Sunday, September 7, 2008

My Experiments with IT industry-1

This has been more than one year, me entering this IT industry; my stay in this industry is a reasonable comic; of course the industry itself is a good comic.

As this journey can’t be described in a single blog; I will deal with it in several episodes.

My placements:- Almost everyone aspiring to get into software engineering would be seen solving puzzle’s ( remember that shakuntala devi book!!) . I have no specific love for any company; I needed to show at home that I got a job and I would be free for a year (unquestioned) and I was eagerly waiting for it!!

TCS came first for mass recruiting; Well, words travel first; we came to know that TCS has some fixed questions and we already got them. But of course if you giving out the least package you can’t question more right? Well the PPT was cool; I mean everyone out there was eyeing a girl (one of the presenters) and then the written test was easily cleared (last years question paper was shuffled)

Then came the interview’s; and we were made to fill some form’s before the interview!!

What do you expect from yourself in the next 5 years?? ( I remembered as idiots suggestion then!! Be frank in your interview.. and I wrote “ to reach a position that satisfies me”.

Well my interview started
Hr: I give you 5 ‘2’s’ can you make 7.
( Be frank dude ; be frank)
Me: I already solved this puzzle.
Hr: okay; I give you 5 ‘5’s’ can you make 31.
Me: Its same as before!!
Hr: I see that in 5 years you want to reach a position that satisfies you; can I know what is that?
Me: Well, that can be money or rank; how can I say it now sir!!

( Plainly I was rejected; well A company that took 800 out of 1000 guys rejected me.. it’s a pleasure!!)

Then came Kanbay; PPT was going seriously; and me along with my gang are busily engaged joking and this girl looks at me as if she is going to kick me!! Now she expected us to get serious and to pay attention to PPT. One and the same, we started laughing at her; so finally she changed her place. Till the end whenever I saw her in campus; I couldn’t control myself from laughing!!

Well finally the exam started!! and the paper was damn tough. They just gave 90 questions to answer to answer in 90 minutes!! With negative marking; the first question was a problem from HC Verma which takes at least 15 mins to solve and they expected us to solve in a single minute.. Out 120 guys 1 guy passed the cut off.. I just wondered what that PPT girl was doing then!!

Then came Infosys; I didn’t want to miss this chance; I was getting restless.
Exam started; I was so eager to clear it ASAP and I took the question carrying the heighest marks; struggled on it for more than half an hour ending up with nothing. My never-say-die attitude made me take the next highest scoring problem (unlucky; I couldn’t solve this problem too; so scoring a zero I was out of the interview league)

I thought there was some kind of jinx… Actually I am clever at planning!! I make sure I don’t learn more than necessary while preparing exams; and I make sure I forget everything I read after exams. Now I was so careful; that I sometimes didn’t know the full form of the subject and so I copied the subject name in my answer sheet from the question paper.

Being such a planner; I decided I shouldn’t loose one more interview; I arranged a meeting with Rahulji (a genius in this kind of situations) I planned everything this time.

CTS interview: Can you tell me about yourself?
ME: I am honest; hard working ; creative at the same time I am ambitious .(what a planned reply)

HR: so you are creative;
Me: yes.
HR: You say you are creative, can you solve this puzzle..
Me: (I tried for 10 mins and couldn’t solve it!!)

HR: You say you are hard working I see you have got 6 suppli’s ( arrears) why?
Me: Its coz I am more interested in computers!!
HR: then you should have done some good work in CAD
ME: yes sir (damn.. I somehow managed to pass it)
HR: What’s the full form of CAD?
ME: ( I really tried hard to remember; but I just couldn’t remember it) I don’t remember it

**Rejected**.. And I am sure I am not going to get a job in Software industry.

Well then; here comes IBM; easy written test; I am qualified for interview!!

Hr: how are you
Me: Not good sir; been suffering from viral fever for a week.
Hr: (entering into technical questions) Do you know C well?
Me: No sir. It was in our 1st semester; I forgot everything.
Hr: Can you tell me main parts of a computer?
Me: CPU, MONITOR and KEYBOARD
HR: no, I am asking main parts
Me: yes sir CPU, MONITOR and KEYBOARD.
HR: Okay what is CPU..
Me: (one more full form; I struggled hard to remember; but I couldn’t) Sorry sir; I don’t remember it..

( I think he understood my range)

HR: Do you use Linux or windows on your lab?
Me: Windows.
Hr: How many computers are there in your lab? ( well this a good question)
Me: 32

Finally he gave me a puzzle to solve which I already knew; but my good sense made me to solve it again and answer him!!
Here I am in IBM working for a year!! This experience definitely deserves another blog!!

I called home; I told my father everything; My father, with his limited knowledge in computers, said “CPU.. are you speaking about Central Processing Unit..” I felt like a running train just hit me!! Well of course pride is the enemy of men; we need to shed it!!
So here I am!!

Yours Srikanth