Neel Sanjay Paratkar gets the nod from Ebay, California, as he sets off to make an entry into the big league of the corporate world
It has been sheer hard work and commitment to meet the set goal for Neel Sanjay Paratkar. An SBOA Public School, Aurangabad, pass out, Neel has been able to see his way into eBay Inc., the American e-commerce giant. The son of a businessman and private-tutor mother, he started with Electronics during his HSC from Deogiri College in Aurangabad. The College of Engineering in Pune (COEP) helped him groom for this coveted job. He spoke to Corporate Citizen about his journey from school to eBay, for whom Neel will be working from Mumbai with an annual package of Rs. 17.10 lakhs.
“I was born in Mumbai and brought up in Aurangabad. I did my schooling in SBOA Public School, Aurangabad, followed by HSC at the Deogiri College, Aurangabad, with Electronics as my vocational subject. I completed my engineering from the College of Engineering, Pune.”
“I have been a nerd all my life (not at all ashamed of admitting it). So I have always put in sincere effort with my studies. During my en gineering I studied some really very interesting subjects like Microprocessors, Operating Systems and Computer Organisation which gave me the understanding of how the internals of a computer actually work. It is baffling to even think how the inventors of these gadgets even came up with the idea and gave it a physical form. Some other core programming related subjects that I enjoyed studying were Data Structures, Design and Analysis of Algorithms and Discrete Structures and Graph Theory. I was part of MindSpark, COEP’s technical festival, for all the four years. I was a part of the Core Team Member for MindSpark in my final year. It was the only time, during my engineering when I was surrounded by a bunch of like-minded and fun loving people. Apart from that I was a member of the web team for our college which was responsible for handling and maintaining the official college website. We had some excellent teachers who I will respect forever. All the professors are passionate about teaching. Engineering is often perceived as a hectic course. However, I feel that if one puts in dedicated effort and not push the assignments and studies to the last hour (which rarely happens), one can complete the course without much difficulty.
The recruitment process consisted of one aptitude and technical test, followed by three rounds of interviews. The aptitude and technical rounds were a lot tougher than we had anticipated. Both the sections had some tough problems and each also had a sectional cut off. The results were announced in an hour after we completed the test, during which time we were given an orientation about Ebay and Paypal by the company officials.
The shortlisted students were asked to bring with them a working demo or source code of whatever projects we had mentioned on our resume. The first round of interview was technical, where our technical skills were tested. The interviewers made sure we were comfortable before starting the interview and gave us ample time to think over the questions they asked. My first interview lasted for about 45-50 minutes, which was the longest among the three. After each round, based on our performance during the interviews, we were shortlisted for the next round. Questions in the second interview were mostly centred around the projects that I had already done and had mentioned on my CV. The final interview was a mix of HR and technical questions. I think that it was both luck and my internship with VMware that helped me secure my job with Paypal. You cannot categorise the process as being tough or easy. The questions that were asked were not tough, because if you think about them in a relaxed state of mind, you might find them extremely easy, it is how well you come up with the solutions for the answers that matters. Fortunately, I could answer the questions that were asked with satisfactory solutions during my interviews.
It is baffling to even think how the inventors of these gadgets even came up with the idea and gave it a physical form. Some other core programming related subjects that I enjoyed studying were Data Structures, Design and Analysis of Algorithms and Discrete Structures and Graph Theory.
Extra-curricular activities should never be done at the cost of academics. Yes, these activities are very essential for the overall development of one’s personality, increasing one’s confidence. However, one must be intelligent enough to distribute his/her time and energy for everything properly
It is often told during orientation at college, and stressed by many seniors, that extra curricular activities matter a lot during interviews. I disagree with this statement. When a fresher is being recruited, the basic thing that his performance is assessed on, his technical expertise. So I would like to advise all my juniors that studies should be given the top priority. Everything else comes after it. Extra-curricular activities should never be done at the cost of academics. Yes, these activities are very essential for the overall development of one’s personality, increasing one’s confidence and also making friends. The bonding you have when you are part of such activities is very strong. However, one must be intelligent enough to distribute his/her time and energy for everything wisely. Don’t bite off more than you can chew – I would like all my juniors to keep this in mind.
By Joe Williams
