AMA | Careers : Notes
IIPC webinar series 1.0
AMA | Careers was an online webinar, an experiment turned into a success, with 150+ views and 40+ concurrent viewers on youtube. This contains some of the key points discussed in the webinar.
It’s recorded version can be found here: https://youtu.be/OZIf9xZ0G9U
[Panel]
Ishmeet: He is 2015 GTBIT ECE undergraduate and 2016 Queen’s University Computer Engineering Graduate. iOS Developer at the Royal Bank of Canada.
Antarjot: He is an experienced Associate Developer at SAP Labs, India.
Aditya: He is a 2012–16 batch, IT pass out. He’s currently working at UrbanClap as a Software Engineer.
Rushlene: She is 2016 CSE pass out presently a partner with Labotek Labs.
[Moderators]
Hardeep: Vice-chairman IIPC, student entrepreneur.
Ashish: Chairman IIPC, student entrepreneur.
Raunaq: Student entrepreneur.
* we’ll be tagging each question with keywords like [Overseas] [Startups] [MNCs] [Advice] [Jobs] for easy navigation.
Q [Overseas] Moderator: How good is the decision of studying overseas just after B Tech or should one do it after a 2–3 year experience in India?
Ishmeet: If you really have an amazing opportunity in India, don’t miss it, Experience does count a lot. Also if want to pursue research, then you need to have a 2–3 year experience before getting entry to any overseas university.
Also, there are two type of PG courses, MEngg and MS.
MEngg is more or less like MTech, more technical with a specialization in a certain technology.
MS is more into research and demands some experience.
Q [Overseas]: Major difference between education system in India and Abroad?
Ishmeet: Colleges abroad promotes new technologies and innovations. The curriculum is regularly updated according to industry standards.
* he mentions how his professor actually changed their course and advised them to learn something new and advanced rather than studying about relatively older technologies.
The atmosphere there promotes innovations, advancements, in both teaching and in practice, unlike in India.
Q [MNCs] Moderator: How to grab an amazing package from big companies during campus placements? What do they require?
Aditya: The answer is simple, if you fit to their requirements list, they will offer a handsome package to you. [Mostly] they see your problem-solving ability, your data structures knowledge and your grip over algorithms.
Q [Startups] Moderator: What is an Incubator? What’s more advisable working from incubators or working from home?
Hardeep: A startup incubator is a collaborative program designed to help early stage startups succeed. Incubators help entrepreneurs solve some of the problems commonly associated with running a startup by providing workspace, seed funding, mentoring, and training. The sole purpose of an incubator is to help entrepreneurs grow their business from their ideation stage.
*IIPC offers an incubation space in GTBIT. [Read more here ]
Ishmeet and Antarjot: All one need is a table, a whiteboard and an Internet connection to start with. If you have a good team, working out of home or working out of incubators both will end up in your favour. Going to incubators helps when you need some help from the industry.
Q [MNC] [Startups] [Jobs] Moderator: govt. jobs v/s corporate v/s startup jobs?
Antarjot: The culture at MNCs is really great and helps grooms the personality. They teach you punctuality, international standards and etiquette, alongside your work.
Aditya: One must read about startups before joining them, their working culture, their domain etc. There is always a lot of pressure and responsibility. Startups move at a very fast pace and so do you. Development rate is high at startups and exposure varies on the scale of that startup.
Ishmeet: Govt Jobs are good if you want to have a sustainable future and you are thinking in long run. Gaining success in inital days is very tough. Things take time in process and are implemented slowly.
Its upto you, whatever you find suitable for yourself .
Q [Advice] Moderator: How to switch to non-tech profiles after engineering? Is it a good decision?
Rushlene: Pursue whatever you love and put your heart to whatsoever you plan and move on. Success isn't determined by your hard skills, you can make a good fortune with soft skills as well. Marketing, sales, advertising, PR, and many other profiles attract huge numbers.
Q [Advice] Moderator: How to choose a field of interests when everything fascinates me?
Ishmeet: Explore as much as you can, and follow a simple rule is: a new year, a new technology
Antarjot: One may learn SWOT analysis here.
Q [Jobs] [Advice] [Projects] Moderator: How to build a good portfolio in short span of time and is it very late to start in 4th year?
Aditya: No, it’s better to start late than regret. Here comes the value of good projects. One can really make them in a span of 3–4 months.
Your entry into big companies is directly proportional to your resume, and a good resume is proportional to your projects.
Ishmeet: Star methodology can be adapted while explaining your projects. it’s a 4 step process: situation, task, action, and the result.
