Placement Chronicles

November 4

Huge B’day Bash. (Check Flickr for pics) CAT Prep reaching a crescendo.

Your's truly..... :P

November 4 -- SIMShock by IMS

Shocked to the core. Miss the cut offs in all 3 sections by a small margin.

Shivers down the spine. Frustration sets in. Whole CAT preparation appears to be in shambles.

November 13 -- Last SIMCAT
After almost giving up on CAT, this one provides a small ray of hope. Score 40% in each section and end up at 99.5 percentile.

Boosts the morale and lifts up the sagging spirits.

November 20 -- CAT @ Kolkata
The Grand Debacle. Seemed like the worst nightmare. Forget to mark a few answers on the OMR sheet

November 20^th night
2 End Semester Exams the next day and about 10 hours on hand to recuperate from the CAT shock and prepare for them after a rigorous train journey and to catch sleep in the said duration as well.

November 21^st
Abysmal performance in the Systems and Control paper. (Later to be “awarded” my first 'P' grade in Kgp) All the people around me keep scribbling away while I find it hard to navigate the 3 hours time.

Recede into a shell of despair and helplessness. Unable to face myself, my parents and all dreams lie shattered. Self-doubts begin to rise before I quash some of my fears and resolutely decide to get on with LIFE.

December 1^st
Placements get underway at the other IIT’s – Bombay and Chennai. Stats and updates from friends at the other institute augments expectations and creates new apprehensions.

December 2^nd
The day before D-day. Placements to start the next day. Seven companies on Day One. Didn’t apply for Schlums, McKinsey(Sure that I wouldn’t be shortlisted). Couldn’t get through Deutsche Bank’s Written test and Capital One’s written test too (This one was a surprise). Not shortlisted in Lehmann Brothers. (Most still can’t fathom why they didn’t get shortlisted) That left me shortlisted in ITC(CG based) and Procter & Gamble (After a written test followed by an online Psychometric Analysis). Assure myself that I can do well and that the fewer companies would mean lesser pressure.

December 3^rd D-Day
ITC GD starts at 12. Perform reasonably well in the GD. Was a relatively straightforward Case Study. 2 females in my group keep snubbing the others and are very keen to voice their opinions. I raise a few valid points and come out quite satisfied with my performance.

P&G calls me for the first interview at 2:00. 45 minutes of HR interview. Was asked endless experiences to quote – like situations where I worked in a group, solved inter personal problems, where my idea was applauded, my this and my that. The interviewer appears mighty pleased with my answers and I can see a smile across his face. Just get the feeling that P&G might actually........

Not shortlisted for ITC interviews. Justified given that they were looking at the whole package and having about 4 people ahead on the CG scale from the same branch didn’t help either. Still had one more interview to go, at P&G and I wanted to concentrate on that.

4 hours since my first interview at P&G and I’m still not called on for my 2^nd while I can see people who’ve come after me finish both their interviews and leave. Why I wasn't called etc. aren't the stuff meant for open discussion and the reasons are best left unsaid.

Reach my room – dead tired and exhausted – and I take a quick nap. Suddenly I get a call from P&G calling me for my 2^nd interview. A new hope glimmers. I suddenly get dressed into my formals and rush on my cycle. The first interviewer was visibly pleased seeing me and I’m sure he was the one that called me back. The 2^nd interview was drag – It was the last interview of day one and the interviewers had to abandon their dinner and interview me. Even I was drowsy and dazed & by that time I was visibly displeased with P&G. I did not expect to make it through P&G nor did I actually want to be placed there.

End of Day Zero

December 4^th Day One
DE Shaw, ZS Associates, Inductis and Fair Isaac.

DE Shaw test early in the morning. S/W section was hardcore. The algorithm section and Math were a breeze.

ZS Group Discussion at 11. With the risk of sounding too preposterous, I felt that I was the best participant in the group and easily deserved to be through.

I move over to Fair Isaac where I get to know I was shortlisted for Quality Assurance Profile. So I decide to take off from there.

Inductis interviews start. Hardcore Puzzles and Probability – Not my cuppa tea. Yet I do reasonably well. Each interview takes one and a half hour. Its 4:00 by the time two interviews are up.

Get to know ZS ditched me. (Maybe I shouldn’t have told them I had 3 other companies that day) On expected lines, DE Shaw doesn’t shortlist me either.

I get a call from FAIR ISAAC and with me running out of options, I move there and 4:30 begins my first interview. The interviewer asks me to describe about myself and I do well. He then peruses my resume and asks me about my role in Quizzing at Kgp. Then he proceeds to ask me a few questions –similar to a rapid fire round with 15 questions hurled at me in just over a minute. I answer them all.

Nokia’s country of Origin. It’s earlier business. History behind the name Adidas, Motorola. About Puma. About IBM. The next question I get -- “What’s your IQ???”

That instant I knew I was through. I asked for a change in the profile, (I’m glad I asked that) which he obliged. Then a few more questions on algorithms and puzzles. Then another small interview with algos and puzzles.

I move back to Inductis and again make the cardinal sin of informing the interviewer that I was almost through FI. This time the interview gets real real hard. The interviewer is sure I would ditch his company over FI and instead, he dumps me.

So finally I’m down to the end of day one and I’ve Fair Isaac offering me a software job. I call up home and they want me to take the first job offered to me.

I move over to FI and complete my other 2 interviews which were mere formalities and proceed to accept their offer.

Still in a daze and tired from the 2 day strain, I head back to my room. News trickles to my wingies that I’m placed. Congratulatory messages all around. It wasn’t how I’d expected it to be.

No triumphant displays of victory. No heart warming celebrations. No howling. No joyous screams. No sense of Accomplishment. Just Listlessness. Languor. Totally Energy Sapped. Just a bundle of relief. A huge sense of relief that I don't have to get my formals washed again, better, not wear them again for some time.

2 harrowing days. Zillions of lessons learnt. A Huge Humbling Experience. With a bittersweet ending.

I just inform my parents and my best friend that I’m placed. Only 2 or 3 days after the feeling seeps in, I call up all my friends and inform them.

December 8^th – January 2^nd
Festive atmosphere at home. Some of my dearest friends from KGP come over to my place and we have a gr8 time.

Dad & Mom take great pride in announcing the news to the World. But I’m already looking forward to the CAT results and prepare my parents to accept the worst.

January 8^th -- CAT results
As expected, my marks aren’t anywhere near the cut offs. But then surprisingly – mostly to my surprise—I take the results particularly well. No bad feelings. Just learning from my mistakes and hope to do well the next time I give CAT. Also decide to give my GMAT.

Life balances everything, I guess.
Victories and Defeats.
Joys and Sorrows.

How intriguing is the Flow of Life. We just need to go along with it. Right now, I'd like to believe whatever is bestowed upon us by LIFE is what actually is best suited for us. Period.