Placement session is here and so is the mixed emotions of confidence, insecurities, anticipation and uncertainties. I still have a year to go for placements but having seen my dear batch-mates from the four-year course, I can sense the heat that’s been turned on! There is an unsaid pressure on the students to prove themselves by bagging good packages irrespective of what they have done in the last two decades of their lives. And this is harsh on students, grossly unfair, totally uncalled for! Competition for the best of the jobs, best of the packages and getting placed as early as possible, this is inevitable. But this competition shouldn’t get to your head and make you a mindless hunter. You yourself are more important than everything else. Your family and relatives, their expectations, your own aspirations — these all are important but not more than you!
No matter how similar they might seem, placements are not Olympics and you aren’t a jumper or sprinter. You don’t necessarily have to be Bob Beamon or Carl Lewis. It’s important to compete in the race, not necessarily being the fastest or longest. It’s okay to not finish first. Yes, history might not remember you well. But who cares? It’s your life, you should live it on your own terms and not on the way others would treat you. Most of the critics don’t even know what it takes to compete or haven’t even tried to participate in it. But still, the world is judgemental and they would be judging you on the basis of the package you would get and they day you get placed in. But again, who cares? If you feel content with yourself, it’s fine. Even if you feel you didn’t get what you deserved, it’s fine. It happens, it’s not the end of the road. It will just take some more time but sooner or later, you will be there where you always saw yourself being in. All you need to do is to keep trying.
Now talking about packages, it’s somewhat natural to be insecure about big fat pay cheques that your friends are getting. But try to not letting those get into their head. You, for sure, would get enough to lead a more than decent life style, at least in the beginning. And we all know, as you progress further in your career, after two or three years down the lane, your salary increases and you would be able to afford all over the top luxuries that you had imagined for yourself. But don’t lie to yourself by convincing yourself that if you get 8 LPA or 10 LPA, you won’t be able to afford the luxuries. You definitely would be able to unless your bucket-list has something unusual over the top items. You might not afford a trip to Bankok or Bali but you can definitely visit Goa or Ladakh. You might not afford a visit to pubs every alternate day but you can visit them weekly or once in two weeks. You might not afford a Lamborghini but you can surely afford a Hyundai. Money may not buy happiness but it’s better to cry in a Lamborghini than on a bicycle. This cliche has been going on for a long time. No, it’s okay to cry in a Hyundai or Maruti as well! Desires have no limit but as long as they are reasonable, you would be able to fulfill it. Therefore, don’t be upset over what you have got. And not let anyone tell you what is good or not good for you.
What if you don’t get placed? There is no shame in that. It might be because others were better than you or you missed it by a stroke of luck by messing up that single question in the interview or many other possible reasons. But does life and options end here? No, not at all. You’ve got the skills, you would get hired sooner or later. Keep applying off campus as well. I know it’s tough to make it through off campus but what’s the harm in keeping on trying, keep on mailing your CV, keep on poking HRs on LinkedIn. Just keep that up. People who have kept on trying have never left. Don’t run after lucrative jobs only and the ones which are considered to be the best ones. There are jobs which might interest you but are not as sought after and high paying as others. But as long as they take care of interests and reasonable needs, you should not be ashamed of taking that offer up.
Do your best, hope for best and prepare for the worst. Failure brutally breaks down the pride that you take in yourself in order to stay confident. It shatters your ego into pieces that had been building up for ages by the virtue of encountering one success after another. But remember, most of those worries are over how people would perceive your failure, more than the absolute failure itself! So, stop thinking what people or parents or relatives would think of you! It’s your life, it’s you who has got to take care of it! You have got the skills to get yourself placed, may be a bit later or with thinner pay cheque. But that’s all fine. Life has got umpteen options and paths ahead, No one knows what lies ahead. But all you can be sure about that there are indeed many ways that lie ahead of you, waiting for you to be trodden down by. Keep on trying, buddy!
*This upcoming paragraph is only meant for parents*
“That son of Verma uncle who couldn’t even clear JEE and joined IIIT Allahabad got a whopping 22.5 LPA in campus placements”, Mr. Khanna exclaimed to his IITian son Rohit over the phone. Till now, the conversation was all about the generic health, exercise, and well-being. But how long can a typical Indian parent hide the tide of insecurities that have been brewing inside their heart! The insecurities ooze out in the form of expectations that this IITian kid needs to fulfill so as to prove their worth. This kid is supposed to make parents realize that all their investment made isn’t getting wasted. Dear Parents! We know you have given it your everything to make us reach where we’re right now. But kindly remember, our life is as much as ours as much as we owe that to you. We are already under tremendous pressure of expectations of our own. We know you too have expectations but please don’t let it come out as of now. Sooner or later, we would fulfill all the desires you have. But just hold on and keep calm. Patience is the key!