[cont.]focus on the basics(competitive) vs focus on tools(development)
Q:[Jobs]Moderator: Curriculum of our colleges vs the requirements from unicorn companies vary a lot. What do they demand and how to prepare for that?
Aditya: The answer is again very generic but very efficient and to the point,
[For interviews]
1. Do mock interviews.
2. Talk to employees.
3. Network as much as you can.
*As a rule of thumb, networks > interviews.
[For learning]
1. Go to hackathons.
2. You can get a lot of knowledge on the internet: udacity/coursera
Q[MNCs] [Jobs] Moderator: job opportunities from tier 3 colleges?
Antarjot: *he was shortlisted off campus.
Even if you are from small college, that doesn’t bar you, all what matters is your knowledge. Tier 3 colleges have lesser opportunities but your knowledge may take you through.
SAP started visiting our college after our batch. If you start, you start it for your college.
Aditya: All what matters is skills. Go to events, hackathons, competitive programming contests, your skills and projects [are what matter at the end of the day]
Aditya got a direct job offer from a hackathon-organizing company.
Q [Jobs] Antarjot: Difference b/w developer and programmer(terms interchangeably used in industry)
Programmer: he writes codes, he writes everything
Developer: he collects code and makes products.
Q [Jobs]Moderator: The best approach to applying to a company?
“Anything which turns out for you”, simple isn’t it!
Mantra: read and study before applying to any job. Go for specific profiles which suit you.
*Networks > talent > interviews.
Q [Overseas] Moderator: Is it mandatory to take GRE for studying overseas?
Antarjot: No, it’s university specific. Some need it, some doesn’t.
Q [Jobs] Moderator: What’s the role of a tester and its future aspects?Antarjot: since testing is going autonomous these days, this field is pretty narrow in coming future.
Q [Jobs] Moderator: Should one be jack of all trade or master of one?
Aditya: You must possess knowledge of various aspects but again, must excel in one, since being a developer is field specific.
Antarjot: You have to be “jack” these days as you may need to work on any project at any point of time.
Ishmeet: You may have some knowledge of the industry at least and then you can be a master.
*being a master at the entry point and being “jack” post-entry is the key.
[rapid fire]
Q: Ethical hacking.
Aditya: Tough but must try if it interests you.
[From our end]
*Q: Courses.
Try to learn as much as you can, on your own. The market is now skill specific and have little or no respect for the certificates. Only your projects, tech-stack and knowledge counts.
But when going for certifications, brand does matter.
*Q: Internships
Try to network as much as you can. Most of the times good internships are a result of good networks.
Never go for an internship solely on the pretext of getting a certificate. You have limited time, make the most out of it.
Never go to a big company for an internship. There’s a trade-off b/w learning and stipend there. In small companies, you get decent stipend but there’s a lot riding on you. You learn a lot and you’re responsible for a lot of stuff. In big companies, the role and responsiblity decreases as the size of company increases.
*Q: Sarso or [any other multi-level marketing gag]
Never. Under no circumstance do you ever speak to those people. There are no shortcuts to gaining knowledge and experience and there’s no money without them.
As a rule of thumb, if it’s too good to be true, it’s bullshit.
*Q: “Looking for digital marketing interns. We won’t pay you but you’ll learn a lot.”
No. Never, unless you want to be in that profession.
Rule of thumb: If your (supposed) work doesn’t scare you, don’t go for it.
Q: Do a free internship only when..?
0. It’s not digital marketing and is something you like doing or aspire to do.
- there’s something to be learnt; something that you can’t learn on your own.
- there’s someone who’s great at something and can mentor you. Free internship under great people/good leader is always a good investment.
*Q: No friends to tag along for a hackathon.
Doesn’t matter. Have some grit; be a lone wolf.
Thank us later.
*Q: Everyone around is a sheep.
That’s why you’ll kill it.
You can always visit the IIPC. You’ll always find someone to connect with there.
*Q: It’s late. How do I start?
It’s never too late.
Allot one month to it and try out everything that you’ve ever heard of. Make good use of communities around you.
Hackathon Hackers [on facebook]
GTBIT Developer’s Community [on whatsapp]
Youtube. (Nothing beats it)
[Ping us any day for more. Ashish, Hardeep,Jasbir Raunaq]
We’d love to thank our panel for the AMA: Aditya, Ishmeet, Antarjot, Rushlene.
Last but not the least, we’d love to thank Mr. Mukesh Sahu sir for giving us a free hand at trying out different things. This won’t have been possible without his leadership and relentless efforts in creating student communities in our college. Thank you sir.
We’re be doing another AMA in August. We’d write again, so stay tuned.
