Dear Readers,
Welcome back!!! It is lovely to see you again.
Today, I want to discuss about how things can suddenly turn south on you when you least expect it. When everything is going in place sometimes out of nowhere we get a surprise which changes the course of our lives.
In one of my previous articles Campus Placement I had told about how much difficulties I had to go through before I had obtained my first job offer. I was very happy that I had a job in hand and had started preparing for my final semester exams with a calm mind. One evening, I received an email from the company in which I had been campus placed. The letter congratulated me and explained the joining formalities. At the end, they had mentioned the reporting date and time. The date was June 6, 2009. I was very puzzled by this date since the current year was June, 2008. I felt that there must have been some mistake and reached out to the company on the phone number mentioned in the mail. The company confirmed that the date was not an error and the joining date would be one year later.
I was very disappointed. All my plans were shattered. I called few of my other friends who had received offers from the same company. Some of them were very lucky and their joining date had not been postponed. Some others were in the same situation as me. Somehow, I gathered courage and gave my exams. My exams went well and I managed to secure my highest percentage in engineering in the last semester.
Now, I had to plan for my job. It is not an easy task to get a job for a fresher. And, this was the peak of recession period. I had uploaded my resume in a few job portals and after a while I got a an interview call letter from a leading US MNC. I prepared well and started early from home since I had to reach the company by 8.30 AM. I reached well within time. But, when I went to the company I saw at least another five hundred people assembled in the company premises. All these people were carrying files and it was easy to guess that they had also come to attend the same interview. I went inside to register my name. Apparently, the company had sent two call letters to few of the candidates. So, I was informed that I had to simply register my name and wait outside. There were just four job vacancies and if these could not be filled by the people who had received two call letters (there were around a hundred such candidates) then the remaining people would be called on the basis of the registration in First Come First Served basis.
I waited outside the company gate. Since, the other candidates were not allowed inside. I stood outside for four hours and still the company had not sent any intimation. A few of the restless candidates started an argument with the security staff. After sometime we were informed that all vacancies had been filled and we were asked to return home. This was my first taste of the real world. And, I found it to be very bitter. I realised that all my hard work and sincerity was not good enough and I did not know why God was testing me like this.
My next interview was in another leading US MNC. This time the company had demanded candidates with only more than seventy percent aggregate in engineering. Anyone who has studied engineering from VTU University knows how difficult it is to obtain this type of high aggregate. I thought that maybe this time there will be a lesser number of candidates for the interview. The interview was arranged in St.Joseph's College premises. I reached the college early and as I was parking my bike I saw around two thousand people in the college ground. I thought that there must be a job fair with many companies. When I reached the ground, I asked one of the candidates for which company's interview he had come. He gave me a puzzled look and said that there was only one company which was conducting interveiw. I was shocked. I guess that even the company staff had not expected this amount of huge turnout for the interview. Since, the company was ill prepared to handle such a large number of candidates they said that now they needed only candidates with over eight percent aggregate.
A lot of candidates had come from outside Karnataka. Some of them had travelled in buses and trains overnight and had come directly to attend the interview. All of us were very upset. The company had to call Police personnel to disperse the crowd. Again, I felt very dejected.
After a few such experiences, I was called to interview for an Internship for a leading US company that works on Linux. I was very happy since I had done a complex Linux based project in my Engineering. The real challenge was to clear the first round which was very tough. There were around two hundred candidates for this interview. I felt that these were good odds for me considering my previous experiences. The first round had three sections and one technical article section. There was a section on Aptitude, English and one on Programming and Operating System. Since, I had given a lot of interviews already my aptitude skills were now much better. I was able to answer most of the questions. Also, I wrote a good technical article on Linux and socket programming.
After the first round, only about ten candidates were shortlisted. Luckily, my name was there on the list. There were still three more rounds. Second round was Group discussion and third round was technical. The final round was HR. Only four people were shortlisted at the end. After spending about 12 hours for the whole process, the company people asked us to go back home. They said we would receive intimation if we were selected. After a week, I received a call from the company HR that I had been selected for the Internship. I was so happy. I remember jumping all over my house.
This whole episode has taught one simple lesson. No matter how hard life gets, God is always there with us, watching over us and caring for us. He makes us to go through pain so we may know the value of success.
I hope you all liked this article. Please drop in your valuable feedback.
See you all very soon,
With Love,
Gunjan.
