Birthday

Its always a great feeling to be with your loved ones and so here I am back in Hyderabad with my parents and friends to celebrate my birthday.

This time I had more reasons besides my birthday to celebrate, my job offer. Celebrating it with a relief of being employed and a security of a job makes celebration even more justified and enjoyable.

Anyways, as always, I had spent the entire day shopping, receiving calls and meeting friends.

Well that’s all for now and more in my next post.

Wipro

One more in the bag. Today, WIPRO had come to the campus and I was made to sit for the process. I really don’t know if it was the confidence or don’t-care-attitude obtained from my PPO, I had handled the entire interview with great ease and comfort.

As the interview progressed, I knew it was a definite convert. And luckily this time, my instinct was right and had got the offer.

The best thing about this offer was that they had offered me the job in Hyderabad and this itself is a big cause that calls for celebrations.

Anyways, with two offers in hand, I feel more confused to decide between the two, so let me deal it with my greatest ability – procrastination J

Post PPO

Life post placement has been truly amazing. Ever since I had got the offer, I feel like having attained nirvana and that there’s hardly anything left in life to achieve.

Waking up at leisure, spending time by playing tennis, learning guitar, gaming with friends and watching movies will definitely make you feel nothing less than a king.

Imagine a phase of life where you can spend your time as and how you wanted as if you existed in a utopian world where you didn't have to worry about working or wasting your time. That’s exactly how it is for the guys who have bagged offers till now. Nowadays all we are expected to do is to suit-up and attend the presentations that companies have to make as and when required.

Life definitely is beautiful J

IBM

Finally, something to celebrate. Today IBM had come to the campus and offered me a PPO. (PPO stands for Pre-Placement Offer which companies offer to students after getting feedback on their internship with them. This means that they are offered a job without actually going through the process of selection). Though I had a clue of this coming but I could never take things for granted especially after what happened to me in the earlier post.

It was relieving to know that finally my efforts have fructified and have bagged a decent salary package. This would have definitely meant more to my parents who always wondered if I am taking a big risk in forfeiting job opportunities for preparing for entrance tests of management schools.

Well, this is it for now and am not sure if I can get better offers than this from the campus. So for now, its IBM where I’m heading J

Time to leave… as with great achievements comes great celebrations, I need to rush J.

GE Debacle

This was one company that I’d been looking forward to get in since quite some time. Not that I’m determined to get into it but for the fact that this being first company, it would have been a good ego-booster to crack the first interview. Anyways, after a lot of hardwork, preparation and groundwork, (yeah, I do work hard at times) I found myself cruising along all the strenuous four rounds of interviews only to get rejected in the end. What started with a shortlist of 18 students at 10 am slowly went to touch 3 after the four rounds at around 9pm. All 3 of us were sure of our selection until the final result came which left me shattered.

I never had a clue that I’d get rejected as the interviews and the group discussions have been the best I’ve ever had in my life. This had definitely seemed to be my day when I was being only asked on my strengths and none of the panelists came even remotely close to my weaknesses. And all of them seemed to be more than satisfied with my responses. I am not sure if it were my acads or the lapse of one year before MBA that’s responsible. It’s been very frustrating to know the result and I wonder if getting kicked out after the first round would have been better than waiting for an entire day for the same.

Optimistically, I can forget the entire issue coz at least I had put in my best effort but then pessimistically, even my best shot wasn’t good enough to crack an interview. What I chose to make out of the above sentence is upto me and hope that I make right one.

Placements Fever

The placements season has begun and the fever is as severe as an epidemic. Why??? Because this was the momentous realization of all the efforts that had started with the dream of an MBA degree (a definite route to a great career with handsome salary packages) .

I still remember the days when I actively followed the average compensation figures of the premier B-schools while my friends were eyeing jobs in software companies.

Anyways, coming back to the present, guys have started digging out their dusty textbooks from piles of clothes and libraries. The lazy ones like me can always make a beeline to the juniors who are still fresh and sincere enough to take notes and maintain textbooks. Also everyone suddenly realized that they had subscribed to magazines and have started perusing them for every possible bit of information that can make or break their chances in the ‘Group Discussion’ or ‘Interview’.

As each day progresses, some experience ecstasy and some frustration. But then, one can hardly afford to sit down and sulk, with companies being lined up on almost everyday.

Also these are the times when friends become strangers as each one is competing with the other. The ‘survival of the fittest’ concept forces each one to devise secretive strategies and preparation which they deny with comfortable blasé.

So does preparation and hardwork actually pay off in the end??? Not exactly…

To give you a better picture, let me classify the guys into four categories (this can be applicable to everyone)

1. Stars – These are the ones who are very smart and very hardworking. These are the guys who consistently perform and stay a league above the mortals. These are the kind of people who are sure to crack any interview or any company with ease and poise. These are the ones that are expected to get placed first.
2. Smarties – These are the guys who very smart and not very hardworking. They don’t believe much in hardwork and can also be popular for street-smartness. These guys can crack most of the interviews if not all. These are the guys who get placed either along with or after the stars.
3. Workers – These are the guys who trust their hardwork. For them, being smart doesn’t come naturally and hence these people can never be sure of cracking interviews. Though they might be good at academics, without the knack they’re just not up to the mark.
4. Question Marks – These are the guys who neither work hard nor are smart which makes you wonder how they actually made it so far into the institute. They are clueless of their existence in the institute and are often unclear about their future. These guys on their day should manage to sneak in.

So cracking the interview depends both on your smartness and your knowledge.

But very often there have been instances where guys have defied the above logic in all its totality. No, this aint a disclaimer to my gyan and I’m sure everyone who’s been there will definitely agree with it.

Now if you ask me as to where I would fall in the classification, all I can say is but smile coz the answer is too obvious to mention.

Anyways… let me end this marathon post with a hope that may all get what they deserve.