My Placement Story...

NOTE: THE AUTHOR INTENDS TO SHARE HIS EXPERIENCE IN THE PLACEMENTS AT HIS COLLEGE AND USES ELECTRICAL ENGG CONCEPTS/SOFTWARES FUNDAS. THIS IS SOLELY FOR INFORMATION PURPOSE, AND IS PURELY NON-COMMERCIAL, AND THE COPYRIGHTS FOR THE SAME RESTS WITH THE ORIGINAL AUTHORS…AND THEIR PLAGIARIZING INDIAN COUNTERPARTS. REPRODUCE THE SAME IN EXAMINATION PAPERS AT YOUR OWN RISK!

The 2010 Graduates across the country will be quite thorough with the word 'Recession'. I wonder how many of us could spell it correctly earlier, but quite sure the percentages have gone up by now! And when you observe closely passing out from a premier Engineering college helps. You get to see a many smiling faces on campus. And why not, Landing on a job from campus will make one confident for sure. It's even more special when you get multiple offers!

I am lucky to have Cognizant, Accenture and Saint-Gobain in my kitty. But I still believe, what makes the process memorable is not the final offer. The blunders you speak in GD-Interview, the frowns you generate, the occasional smiles…the bonding with complete strangers are one of the best experiences you could have. And as I am reminded more than once, Whatever happens...Happens for good, Missing out DELighTTIng and THOUGHT provoking offers somehow helps you to come out better!

Between, if you are reading this coz I chided you to by my bugging messages, I appreciate your interest :P And if you landed here through Google or others I have outsourced the advertising part of this blog,and you wanna prepare for placements. WoW today is your day… You are gonna get Golden Rules for the same!

Firstly, do your homework. Well. I always did my homework before a company came. That's what will make the placement officer proudJ But I realized sometimes I was just too shy to open my mouth at the CETAA hall. If you are reading this to help you in your placements, take these next lines seriously. ASKING (WHAT MATTERS) AT THE PPT HELPS! The Accenture offered a job then and there who could elucidate on some puzzling Accenture-related figures put up on screen!(Nxt time a stud comes in asking whats 1989 special, tell its scream out its when they had the name change!) Again knowing Deloitte is among BIG-4,and saying it out audibly loud. Voila good work! But make sure you don't claim you got 30 out of 40 correct in the written test!

Since you have studied 4 odd years of Engineering… YOU ARE EXPECTED TO SOUND LIKE YOU HAVE! Be thorough with your Project and Seminar details. Even IT companies like Accenture, IBM,CTS etc ask you technical questions. Especially when your GPA don't show you are a geek. But my GPAs do ;) In my Accenture Technical Interview, I was asked about my Profile then my Project; my funda-for-life, my acads, my co-curriculars an finally my GF! But I was Single then….!! I guess he was unsure how such a Romantic person[;)] wasn't ready to mingle… Then I had to impress him with my Goddess theory too(referred to Shivan Nair J). And finally I saw him writing MECHANICAL ENGINEERING STUDENT, GOOD MECHANICAL ENGINEERING KNOWLEDGE!! I am making out that IT companies look for confidence as you speak. But Tech companies are seriously different . My LnT panel was their VP for HR. My grandpa in pants and tie though he appeared. And he was really looking for Stuff! Or so I thought, until the results came out hehe! And what helped me at Saint-Gobain was that I had sat through 5 Interviews by that time. Most questions get repeated. Therefore a good way to prepare is by discussing with friends throughout the placement season. Sites like freshersworld.com got loads of people sharing their questions and experience; a random Google search would also help.

Resume comes in next. At the end of the day its all about selling yourself! Make it brief. 2 pages are enough unless of course you have won return tickets to Mars for working on one of those NASA Mars Probe, or managed an SPJIMR call to be preciseJ. And fill it with stuffs and fundas you are comfortable with! I dare not put my Industrial Visits in my resume, coz I knew I would sound gibberish. A person zero in acads, culturals, technicals manage a certificate or few now! And be proud of your smallest achievements, if you have represented your society at a Chess competition or organized a lunch at the club mention it. Tailor made Resumes are must, put in details what the company is looking for. Just check the 'Careers' link in their site, you will know the kind of freshers they are looking for. Tweak your Resume accordingly. You are not telling a Lie, as long as you are marketing yourself to be THE person the company has come all the way to your campus for!

Dressing/Certificates get them in order. Buy a file large enough to carry important documents validating your resume. Get rid of those 20 days-and -still-not-seen-water-Pants and get a good ironed stuff to dress you up for the kill. Carry a tie if possible. Some panelists just fancy additional fittings! Especially for the Off campus ones where the Hindi-speakin-Junta battle it out with you. 

And yes, try to gauge your Interview Panel! A few questions into your interview try to know what kind of a person s/he is. Honestly it comes with experience. My first interview was when I misjudged an Tech Interview to be an HR one! The pretty lady very frankly told me I am NOT the person they are looking for. And then I realized she was Outspoken too. 

Network well, and it does help. You can find out what the same company looked for in colleges around by talking to students there. Also if you got seniors there, disturb them!


And finally the golden rule is. Stay Confident. If you speak the occasional blunder, it might still sail you through. I had a portly jovial guy at the Saint-G Interview. As we started discussing tech, he asks me the difference between a AC Motor, and DC motor. Sir, AC motor supply is given to rotor, for DC in stator.
He nodded. But he corrected its not always like that.I remained silent. I knew i didn't give him enough Food for Thought. Sir, you expecting more? Well, I could go on, but would never know what exactly he was looking for. I blurted out, Sir Apart from the obvious fact that AC motor works on AC supply, and DC motor works on DC??!! He points to his HR mate, smiles and says... He is from HR, he can give such an answer.. you are an Engineer, you aren't supposed to give such answers!


But by then, I had done my best. And I was through. So at the end, do your best. If your times are great you will come out smiling, if not you have more reasons to re read this post!!