An insightful career chat with Shivam Negi
About the series:
These are difficult times and we are always searching for the tools and resources to succeed. College students are no exception. Particularly those abroad need to make use of their time and skills to make it to top tier companies. As per many requests, we started this series to explore the lives of various successful individuals and how they made it into their current jobs.
Who is Shivam Negi?
A Northeastern University Masters Graduate in Information Technology, now working at Amazon as Business Intelligence Engineer. His current life revolves around data, building data pipelines, data cleaning, setting up ETL jobs, etc.
Why did you choose this university? Was that a tough decision?
My decision was made based on two grounds. First of all, I found that NEU has fantastic public policy topics along with data projects and I liked both data and public policy. The second: A lot of VIT seniors were in NEU and they helped me finalize the university.
What were the habits that benefited you personally or professionally?
At every point in your grad life as an international student, there is a continuous hustle. Hustle, in connection with locating homes, regular chores, initial bank accounts, food etc. In the beginning, the weather plays a role. If you aren't accustomed to it you 'd need to fight. Fight harder. Once you get a hang of it, you will have fun and laugh about them later. I observed that, started to enjoy the life as it came including the mess-ups. I developed the ability to network in NEU.
The education system here in the USA is different, unlike in India. The professors help you a lot in almost anything you need — your side projects, code, or anything. One should leverage such networks and resources. Also, you should not be limit yourself to universities. You should go beyond.
I went to a professor once, and asked him about the research. It was not even related to my department, but I ended up working as a Research Assistant and worked for him in a data job. It was fun.
What did you not like in your college life? How did you deal with it?
When in college, we won’t have time to breathe and observe. I just felt like I would have joined some of the clubs during my grad-life. But, somewhere else, you have to give up some time and I just couldn’t do it sometimes. I respect those people who have been able to handle their assignments along with celebrating Indian festivals like Diwali.
What did you do when you find yourself exhausted or lost focus?
When you are away from home and not caring about your food habits and health, friends become your support system and I am glad I found mine. I am in contact with them even now. We were there together for each other and sustained symbiotically.
How much time did you spend a week preparing for a job? Could you mention the resources?
I have leveraged Linkedin a lot for applying for jobs. There are others like Indeed, Glassdoor. Mostly, I have applied on Linkedin and respective company job pages.
For technical interviews— Leetcode is great.
Deep learning based certifications through Coursera or Linkedin lets you gain knowledge for data analyst positions, as well as participating in Kaggle competitions. Github code bases will also help during the interviews.
You should also research the role and the company in depth. Explore Glassdoor for previous experiences.
How did you develop your profile/resume? What tips do you suggest?
Get the Senior’s resume. Find them on Linkedin. You’ll have the technology references, skillset from their profiles and you can learn them from MOOCs or other online tools. Use NEU career service and they will help you prepare the resume. My resume was not great before and they helped me in cleaning and formatting. You can also get updated resumes from seniors.
Has your previous (Internship or full time)experience helped you in your job search?
I worked for Cognizant before, but I do not think it helped me anyway in my job search. But that experience helped in understanding the basics. Mostly, I considered myself a beginner while applying for jobs.
What tools did you use for searching for jobs? How much time and energy it took to attain your dream job?
In my search, Linkedin was very handy. There are many techniques that you should be aware of when you use Linkedin (ex:Filters). Those saved me a lot of time and effort. Check the University services if they offer any such assistance during your job search.
How many rejections did you get during your job search?
2000–3000? I do not know. But I’m certain it was a big number.
What do you like about the current job?
During the lockdown, we are focusing a lot on automation, and that is exciting for me.
I urge students to prevent themselves from blindly applying to companies, rather understand the company’s profile and business to look at a bigger picture. I suggest focusing on the tech-based ones, especially in cloud computing.
For the complete video, check below.
To find Shivam, check his instagram @nomadnedgi
