How was your journey at DTU?
I joined DTU back in 2015, and my whole experience revolves around being a member of two technical teams. In the very first semester, I joined a technical team inferno and started working towards my profile. I was very determined and focused on what exactly I want to achieve in these four years and what I want to do four years down the line when I get graduated from college. I took Production and Industrial Engineering, and it was the right choice for me. In these four years, I tried to do as many things as possible which specifically revolved around the technical domain. Since I was pursuing Production and Industrial, so it was more important for me to build and put in some extra efforts towards a more technical profile. Since we have very few subjects related to Core-Mechanical, it was a big challenge for me to build a complete technical profile. Still, luckily ours were the first batch in which electives were introduced, which helped me and I was very selective in terms of choosing the subjects. So, the concept of electives enabled me to pursue my future ambitions and gave me a good fundamental knowledge of all the mechanical subjects, ensuring at the same time that I didn’t miss out on anything that a regular mechanical graduate would do in his four years of college.
As you mentioned that you were part of two technical teams, so is it essential to join a technical team?
If you want to build a core profile, you need to develop some technical skills also. Routine classroom programs won’t enable you to learn these skills, so to learn the tools which are used in the industry, you should have some platform where you can learn these technical skills. I think tech teams play a significant role in building these profiles because there you devote a lot of time to learn technical skills, software, and a lot of technical expertise in the domain what you exactly want to pursue and it also gives you the freedom to choose what profile you want to follow in future.
Apart from that, it also helps you to build a character and personality which would come in handy when you sit for your placements. So, when you sit for placements, you need to be confident about the skills you have in hand and what you can offer to the company. That aspect also revolves around the personality and character that you have built across these four years.
So being in the technical team plays a part in these two aspects.
What should be one’s aim of joining a technical team?
One should be very clear about what he/she wants to end up with after graduating from college.
So, when you need to be very sure about what you want to do and it’s not very urgent to find that in your first year, you can take your time and explore many things. Still, I would recommend that at least by the end of the second year you should be very focused and should have something in hand you want to work at. So, as I said technical teams help you in not only developing your technical skills but also helps you to build a character that plays a fundamental role in your development right from your personality to your technical skills.
What specific technical skills a person should acquire who is aiming for a career in this sector?
First and foremost, have a fundamental knowledge of your academic curriculum. A lot of people say that it doesn’t matter because at the end of the day you talk about different tools which are out there in the market that you want to use but to know what you are doing through these tools you need to have a very fundamental knowledge of your subject. Hence, the academic curriculum is vital, and it is one of those essential things which will be asked in your interviews as well.
Apart from that if you talk about specific technical skills in the mechanical domain then you need to learn different CAD software, should have expertise in certain skills like quality management as these things really help a design engineer to design and manufacture excellent photographs.
Also, these skills are verified in the market and are in high demand as well, so if you are well acquainted with these skills, then it can help you to land up in a good job.
What types of job profiles do we come across in this sector?
Mechanical is a very diverse field as there are a lot of companies right from automobiles to the petrochemical industry to the oil and gas industry. Of course, every company would need a different skill set, a potential employee. However, the fundamental thing remains the same for everyone. They do not expect you to be in your profile just after your graduation; what they hope is that you should be through with your fundamental knowledge of your subjects. You should have the ability to show them that you were engaged with some activities that show the character of you being outgoing and taking up the challenges in different projects as these projects not only showcase your technical skills but also show that you are ready to be challenged and willing enough to go out there to explore and execute your skills and give back something to the society.
How much role does a CGPA play in getting you a job in this sector?
I would recommend that everyone should at least aim for 8 CGPA according to the new norms of DTU. One should aim for this kind of CGPA because some people might think that they’ll go and pursue a job, but few years down the line they feel that now they need to educate themselves more, they need to pursue a higher degree as well, and that’s where these marks play a considerable role in your acceptance to the Universities.
So, CGPA does matter, and I know that the system is quite outdated. Even I was very frustrated during my time, but that’s something that everyone has to accept and work upon.
What would you say about the importance of internships for an individual who wants to pursue his career in the core sector field?
Internships are crucial, and they help you a lot in getting selected by good companies. First of all, I have seen this in DTU, especially; people try to pursue internships in DMRC and Indian Railways. These internships are not helpful because these internships neither teach you something which may help you to get expertise in your field nor they have a very stringent program that allows you to understand how the industry works, So in specific I have seen a lot of research programs and a lot of start-ups giving out a lot of internships, and they do help a lot. It’s not just about the technical skills that you gain from them it’s also about that from a very right age you get acquainted with fast phase environment of the industry and how an industry actually functions because as a student you are kind of familiar with a different type of mindset like you sort of try to prepare for your exams on the last date. But, the day you enter the industry it’s all going to change for everyone, you need to deliver your tasks right from day one, you need to be on time as they are very stringent with the process, so overall these internships actually help in getting familiar with the laws of the industry and how do you approach to better yourself when you have to work in the industry which is very important for the development of any candidate who aims to pursue something in the industry.
