Raising the Bar for Tech Aspirants: Puneet Patwari
While interning at EntHire, I got a chance to interact with one of the early BarRaisers of EntHire-Interviewer pool, Puneet Patwari.
Having worked with companies like TCS Technologies (R&D Engineer at TCS Innovation Lab) and ThoughtWorks (Application Engineer), Technical Interviewing was something Puneet believed needed disruption with technology and AI. Hailing from Kolkata, Puneet has found his love for data structures, algorithms and complex problem-solving at an early stage.
He says “I like to participate in coding competitions a lot, I always feel excited when it comes to solving complex problems with data structures and algorithms.”
One of the founders of EntHire, Nikunj Bajaj (CEO), is friends with Puneet since his school days and they went to the same coaching institute for their Entrance Exams preparation. They moved ahead with their lives and were not in contact while they were finishing college and moving to various cities. Only Facebook and Whatsapp worked as a medium during Birthdays, Anniversaries and Festivals to exchange the wishes.
After a long gap of around 10 years, out of the blue one evening of September ’19, Nikunj called him up asking:
“Hey, Puneet! I am planning to start a venture with my other two batchmates. Would you like to be part of it and help us in conducting a few rounds of Interview?”
Even as they have worked in different countries, the two were aware of each other’s journey in their career. Puneet was thrilled to see that Nikunj remembered him over all his connections in the U.S. and colleagues for this business proposal. The idea itself was so captivating that he cannot deny. It was not a challenging job for him, as he had already participated in many recruitment drives to hire engineers in his previous company. Also, when Nikunj approached him with the opportunity, he was preparing for interviews & working on his technical skills to switch jobs. The part of being a BarRaiser excited him and without a doubt, he wanted to help his friend. Not only has this offer given him some extra perks but also helped him keep abreast with the upcoming technologies and latest trends in technical interviews.
When EntHire initially started as Interview as an API
Here a candidate has to undergo a technical interview in a LIVE coding environment. Candidates are evaluated for coding, systems design, problem solving, algorithms and data structure. He liked the idea of the platform where one can assess candidates based on their practical knowledge rather than their pedigree. He started with the EntHire in its initial days, where the platform was not full-fledged. He took a few interviews and wrote circumstantial feedback which was praised a lot by all the founders of EntHire. This moment of appreciation made him ecstatic. He remembers his days when such opportunities were rare. Interviewers mainly took their decisions on the basis of one’s scorecard instead of the practical knowledge or hands-on in a particular domain.
One with the Overconfidence
When asked about his most memorable moment with candidates whom he interviewed, he can never forget this one candidate. He was confident enough to continuously give all the answers wrong and still stick to his guns. It became difficult for Puneet to not lose his calm and handle the situation politely.
But he surely remembers one extraordinary aspirant, now “EntHire Edge Certified” candidate, “Manavi”, and wishes her all the best for her future.
New normal in the Covid Era
At first, he did not believe that the virtual Interview process would be of much help to the recruitment system where candidates could bluff or cheat. But, with this Pandemic taking over our lives he realised the importance of a virtual setup and understands that this is a new reality. With a mission to help candidates who are aspiring to be better software engineers, Puneet opines that EntHire as a product will help them a lot in measuring their acumen and ability. Through our feedback mechanism, it will surely help them “Raise their Bar” in this competitive era, where everyone is focusing on learning and upskilling.
Train the Trainers
Puneet with his exceptional work, conducting 65+ interviews so far has now been promoted to a trainer for training the other interviewers by EntHire and helping other BarRaisers in conducting the interviews. He is responsible to prepare a well-structured plan coveted by many companies.
Few Challenges he faced
EntHire’s product was still in the testing phase when Puneet started conducting interviews, he had to go through the network issues a lot. In India it is troublesome when needed the most, we all can agree on this. He says that no shows and absentees are always a challenge, which needs to be combatted (the reason why we have integrated the functionality to choose interview slots). As the product was still in the development phase he faced few technical difficulties for which Abhishek and Anuraag and our technical team were always ready for the rescue.
Final Wishes
As Nikunj and Puneet were known to each other since their school days, seeing the company’s growth in terms of employees and clientele adds to his joy.
“For the long term, I wish EntHire reaches the summit in its domain of providing “a pool of vetted candidates to the companies” and become a unicorn company as soon as possible. Knowing the founders personally, I can promise that the organisation is driven by the heart and soul which is the most important attribute in the longer run. I wish them all the best!” -Puneet.
At EntHire, we want to build the go-to place for any candidate and company to find the best match! If you are a job-seeker, take FREE Assessment on your technical skills with industry’s top Engineers, and fast-track your application with us. If you are a company looking to build your team, reach out to complete hires within days! Shoot us an email at business@enthire.co
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