Ninad Singh Rajput, a graduate in computer engineering on his first job after a string of rejections
A Puneite to the core, Ninad completed his schooling from Malegaon with science as his specialisation in high school. Soon after, he joined Computer Engineering at College of Engineering, Pune (COEP), one of the oldest engineering colleges in Asia.
Ninad sheds light on his campus placement, “I received the placement offer from IDeaS -a SAS company during our placement procedure. Our firm provides solutions for revenue management in the business of hospitality. My current profile is that of a software developer. Talking about package..” he says, arousing our curiosity, “Well, the gross compensation is good. That apart, the organisation has plenty of perks and benefits on offer. There is no dearth of healthcare facilities, a health club, day- care reimbursement, among other exciting benefits.”
“At the outset, I couldn’t appear for most of the placements because of my low CGPA. Honestly, I felt greatly let down and disappointed. But I did not give up hope and finally, some companies came to the campus where I was eligible to appear for placement.” However, grabbing a good placement is easier said than done. “I couldn’t perform well in my first placement interview. That motivated me to prepare harder for the second one. I worked day and night for it. And why not, the job profile, location, lucrative salary, a stress free work environment -- everything under the sun was so perfect. I was determined not to lose this golden opportunity. I was under immense pressure, but did not let that unnerve me, the reason why I was able to crack the interview.”
Following a string of disappointments, Ninad was now single-minded focusing on grabbing this particular placement opportunity through the only means possible—dedication. Towards this goal, he devised a foolproof study plan. “I divided the whole study into three segments. The first segment included the technical fundamentals and skills enhancement. The second part was completely dedicated to the improvement of aptitude. This involved rigorous study of quantitative aptitude, puzzle solving, logical reasoning. The last goal was interview preparation. To prepare myself thoroughly for this, my friend and I would take turns to interview each other. That really helped.”
And finally, it was the big day of placement.“The placement procedure varies from company to company. Ours was a two-layered process. First, there was an aptitude test involving 40 MCQs. Around 120 students appeared for the test, out of which 15 students were shortlisted for the interview. There was a single interview involving both technical and HR questions. Out of the 15, only four got the job. I was one of them.” Even though the interview sounds like a cakewalk, it was far from it. “First, they asked me which programming language I preferred. What followed was a string of questions based on that. A majority of the questions asked were conceptual in nature, and application based. Lastly, I was asked to design an algorithm for a problem, which I did from scratch.” Phew!
“Try to be humble and polite with the interviewer. If you don’t know the answer, clearly say so, don’t try to shoot bullets in the dark. Because it’s a job interview, not our typical engineering viva,” cautions Ninad.
“Being in the elite institute of this state helps a lot. A chunk of my success goes to my lovely institute, College of Engineering Pune. And I am really fortunate to have been a part of this amazing college. Kudos to the training and placement cell for bringing in so many opportunities for students.” In the same breath, the software engineer thanks his parents, “My father is a government servant and my mother is a house wife. My parents have been extremely supportive and helpful throughout my placement journey. I cannot thank them enough for keeping me going.”
Two months into the sought-after corporate job, Ninad says he is enjoying himself immensely. “In fact, I was so confident about my first day that there wasn’t a trace of anxiety or nervousness. On the contrary, there was the huge excitement of stepping into a new world coupled with curiosity to learn new things, meeting new people.”
During interviews, just be yourself. If you fit into the company’s environment, you will get the job. Campus placement is not the end of the world
Ninad suggests six important things you could do to master a placement exam...
By Namrata Gulati Sapra
