The secret of Engg Campus Placements no-one speaks about

MUST-READ IF YOU’LL SIT FOR PLACEMENTS IN FUTURE

I wanted to write this for a long time now. I struggled a lot understanding what placements were all about. What’s important and what’s not. Now that I’ve some idea of it, I thought to write about it. These are the things people don’t usually talk about. They remain kinda secret till you actually experience them and till that moment it’s too late to do something about it.

So I’ll lay out these 7 golden requirements to secure job at any in-campus company you want.

NOTE: your dept doesn’t really matter if you are satisfying these requirements.

1. Communication skills?
   When I entered college I saw everyone talked in English fluently as if it was their first language(for some it actually was) and it didn’t help me being from the state having least literacy rate. So I thought about it and came up with a solution to improve my communication skills. I participated in as many activities I could and would indulge in conversations, debates, speeches which forced me to speak up and eventually I felt that I was a lot better than when I started. The interviewer won’t be happy if you won’t be able to communicate with them well.
   So improve your communication skills early in college cause you won’t get time for that later. Do it as you like but do it. (Especially for people from the North).
2. CGPA?
   In my early years, my seniors told me that try to keep you CGPA above 7, this a was nice piece of advice (Although not perfect).7 is the minimum requirement for 90% companies, you won’t be eligible if your GPA is below 7. I did the same. But never really bothered to go beyond that. This had some effect on placements. Some interviewers judged me on the basis of that. I found companies prefer higher CGPA candidate.
   Ex : Microsoft — 8 , Google — 6, Amazon-7, Goldman sachs — 6.5, Intuit — 7, Nvidia — 9 CGPA.
   So don’t just maintain your CGPA. At least keep it above 8.5 . If possible improve it even further.
3. Data structure and Algorithms && Competitive coding
   This is the one thing that ticked me off the most. I didn’t like competitive coding as it had no real use. It only used to get placements and showoff in coding contests. So I didn’t do it much. Now what happened during internships blew my mind. I didn’t know about this. The companies took a coding test to filter out approx 5–20 students from 100–400 who took the test. So being not particularly good at coding I didn’t get shortlisted for interviews. That is when I found out the most important thing for placements = COMPETITIVE CODING.
   Why CP? Because being able to solve a question didn’t really matter in the test, it mattered who solved it in time and that’s what CP is all about. In interviews even if you mastered DSA you’ll be fine but the problem is with just DSA is it’ll be difficult to cross the coding round.
   How much is enough? I think if you are able to solve 4 questions in Codeforces you are ready for placements. For DSA some 200 questions on Leetcode is enough given you understood every question you solve.
   So start with competitive coding as early as possible or you’ll regret it dearly. Note it won’t matter much if your DSA is strong unless you are able to coding tricky questions in a short time. It’ll take at least 6–8 months to get somewhat better at CP. So start preparing early.
4. DBMS, OOPS, OS, CN, COA
   Database management system, Object-Oriented Programming Concepts, Operating Systems, Computer Networks and Computer Organization and Architecture. These are the five topics I recommend you should have by heart. Whatever you do, don’t leave them or they’ll leave you. Interviewers have a very strong love for these topics and won’t be happy if you don’t share the same love. The order of importance is decreasing from left to right.
   So when you encounter these topics in your course make sure to study them properly, make notes, Flashcards etc. So that it may take less time to revise them before interviews.
5. PROJECT?
   Your interview would expect you do have done at least one project properly in your college life. saAnd they would really be displeased if you don’t have one.
   So he told, do at least one project seriously where you know about all its components and can answer any questions about it.
6. Skills?
   Many told me skills matter a lot and companies look for that. While this is somewhat true, It’s not necessary and most interviewers even ignore it altogether.
   So develop skills only if they don’t affect your GPA. You’ll get plenty of skills if you do your course project seriously.
7. Extras?
   A lot of people try to get into technical clubs, get special achievements like GSOC, ICPC, Google developer clubs, Google AI clubs, some ABC scholarship etc. And mention it in their resume and brag about it. This is all good and fine but only if you meet the above criteria. A person with 7 GPA or bad coding skills doesn’t need to go after these. Interviews don’t care about these if you don’t meet the minimum requirements.
   So focus on what’s important instead of trying to run after every fancy thing you see or hear.

These are my suggestions. Someone else might have some other idea around placements. Different people tried different techniques and for some it worked, for some it didn’t and they formed their ideas around it. But these requirements are the most basic and must if anyone wants a company.

I’ll write another blog about my interview experiences and mention link here ________. I’ve around 8 interview experiences in different companies and that’s how I’ve come to these conclusions. So I hope it helps…

ALL THE BEST :)