asked about my thesis work, projects, data structure(especially, queues, stack, and tree), software engineering and database. She tried to make me confuse by asking irrelevant questions but I sticked to my answers. My interview lasted for around 25 minutes and I answered all of her questions. She was pretty impressed.
The mantra is to keep youself confident , cool, & relax. Eye contact is a must.
After clearing tech interview, I was knowing that I have been selected. The HR had all my documents, the written paper, GD marks, tech interview comments and my resume. He was looking at them very deeply and asked me to staple few papers for him. I did that very silently. Then he started scanning my resume and went on asking every detail on the resume. After 15 minutes of tech discussion, he asked me few HR questions and offered me to ask a question. The interview lasts for around 30 minutes. This was the most happening interview for me.
Personality development, communication skills, confidence, way to handle pressure is all that any HR looks for.
The day was called off and we were asked to meet up next day for final results. And finally I got selected in my dream company, IBM.
CPI and Subject selection…
Role of CPI: CPI do play a big role in campus placement, but this is just an eligibility factor. Having a low CPI eliminates you even before the written exam but, having a CPI above 9 doesnot guarantee you a job either.
CPI is the first step in the ladder but, there are still far more steps in the ladder to climb.
Subject Selection: Every thing during your M.TECH program depends heavily on the subjects selection. Such selections, reflect your intention from postgraduate program. Many a times, getting a good CPI and interest in some subject (for which you will not get good CPI) got clashed and we end up achieving nothing.
Long term goals got clashed with short term goals and end up with no goal.
Subjects studied in first year ignites your interest in something and makes your way of selecting thesis topics. There could be two targets: either you are industry oriented or research oriented. Selections should also consider this factor.
Learning from mistakes, realizing your weakness, building confidence and presentation skills is all I would recommend to all.
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