Welcome back!!! It is lovely to see you again.
Today, I want to discuss about how things can suddenly turn south on you when you least expect it. When everything is going in place sometimes out of nowhere we get a surprise which changes the course of our lives.
In one of my previous articles Campus Placement I had told about how much difficulties I had to go through before I had obtained my first job offer. I was very happy that I had a job in hand and had started preparing for my final semester exams with a calm mind. One evening, I received an email from the company in which I had been campus placed. The letter congratulated me and explained the joining formalities. At the end, they had mentioned the reporting date and time. The date was June 6, 2009. I was very puzzled by this date since the current year was June, 2008. I felt that there must have been some mistake and reached out to the company on the phone number mentioned in the mail. The company confirmed that the date was not an error and the joining date would be one year later.
I was very disappointed. All my plans were shattered. I called few of my other friends who had received offers from the same company. Some of them were very lucky and their joining date had not been postponed. Some others were in the same situation as me. Somehow, I gathered courage and gave my exams. My exams went well and I managed to secure my highest percentage in engineering in the last semester.
Now, I had to plan for my job. It is not an easy task to get a job for a fresher. And, this was the peak of recession period. I had uploaded my resume in a few job portals and after a while I got a an interview call letter from a leading US MNC. I prepared well and started early from home since I had to reach the company by 8.30 AM. I reached well within time. But, when I went to the company I saw at least another five hundred people assembled in the company premises. All these people were carrying files and it was easy to guess that they had also come to attend the same interview. I went inside to register my name. Apparently, the company had sent two call letters to few of the candidates. So, I was informed that I had to simply register my name and wait outside. There were just four job vacancies and if these could not be filled by the people who had received two call letters (there were around a hundred such candidates) then the remaining people would be called on the basis of the registration in First Come First Served basis.
I waited outside the company gate. Since, the other candidates were not allowed inside. I stood outside for four hours and still the company had not sent any intimation. A few of the restless candidates started an argument with the security staff. After sometime we were informed that all vacancies had been filled and we were asked to return home. This was my first taste of the real world. And, I found it to be very bitter. I realised that all my hard work and sincerity was not good enough and I did not know why God was testing me like this.
My next interview was in another leading US MNC. This time the company had demanded candidates with only more than seventy percent aggregate in engineering. Anyone who has studied engineering from VTU University knows how difficult it is to obtain this type of high aggregate. I thought that maybe this time there will be a lesser number of candidates for the interview. The interview was arranged in St.Joseph's College premises. I reached the college early and as I was parking my bike I saw around two thousand people in the college ground. I thought that there must be a job fair with many companies. When I reached the ground, I asked one of the candidates for which company's interview he had come. He gave me a puzzled look and said that there was only one company which was conducting interveiw. I was shocked. I guess that even the company staff had not expected this amount of huge turnout for the interview. Since, the company was ill prepared to handle such a large number of candidates they said that now they needed only candidates with over eight percent aggregate.
A lot of candidates had come from outside Karnataka. Some of them had travelled in buses and trains overnight and had come directly to attend the interview. All of us were very upset. The company had to call Police personnel to disperse the crowd. Again, I felt very dejected.
After a few such experiences, I was called to interview for an Internship for a leading US company that works on Linux. I was very happy since I had done a complex Linux based project in my Engineering. The real challenge was to clear the first round which was very tough. There were around two hundred candidates for this interview. I felt that these were good odds for me considering my previous experiences. The first round had three sections and one technical article section. There was a section on Aptitude, English and one on Programming and Operating System. Since, I had given a lot of interviews already my aptitude skills were now much better. I was able to answer most of the questions. Also, I wrote a good technical article on Linux and socket programming.
After the first round, only about ten candidates were shortlisted. Luckily, my name was there on the list. There were still three more rounds. Second round was Group discussion and third round was technical. The final round was HR. Only four people were shortlisted at the end. After spending about 12 hours for the whole process, the company people asked us to go back home. They said we would receive intimation if we were selected. After a week, I received a call from the company HR that I had been selected for the Internship. I was so happy. I remember jumping all over my house.
This whole episode has taught one simple lesson. No matter how hard life gets, God is always there with us, watching over us and caring for us. He makes us to go through pain so we may know the value of success.
I hope you all liked this article. Please drop in your valuable feedback.
See you all very soon,
With Love,
Gunjan.
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