Placement 2021
In this post, I’ll be sharing my experience of the whole placement session at IIT Guwahati, from company tests to interviews and how did I prepare for it.
How it started for me
Last year, when I got an internship opportunity at Amazon, I was hoping to get a PPO (pre placement offer), and thought I wouldn’t be participating in placements, so I was prepared neither mentally nor for coding tests. I was enjoying TV shows at home when I got to know the PPO results, and I realized that the next four months would be tough.
Preparation
Resume
- Don’t put anything in your CV that you don’t know.
- Make sure you get your resume scrutinized by your seniors
- I also thought of all the possible follow up questions that could be asked and discussed my CV with friends.
Coding Tests
Before the start of tests, I practiced on Interviewbit and LeetCode; once the tests started, my schedule was so packed I didn’t get much time to solve additional questions after writing many tests and disucssing questions with friends; I just looked at company-wise previous year questions on GFG & I also solved the questions of specific companies from the inter IIT placement doc that you can find in Inter IIT Placement facebook group.
Other CS concepts and Puzzles
In addition to solving coding questions, I also prepared other cs fundamentals that include OOPS, OS > DBMS > Computer Networks and basics of System Design. I followed the GFG articles and Gate Smasher for all the above courses. I followed InterviewBit for puzzles.
HR questions
It would be best if you prepare for common HR questions; here is the list of a few common questions that are asked during HR round:
- Why SDE? Why not core/research?
- Major Strengths and how would they help you in your professional life.
- Mention 3 areas of personal improvement. Why do you think these are improvement areas?
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An instance where you initiated a new idea or approach and went about implementing it. How did you about doing it?
- Sometimes, we may find a group of people disagreeing with our beliefs/point of view. Give us an instance where you had to convince a group of people of your point of view.
- Give an incident in life where you showed leadership skills. Describe an incident where you succeeded (or failed) as a leader. What did you learn from it?
- What are your long-term (5-10 years) and short-term (1-2 years) goals in life?
- Three significant events have shaped my personality.
- Why should I hire you?
I wrote template answers for all these questions in a doc so that I don’t go blank during interview.
Placement Tests and Interviews
The first thing I did was to connect with all my friends who were appearing for placements and formed a discord channel, and I think it was a good decision of mine. We all started preparing for the placements, sharing resources, discussing questions, pushing each other to participate in contests, and studying other cs fundamentals together. Tests for companies started in the last week of September, with one test/ppt per day. It went to more than five tests a day. Here is a typical day of November:
After each test, we discussed solutions and alternative approaches for questions that appeared in the test; discussing solutions and approaches after the test was always helpful because we often got repeated questions. After almost two months of daily tests and writing nearly 50 tests, the time of interviews finally came, and believe me; It was the most high-pressure environment that I have ever experienced. Many things were going on simultaneously, end-sem examinations, BTP, and preparation for interviews.
During the last week of November, I started having double thoughts and overthinking many things, I avoided being alone in my room and talked to my friends and a few seniors. It helped me to get positive vibes and boosted my confidence before interviews.
Here is my Interview Experience in detail.
I got to understand after interviews were over that It is a two-way process. Yes, you are desperate for a job, but companies also need candidates.
If you are appearing for placements
Overall It’s a very chaotic process! when you are feeling low or nervous, don’t hesitate to talk to your friends and seniors because they will definitely make you feel better. Do not take too much pressure, because one day you’ll look back and laugh at the problems you think you have today, and remember everyone gets placed.