Couple of days back, my friend asked me "Suppose you are driving on your way to an important meeting that can fetch you million dollar profit contract. You are driving very fast and suddenly an old woman comes infront of the car. You can't put the breaks and hit her. She starts bleeding heavily. The road is completely isolated and there is no witness to the accident and there is no-one to help. What will you do? Will you go ahead with your journey or will you join her in a hospital? Remember, you run the risk of losing the contract if you don't reach there on time."
I replied immediately "I will just go on with my journey as there is no witness to the accident." My friend is shocked and she asks me if I was sure. I say yes and then I ask her what would she do if she were in such a situation. She replies "well, I will first think of what will happen if my family were in such a situation." And that's when it dawned upon me. I am a terrible, terrible person with no sentiments. I am evil. or wait a second, am I??
I will never ever understand whether human relations are an asset or a liability.
Monday, December 24, 2007
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
My journey, My struggle.....
Sometimes, in life, you feel you are being gripped by disappointment and sadness and there's nothing you can do. The last one week was one such phase in my life. I faced rejection from every company, I was looked down in every interview and I came out of interview room every time with a good feeling and ended up with an odd feeling once the final results were out.
This post will just be a recollection of my experiences and my opinions. People are free to interpret them in whatever way they want. Just remember that , all the things in this post are my own opinions and may seem weird or offensive to some people. But then, after all the struggle I have been through, I don't give a damn.
To start with, I didn't apply for Schlums (thinking it's too much of field work) and Fair Isaac (thinking it's job profile is hardcore coding). No repents on that, but I knew where I wanted to be. I wanted to be in a finance-related job. I wanted to be an analyst, rather than a coder or a ghaasi or a field person. So, starting with Day zero, here it goes:
Day zero:
1. Deutsche Bank:
The shortlist for interviews was based on purely written test basis and later during my first interview I was told that I am among the toppers in the test :). That was cool. My first interview went extra-ordinarily well. I was sure of getting into second round and so I did. First round was nothing but finance related questions like 'What will you do (buy/sell) a commodity when currency weakens' and 'probability questions' and a few 'general questions'. I was called for a second round of interview and the first question asked to me was 'Don't you think, your's is a very different department. I don't see you fitting into my company !!' . Well, I was expecting that question but not so early.. phew !! Anyways, I explained to them that none of the departments in kgp has got much to do with finance or i-banking and even a electrical dep guy has only elec knowledge but not finance. So, my dep might not make much of a difference. They started asking questions on finance, relatively easier ones, and some general fundae like where did bse end on that day, what's the price of oil barrel, what is the latest global news, and a little bit about sub-prime crisis and how it effected Indian market. I gave them satisfactory answers and after nearly half an hour, I was asked to wait outside as I might have to face a third round interview. But then, that was never going to be the case. I didn't make the final cut :( . Missing on Deutsche Bank was one thing, I will regret the most during coming times. So near, yet so far away.
2. Capital one:
Initially, only 18 ppl were shortlisted. But then, an additional of 25 ppl were added and I was among them. As soon as I entered the room and saw the look on the face of my interviewer, I knew I wasn't going to make it. And so, it turned out to be. None among the 25 additional shortlisted students were selected and they just made a mockery of us. And yah, the less I talk about this interview, the better.
Day One:
3. ZS associates:
Din't make it through the written test. Actually, it was the worst written test I ever gave. So no regrets. My fault.
4. Inductis:
Only 15 people were shortlisted from written test and I was among them. There were two rounds of interview. The first one was decent. The interviewer had a huha loaded look on his face. But I anwered the puzzles he asked perfectly and he was satisfied. He then asked me to sell a product which I think I screwed up badly. He then asked me a few HR questions and whether I gave CAT or not and noted my score. After sometime, I entered another room for my second round interview. The interviewer was a IIT kgp and IIM A alumni. He was uber-cool and interview was more of fun than anything else. He gave me a case-study and when I solved it, he was extremely satisfied. We had some chit-chat and then after 25 minutes the interview was over. But then the worst was yet to come. As we came out of interivew room together, I made a blunder. I asked him if it's advisable to join MBA right away or after a break of two years. He knew instantly that I was scoring well in CAT. I knew I was jeorpardizing my chances by asking him that question, but I just couldn't control. :(
Day Two:
Completely free
Day Three:
5. Pangea:
None of the agricultural and food engineering students and some other department students were shortlisted in the initial list, but thanks to Savi a good junk of ghaasi students were added to the list later. So, we went in the morning to give the online test (nothing but verbal skills) and all ghaasi students were shortlisted for GD round !!. Our group consisted of only ghaasi students and we were asked to explain our projects and cross-question each other during GD !! Well, my GD went decent but not great. Finally, 3 of us got shortlisted and luckily I was among them. Shailendr, Bhawani and myself. We were told that Pangea acually requires food technology students and they are sure to take atleast one from the three. We had a telephonic interview with the people in P3 mumbai office. The interview was nothing but hardcore technical funda. My interview was below average I would say. At the end of interview, I asked the person who interviewed me if we really need such huha technical funda as P3 was an LPO. She said we would need them during the job and told me that I had good enough technical knowledge :D. But then when the results were out, the page was blank. None of the food technology students made it through. What a load of crap. After telling that they specially need people from our dep and putting us through mental torture all day long, they wouldn't take even a single student !!
