How to snag a top job. (Placement guide for a first year engineering student at NIT)

So you’ve slogged for 4 years for that B.Tech degree..how do you land that shiny post in a top firm that make your parents distribute laddoos in the neighbourhood?

1) A decent CGPA – if you can make it to 9, good for you! you are awesome and you’l definitely land that top job (you’l also land fully funded M.S programs abroad – and most 9 pointers I know don’t miss out on an amazing opportunity to enhance their careers this way)

A CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average) in the 8/10 range too isn’t bad. Confidence and Extracurricular skillls will make you a winner at those campus placements.

For those with a 7/10 CGPA – not to worry, you will get a job too. You have what it takes to get into an NIT, hence companies know you are good. But I do not guarantee job satisfaction. And it might cost you a lot of waiting and worrying before you land that job.

2) Good internships/industrial training – Snagging a summer internship is a very difficult affair. It takes a lot of hard work consisting of google-searches, phone-calls and ass-kissing to get a decent internship. Hence the fact that you have done one (or two) will add a lot of gloss to your resume.

3)Extracurricular activities/certificates – An engineer needs to be good at getting stuff done. He has to know how to apply his theoretical knowledge in the real world. College activities give one a lot of scope to explore one’s personality and answer those tough interview questions like – “What are your strengths and weaknesses?”. I cannon emphasize how important organizing and taking part in college clubs, fests, technical events can be to enhhance your job-worthiness.

4)Communication skills – work on your English. You may be awesome, but you have to be able to communicate that to the interviewer and there is nothing like a fluent, confident young gun to impress your panel.Furthermore, most companies stress on a GD or group discussion session to select top students to be interviewed for appropriate placement in a job profile.

5)Aptitude Tests – the dreaded ‘Apti’s are the first step to snagging an interview at campus placements. CAT MCQs, puzzles, brain teasers, word games etc..its good to start practicing early. Also one needs to brush up on one’s general knowledge and read the newspaper regularly. This will help you understand the job scenario, as well as help you speak in the group discussions.

Civil vs Mechanical

	Civil	Mechanical
scope of study	designing, constructing and supervising new and old structures viz., roads, buildings, airports, bridges, water supply systems etc.,	Design and develop machines based on the knowledge of movement and the power / energy that is involved.
work	design, supervision and construction of structures. calculating the cost involved, safety of the structure and potential environmental risks. involves travelling quite frequently.	Design and control of system that goes into the process of manufacturing the machinery and product. Testing new systems Quality management and improvement Marketing products and systems
type of industry	building and construction private consulting firms government departments research institutes etc.,	Manufacturing Automobile Power Aeronautical Biotechnology
specific skills required	good logical and mental capability, problem solving skills and ability to grasp new concepts are very essential to be a good civil engineer. should be able to express yourself using figures and words.	good technical and communication skill coupled with logical capability to interpret complex and changing concepts.
curriculum topics	Maths structures foundation construction environment irrigation hydraulics surveying soil analysis	Maths Physics Thermodynamics Fluid mechanics Machine tool design Heat transfer etc.,
core subject strength	good knowledge of maths.	good knowledge of maths and physics
specialisations available (click for detailed information)	Structural Engineering Bridge Engineering Construction Engineering Geo-Technical Engineering Hydraulic Engineering Material Science Nanotechnology Pile Engineering Surveying Timber Engineering   Environmental Engineering Transportation Engineering Highway Engineering Railroad Engineering Port and Harbour Engineering Airport Engineering Water Resource Engineering Image Processing and GIS	automobile engineering biomedical engineering environmental engineering nuclear engineering nanotechnology

B.Sc vs B.tech degree

	B.Sc	B.Tech / B.E.
years of study	3-4 years	4-5 years
study focus	Basic science (pure science).	Applied science (technical / technological).
content	Broad and theoretical science.	Practical and technical science.
flexibility	The content is general with no specific changes / option for selecting a specialisation. You need to do M.Sc / M.Tech / M.E / MBA. for specialisation.	It’s designed on individual field of engineering with an option to choose further specialisation / elective, in the final year, under your chosen field. This helps you focus on your specific area of interest.
route to higher studies	Science & Research   B.Sc     M.Sc     Doctorate   Management   B.Sc     MBA / P.G. Diploma     Engineering   B.Sc     M.Sc     M.Tech / M.E	Engineering & Research   B.Tech / B.E     M.Tech / M.E     Doctorate   Management   B.Tech     MBA / P.G. Diploma
curriculum rigour	Comfortable. Students need to be good with Science and maths subjects.	Tough and demanding. Students need to be excellent in Science, especially Maths subjects.
career prospects	LOW – since the course is general in nature, you need to complete M.Sc to get a good start to your career.	GOOD – the choice of engineering discipline + further specialisation under it gives an edge to choose and follow your career goals in that segment   However, for better and higher career prospects M.Tech / MBA is recommended.
which to choose?	If you are comfortable with basic science and are more inclined to non-technical aspects of science, B.Sc is a good choice, and coupled with M.Sc you can make good progress in your career.	If you are interested in the technical side of science, designs, calculations etc., and ready to do take on a demanding and challenging route, B.Tech is the right choice.
higher studies / combination degrees	If you are interested in research work, you may do Masters (MSc) and then PhD. If you are interested in management stuff, go for an MBA after B.Sc. (See – MBA)	If core engineering stuff is your forte / research work, you may do your Masters (M.Tech / M.E) and later PhD. (See Engineering) If management and business interests you, go for an MBA after B.Tech / B.E. (See – MBA)
studying abroad	You need to complete your Masters (M.Sc).	B.Tech / B.E. is sufficient.

