Interviews - not very difficult hurdles

Hi everybody,

Atul first i want to tell you that you are doing a great job! With iit-kanpur and everything else on your plate...it's really inspiring that you are maintaining this blog so very dedicatedly!

Second if the juniors are reading this blog...i urge them to take part in it effectively. More questions, more doubts always act as a stimulus and help seniors(atul in fact)post with greater frequency.

Recently, i recieved a few mails from juniors asking me about campus interviews and how to prepare for them. They seemed a little apprehensive about facing the interviewers and wanted to learn from our experiences...So i am posting this article hoping it will help you....Posts, corrections, suggestions and other comments from seniors will be greatly appreciated.

Gearing Up :
The first thing you have to develop before attending an interview is your confidence.Do not sit in front of ur books with the fear of not getting a job...never!
You can,will and must crack the interview.Now that ur attitude is set we will come to the technical part.....

It is not necessary to learn new things,all you need to do is brush up the very basics of our subjects.Make sure you know a little bit of everything...For example if u take CN u should know the 7 layers and the protocols used in those layers(you wont have time for thorough reading if your interview is imminent...but if u have time i strongly suggest that you go for it!)

Apart from this prepare well and try to learn as much as possible about your favourite subjects..usually the best combination is always a programming language like c,c++,java,c# a theory subject like OS and a subject with every day management applications like SE.
But make sure you learn the practical applications of the subjects.
For example if you choose OS u must be able to answer questions like
- What is the latest OS u've worked with? What are the new things u spotted in it? Can u compare it with the other OS's u've used so far? etc.;

GD:-
GD is something where confidence and intelligence matter. Though fluency is also important you can cover it using the above two. If it is a known topic, very good talk confidently about it.Make sure you put ur views in a clear manner so that others can understand it without any difficulty.Coherence is very important.Also try and make the opening statement because you get extra points for bring the initiator.
If it is an unknown topic u can't start...DONT WORRY! Listen to the views of others...listen to what they are saying....form a connection between what they are saying and the things u know...put forward your views..
NEVER EVER STAY SILENT IN A GD FOR MORE THAN A MINUTE AT THE START.You should make your presence felt in the very first minute of the discussion.It is good if you can stay update with the current affairs but it is not absolutely necessary. U will have an edge over the others if u have a bit of general knowledge.

Project:-
Apart from these another very important thing is ur Project. Usually our final year projects are not completed(sometimes not even started) by the time the company officials come for placements. That is why during the summer u should do a mini project.It will hardly take 15 days but it is very useful.

Training:
Coming to industrial training, all they check is whether u understand the hierarchy in the industry.U just need to understand what softwares that particular company is using, what platforms are being used for integration and things like that.

Misc:-
Before you attend the interview make sure u know as much as possible about the company.Its caption,logo,aims,objectives,products,services,founders etc.,Concentrate on the written test and DO NOT TAKE IT EASY. A lot of elimination takes place here and the technical round.Usually if u r through both these rounds it is quite enough.They dont elimimate more than 10 people in the HR round.

if u have any other doubts..feel free to ask us :-)
If i've forgotten anything please add....

Thank you,
Mrudula Singampalli.