Day Four:
6. Deloitte:
The written test went well and I was called for the interview. Just a few minutes before interview, we came to know that the job profile was Technology analyst (only coding :( ) and not business analyst, as told during the ppt. It was kinda shock and as soon as entered the interview room, I immediately told them I knew nothing and have nothing to do with OOPS or JAVA or any other language for that matter. The interviewer tried to ask me if I was interested in the job. I told them, I was interested in the company but am apprehensive about the job profile. So, the story ended there.
7. i-runway:
One company I really really wanted to join. A start-up company and every damn employee is an IITian. Where else would you want to be? As usual, made it through the written test easily. But again in the interview, the same statement. 'I don't see you fitting anywhere in our company'. He then asked me two puzzles which I solved peacefully, but by that time, I was sure I was not going to make it (thanx to my department). Another one down the drain. !!
Day Five:
8. Adventity:
This company had the biggest shock of my life in store for me. I did very well in written test and couldn't make it through. When I went and asked them, they said they might have missed my paper, but weren't willing to go back and check. 'Screw you' I thought. The HR guy even advised me to apply offcampus for their company. 'Screw you' again I thought.
Day Six:
Completely free.
Day Seven.
9. Futures First:
The last financial company visiting the campus in phase 1 and I surely din't want to sit for IT companies :(. After two written tests, the first one 6 minutes - 40 calculations and the second one 30 minutes - 40 analytical questions, I made it to the interviews. The first round of interview was stress interview. They kept on bombarding questions on me from all quarters for nearly half an hour. 'Are you an optimist', 'Are you a pessimist' , 'Will you take risks' 'Are ambitious' 'what motivates you' 'how much does money matter to you' 'will you cheat on your friends for profits' 'will you cheat you organization for personal profits' and then a few puzzles and few quant questions. Three people - qsn after qsn, qsn after qsn - uff !! Thankfully, I made it to the final round of interview. That was more of HR interview, 'why FF', 'why finance', 'why not agri !!' (what the hell are you talking man !! agriii !! ), 'what do u know about organization' etc etc. When it ended, I came out of the room, confidently and hopefully. The results were out after 2 hours and yah, finally.. .finally I made it. After one week and on day zero of week 2, I made it :D.
No need to wear formals anymore. No need to face rejections anymore.
When I look back now, I regret about two companies. Deutsche and i-runway. But then, I am here now. It was hell of an experience. Not a great one while I was experiencing but seems a memorable one when I look at it now. Because sometimes, journey is sweeter than destination.
But then I am happy. I am happy I will be working in a finance-related job. I have really wanted to be in a finance-related job. "When you really want something, the whole universe conspires in helping you to achieve it". :)
I have reached there. I don't know whether it's the same promised land. I don't know whether I will be able to survive there. But then, I don't care. The struggle has finally ended.
This post will just be a recollection of my experiences and my opinions. People are free to interpret them in whatever way they want. Just remember that , all the things in this post are my own opinions and may seem weird or offensive to some people. But then, after all the struggle I have been through, I don't give a damn.
To start with, I didn't apply for Schlums (thinking it's too much of field work) and Fair Isaac (thinking it's job profile is hardcore coding). No repents on that, but I knew where I wanted to be. I wanted to be in a finance-related job. I wanted to be an analyst, rather than a coder or a ghaasi or a field person. So, starting with Day zero, here it goes:
Day zero:
1. Deutsche Bank:
The shortlist for interviews was based on purely written test basis and later during my first interview I was told that I am among the toppers in the test :). That was cool. My first interview went extra-ordinarily well. I was sure of getting into second round and so I did. First round was nothing but finance related questions like 'What will you do (buy/sell) a commodity when currency weakens' and 'probability questions' and a few 'general questions'. I was called for a second round of interview and the first question asked to me was 'Don't you think, your's is a very different department. I don't see you fitting into my company !!' . Well, I was expecting that question but not so early.. phew !! Anyways, I explained to them that none of the departments in kgp has got much to do with finance or i-banking and even a electrical dep guy has only elec knowledge but not finance. So, my dep might not make much of a difference. They started asking questions on finance, relatively easier ones, and some general fundae like where did bse end on that day, what's the price of oil barrel, what is the latest global news, and a little bit about sub-prime crisis and how it effected Indian market. I gave them satisfactory answers and after nearly half an hour, I was asked to wait outside as I might have to face a third round interview. But then, that was never going to be the case. I didn't make the final cut :( . Missing on Deutsche Bank was one thing, I will regret the most during coming times. So near, yet so far away.
2. Capital one:
Initially, only 18 ppl were shortlisted. But then, an additional of 25 ppl were added and I was among them. As soon as I entered the room and saw the look on the face of my interviewer, I knew I wasn't going to make it. And so, it turned out to be. None among the 25 additional shortlisted students were selected and they just made a mockery of us. And yah, the less I talk about this interview, the better.