VIT counselling procedure

VIT counselling procedure

The Vellore Institute of Technology – Beautiful campus, well-equiped classrooms and laboratories, large cafeterias, shopping areas, glossy brochures – very rude,unhelpful people- the place stunk of lavishness, including the students. We paid Rs30,000 just to attend the counselling. That was more than the entire admission fees and semester fees I paid at NITW ( Rs 27,000 app.). And this amount was forfeited, unlike in the IITs where counselling fees are returned if a student does not take admission in the IIT.

There were several hotels some distance from the campus,several eateries on and around the campus.

The counselling procedure consists of dozens of steps and procedures that included a medical check-up where we were made to do everything from getting ourselves weighed, height, vision checked, gulping down de-worming tablets, getting a picture clicked to allowing the nurses to inject needles into our arm to draw blood samples and peeing on strips of paper for god-only-knows-what purpose! A bus outside the medical centre gave prospective students and parents a tour of the campus of the classrooms,libraries etc.

It invoved a lot of moving around , the usual verification,visiting the photocopier shops, until finally we were allowed into the computer room, to select our choice of branch.Thankfully they had provided us with a flier listing the various steps. We had to follow the line according to roll no order as we were led around.And just when we seemed to be at the end of our ordeal they declared the lunch break from about 1-2.30 or 2-2.30 ,I can’t remember.

There were about 5000 seats available I think but only about 60% of these got filled up at the end of the 1st round of counselling ,till VITEEE AIR of 6000. Hence invariably the next set of students, of AIR more than 6000 are given calls to come for counsellling.Courses like Bioinformatics, Biotechnology and Biomedical Engineering seats though, get alloted to students almost immediately, on the first day of counselling itself.After these the computer sciences, electrical, chemical branche allotments drag on for days.I found out from some friend that even up to AIR 26,000 had got a seat in VIT.

The procedure after lunch was pretty straightforward and finally we could go back to our hotel.

BITSAT

 

The last exam for most students..Question are just a bit more difficult compared to AIEEE,lot simpler than IITJEE. Speed is the key for this exam.

After the initial identity verification and submission of print – out of admit form students are ushered into the computer centre. They are then each given a blank booklet on which is written the number of the computer assigned to us. This booklet is to be used for calculation and rough work.

Students are then asked to take their places in fronth of the numbered computer screens. The students has to type in their roll no. on the screen and their picture with their roll no. below appears.

Several invigilators keep moving aroung the room. Computer screens are placed as in internet cafes, so that one student cannot look into the other’s screen.If there is any problem whatsoever the invigilators are always at hand to sort it out. Students then have to wait till the invigilator announces it’s time to start and the BITSAT test appears on the screen. The test looks exactly like the Sample test on the official website, except it has more question ofcourse 🙂

Students can complete and submit their test any time , withen the 180 minutes alloted . The number of correct and wrong answers and your score will appear immediately on the screen.

You are then free to leave…………a free bird…………holidays for you at last…… 🙂 🙂

AIEEE counselling procedure …

http://moneyandorp.blogspot.com http://mysticalorp.blogspot.com

My AIEEE result was out last year on June 3rd. According to the information brocure online( I’d registered online for the exam) I was to attend counselling on 6th July. Off – campus counselling was to be held from June 23rd to 29th . WHile the on-campus one was to begin on July 4th for AIR 1- 5000, July 5th for AIR 5000- 10,000 and so on.

The off -campus counselling was kind of like a dress rehearsal to the main on-campus counselling.

On-Campus ie. counselling in the campus of the NIT of the state from where you gave your exam, involves waiting for your turn in a big hall, after requisite identity verifications , signing of documents selecting prioritywise a list of college and branch on the computer in the hall.

This procedure may vary from NIT to NIT but in NIT Nagpur or VNIT as its called it was like this. There was also a big sceen on which the most recent status of seats available was visible . By recent I mean the number of seats left after allocation of seats to students who attended counselling on the previous day. This seat status is available on the official website everyday as well, updated after 4pm when counselling for a certain day is done.