What in your opinion is the current scenario around the placements be it On-Campus or Off-Campus?
In On-Campus Placements, the companies are generally coming to pick you up for their GD program, which lasts for 10–12 months in any standardized company. They basically throw you to different departments to get familiar with the working of the company, and these departments range from Core Mechanical to Core Production, to supply chain and even to managerial posts. So that’s how a GET program works, so basically when they are coming to recruit you on-campus they look for aptitude and your fundamentals in Core domain, they might not be very stringent with the quality of technical skills that you have acquired, but you should be decent enough with your technical skills. You should be well acquainted with the fact of what the company does. You should be committed enough to stay in that company for a long time.
Now when it comes to Off-campus placements, then it purely depends upon your skills. Also, a lot of times I have seen people relying on the legacy of DTU to land up into a job in case of Off-campus placements, but that’s not how it works. So, when you are out there in a large pool of candidates, a University name does give you an edge, but it’s not something that you can entirely rely on. The skills that you possess, the projects that you have made, and apart from that if you have done something extra out of the box like publishing research papers or something like that, then these things come in handy a lot. So when you apply for these two scenarios, you need to have different mindsets, and Off-campus can be a very tiring and long process. Still, they should be strong enough to go through the process. They should be mentally ready for this process especially in this pandemic I have seen less number of companies specializing in mechanical are visiting the campus in DTU this year, so this is the time when someone should emphasize on the importance of acquiring technical skills and also maintaining a good resume and LinkedIn profile because I have seen a lot of DTU students right now struggling to get a job in the market. They are reaching out through LinkedIn, but elementary mistakes that they commit in their resume and LinkedIn profiles are not a true reflection of what they are, so this is something I would try to recommend people to work on because it plays a vital role as it creates a first impression on any potential recruiter.
Since you got two off-campus offers, so can you share some insights regarding off-campus placements?
The most crucial aspect for an off-campus placement is to build a profile that can catch the eye of potential recruiters, with that what I mean is that in an on-campus placement you get a chance to present yourself physically, but in off-campus that doesn’t happen. In off-campus, your resume and your LinkedIn profile are the reflections of you in a very concise manner. That resume or profile should be constructive enough to reflect what you are as a person exactly. Your resume should be able to outline all your technical skills and basic projects that you have acquired. It also should have an unambiguous indication of what you want to do and end up into and how you see yourself down the line.
How should one approach the interview rounds?
When it comes to the technical interviews, it mainly revolves around the technical profile that you have created. Of course, they would ask some basic questions regarding the subjects that you have studied but if you have done something out of the box like involved yourself in a lot of projects, done some research work on your own, then in most of the cases they like to ask questions directly related to that and that gives you an additional opportunity to express yourself in a much better way and to not to counter questions that you may need to remember from basic theory but to what you exactly did in your project is a far better way to express yourself and gives a better chance to get selected as well. So, the technical interview mostly revolves around what you have done and what knowledge you have enquired from your curriculum or through different activities that you have carried out.
And when it comes to HR interview, most of the companies throw some basic questions like “What are your strengths and weaknesses”, “Where do you see yourself five years down the line” and many more of these sorts. I have seen people taking these questions very lightly and then falling short of cracking the interview. So if someone asks you “where do you see yourself five years down the line in the company” then for this you need to research about the different roles that the company is offering, by that I mean that you need to say something different from the others like what will you try to contribute five years down the line, what skills would you try to acquire and how do you try to implement them in the company to make the process better or take some initiates to do something out of the box that will help the company to reach its objectives. Mostly it revolves around the role that you are being hired for and about a typical corporate ladder that you have to climb when you enter the organization. So, these things matter a lot. In these questions, you have to derive that very well that you have researched about the company, about the role that you have applied for that makes you unique from all the other candidates that are trying to answer these questions in a typical manner.
What advice would you give to a fresher joining DTU so that he can get the most out of his time here?
I would say that the best part about DTU is the number of opportunities that it gives. You can explore a lot because DTU is the only college I know, where you have N number of societies for everything you want to do in particular. It was not the academics, but it was the opportunities that one can find to do something to pursue something, so when a fresher enters the college, you have to explore, don’t rush into things from the very first day, take your time and understand what you want to do, where you want to go and what you want to achieve and accordingly shortlist things and develop skills that will align your goals in future.
Apart from that, focus on your academics, maintain about 8 CGPA that should be fine for most of the things.
If you are passionate about pursuing a higher degree you should be aiming for a high CGPA as well that’s one thing but do take your opportunities in DTU, participate in a lot of events, go into technical teams if you are aiming for a technical profile and if you are inclined towards management go into societies, try to build your character, try to build yourself so that you are confident and you are proud of yourself when you graduate from college.