Day One:
3. ZS associates:
Din't make it through the written test. Actually, it was the worst written test I ever gave. So no regrets. My fault.
4. Inductis:
Only 15 people were shortlisted from written test and I was among them. There were two rounds of interview. The first one was decent. The interviewer had a huha loaded look on his face. But I anwered the puzzles he asked perfectly and he was satisfied. He then asked me to sell a product which I think I screwed up badly. He then asked me a few HR questions and whether I gave CAT or not and noted my score. After sometime, I entered another room for my second round interview. The interviewer was a IIT kgp and IIM A alumni. He was uber-cool and interview was more of fun than anything else. He gave me a case-study and when I solved it, he was extremely satisfied. We had some chit-chat and then after 25 minutes the interview was over. But then the worst was yet to come. As we came out of interivew room together, I made a blunder. I asked him if it's advisable to join MBA right away or after a break of two years. He knew instantly that I was scoring well in CAT. I knew I was jeorpardizing my chances by asking him that question, but I just couldn't control. :(
Day Two:
Completely free
Day Three:
5. Pangea:
None of the agricultural and food engineering students and some other department students were shortlisted in the initial list, but thanks to Savi a good junk of ghaasi students were added to the list later. So, we went in the morning to give the online test (nothing but verbal skills) and all ghaasi students were shortlisted for GD round !!. Our group consisted of only ghaasi students and we were asked to explain our projects and cross-question each other during GD !! Well, my GD went decent but not great. Finally, 3 of us got shortlisted and luckily I was among them. Shailendr, Bhawani and myself. We were told that Pangea acually requires food technology students and they are sure to take atleast one from the three. We had a telephonic interview with the people in P3 mumbai office. The interview was nothing but hardcore technical funda. My interview was below average I would say. At the end of interview, I asked the person who interviewed me if we really need such huha technical funda as P3 was an LPO. She said we would need them during the job and told me that I had good enough technical knowledge :D. But then when the results were out, the page was blank. None of the food technology students made it through. What a load of crap. After telling that they specially need people from our dep and putting us through mental torture all day long, they wouldn't take even a single student !!
Day Four:
6. Deloitte:
The written test went well and I was called for the interview. Just a few minutes before interview, we came to know that the job profile was Technology analyst (only coding :( ) and not business analyst, as told during the ppt. It was kinda shock and as soon as entered the interview room, I immediately told them I knew nothing and have nothing to do with OOPS or JAVA or any other language for that matter. The interviewer tried to ask me if I was interested in the job. I told them, I was interested in the company but am apprehensive about the job profile. So, the story ended there.
7. i-runway:
One company I really really wanted to join. A start-up company and every damn employee is an IITian. Where else would you want to be? As usual, made it through the written test easily. But again in the interview, the same statement. 'I don't see you fitting anywhere in our company'. He then asked me two puzzles which I solved peacefully, but by that time, I was sure I was not going to make it (thanx to my department). Another one down the drain. !!
Day Five:
8. Adventity:
This company had the biggest shock of my life in store for me. I did very well in written test and couldn't make it through. When I went and asked them, they said they might have missed my paper, but weren't willing to go back and check. 'Screw you' I thought. The HR guy even advised me to apply offcampus for their company. 'Screw you' again I thought.
Day Six:
Completely free.
Day Seven.
9. Futures First:
The last financial company visiting the campus in phase 1 and I surely din't want to sit for IT companies :(. After two written tests, the first one 6 minutes - 40 calculations and the second one 30 minutes - 40 analytical questions, I made it to the interviews. The first round of interview was stress interview. They kept on bombarding questions on me from all quarters for nearly half an hour. 'Are you an optimist', 'Are you a pessimist' , 'Will you take risks' 'Are ambitious' 'what motivates you' 'how much does money matter to you' 'will you cheat on your friends for profits' 'will you cheat you organization for personal profits' and then a few puzzles and few quant questions. Three people - qsn after qsn, qsn after qsn - uff !! Thankfully, I made it to the final round of interview. That was more of HR interview, 'why FF', 'why finance', 'why not agri !!' (what the hell are you talking man !! agriii !! ), 'what do u know about organization' etc etc. When it ended, I came out of the room, confidently and hopefully. The results were out after 2 hours and yah, finally.. .finally I made it. After one week and on day zero of week 2, I made it :D.
No need to wear formals anymore. No need to face rejections anymore.
When I look back now, I regret about two companies. Deutsche and i-runway. But then, I am here now. It was hell of an experience. Not a great one while I was experiencing but seems a memorable one when I look at it now. Because sometimes, journey is sweeter than destination.
But then I am happy. I am happy I will be working in a finance-related job. I have really wanted to be in a finance-related job. "When you really want something, the whole universe conspires in helping you to achieve it". :)
I have reached there. I don't know whether it's the same promised land. I don't know whether I will be able to survive there. But then, I don't care. The struggle has finally ended.
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