You should come prepared to stay the night in the counselling city, your seat allocation is displayed the next day on the counselling campus as well as on the official website. I had to then take a printout from the website of my allotment. Now remember, THE COLLEGE THAT YOU ARE NOW ALLOTED CANNOT BE CHANGED. If you want some other AIEEE college you’l have to wait for counselling next year .

Withen a certain date I was instructed to go to the NIT I waas alloted to fill my fees and take admission. Suppose you don’t turn up within this time to pay your fees, your admission is cancelled. Your seat is given to somone who opted for form 2 during counselling.

So, well in the off-campus counselling, comfortably from your home (you need net connection at home ofcourse) you have to register for on-campus counselling. Then you are shown the same computer screen you will see in the counselling hall when you will punch in your final choices.You can type in your priority list( if you read my posts regularly you’d have already made this list) .

The next day the computer will tell you what college and branch you will be alloted based on your priority list. You can immediately make changes to your list , the next day the computer will again tell you which college you will be alloted based on your modified priority list. REMEMBER, THIS PRIORITY LIST IS IN NO WAY RELATED TO THE LIST YOU TYPE IN DURING ON-CAMPUS COUNSELLING. You may change your list altogether or type in the same list again during on-campus.

State board or CBSE for 11th ,12th

 

12th board marks arn’t really a priority for someone who wants to pursue engineering.Only certain minimum marks are required to be eligible for entrance exams which are ever more important , like IITJEE needs minimum 60%.To appear for BITSAT you’l need 80%..thats the highest you’l have to study for, and believe me noone will ever ask you bout your 12th marks after the initial ‘how you done’s,but your entrance exam ranks will decide your life..almost :)..

The syllabus for JEE, BITSAT, AIEEE and VITEEE are pretty similar , to each other and similar to the CBSE syllabus. Since board exams are not a priority ,there is an argument that students should join a state board college ,since in Maharashtra the academics are less time-consuming and easier compared to CBSE and ICSE.

I disagree though. From personal experience I can say that my CBSE high school education helped my tremendously in clearing AIEEE.If you want to focus on MHT-CET then you should go ahead with a HSC college, though why should a student aim for somthing low-gain when he might as well give a few of the most prestigious exams in the country a try.

A few more points

1) 12th HSC boards test both 11th and 12th syllabus, while CBSE tests only 12th syllabus.

2)The HSC syllabus is about 75% different from other exams. There is ample time after the other exams to brush up and learn the CET syllabus for CBSE students since JEE and AIEEE are held in April while CET is held in May.

JEE, AIEEE, BITSAT differ barelt 5% from each other . JEE is about 20% less that CBSE 11th and 12th syllabus , but has to be explored and understood far more in detail.

AIEEE syllabus is the same as CBSE.

BITSAT ans VITEEE are similar ,include a few more topics, delete a few.

http://indiaeducation.net/Engineering/Entrance-Exams/index.asp

So Gals and Guys, 11th and 12th are 2 very crucial years for those who want to make somthing of their lives..you have to study really really hard.
I’d said ‘almost’ earlier. I also know loads of people who decided ‘I’m going to shut out my life, my only priority is studies’. These guys will remain cooped up indoors all day with no time-out, no resfeshment, at the same time they might not even do very well academically.
The key is to maintain a healthy balance of studies and a little physical activity and enjoyment to keep the brain fit and happy.Not too much also because remember you’re investing your time and effort for wonderful rewards later in life.

 

What to do after 10th..

Its terrible that most people here in Pune don’t have any idea about the IITs and NITs . Its particularly insulting to my effort I’ve put in to get to NITW when people say “What? Your studying in Warangal(after I’v explained where warangal is that is)? Did you not get admission in Pune(as though I’m some failure studying on a management quota..I’ve qualified AIEEE for heaven’s sake),beta?” . Bharti Vidyapeeth,Pune came a distant 30-somthing according to last year’s engineering college rankings.

In Andhra Pradesh JEE coaching is big business.Its a perfect example of commercialization of education. All kinds of classes have mushroomed all over the state(I’v seen only Andhra, perhaps its like this other places too perhaps not) and leading the brigade are all those Narayanas and Chaitanyas. I apologise to those might have studied in these institutions but frankly I don’t approve of them , or the way students are kept locked up in their hostels ,with terrible food ,even worse living conditions..from what I’v heard from Narayana/Chaitanya ex-students or read in the newspapers. The 45K I paid for my coaching too I realize is dirt cheap, even by Pune coaching standards ..lol..the big fat recession proof education business.

Everywhere its the same actually..so I guess its up to the student to take the best out of his or her class..