I am IN.

The wait was over. Yesterday, Infosys (one of India’s largest IT firm and a more importantly one of the best recruiter) came to our campus. Three other colleges were coming to participate in the placement procedure. All the arrangements in my college were perfect and at times I felt I was somewhere else.

The pre-placement talk was scheduled at 9 in the morning and I reached the main gate at around 8.35. I had just moved near the gate and the guard stopped me and said, “No entry from this gate. All college students have to enter from Gate No. 3.” This was the first time I came to know of the presence of “Gate No. 3” in our college. On asking the guard guided me to “Gate No. 3”. At “Gate No. 3” I was stopped again and asked to display an identity card. Now being the careless person I am, I had managed not to take my newly issued identity card (I lost my first identity card last year). After all kind of excuses failed, I called up my friend Setu who came with my Infosys eligibility certification slip. So finally I was allowed to get into my own college. The Infosys team was on time and the pre placement talk was about to start.

Inside the lecture theatre I was told that there was a new formula we had to use to convert our CGPA (relative marks on the scale of 10) to percentage marks. I borrowed a calculator and began with the job. Meanwhile the presenter from Infosys team was on stage. I was literally awestruck by her sheer beauty. She gave a superb presentation and I felt for the first time the urge to perform well in the exam. At the end I realized that I had not calculated my %age marks as yet. We were asked to assemble in our dear old LT1. We were given a huge form to fill in 45 minutes. I finally calculated my %age marks in this time.

The first test was an analytical test containing 10 puzzles to be solved in an hour. Most of the puzzles were interesting and of normal complexity (I could solve them without pulling my hair). I was able to solve 9 puzzles successfully. After this was the English test containing 45 questions to be answered in 30 minutes. I left the RC (Reading Comprehension) questions and attempted the rest in around 15 minutes. The RC was an excerpt from a thriller and was really interesting. The questions were a piece of cake. I spent last 7-8 minutes of the time wishing that the passage was longer.

The result was to be announced at 4 so I went to the hostel to discuss the test and gossip. Before going to see the results I found that Australia was all out for 235 (2nd Test Match, India vs. Australia). That was great news and everyone was full of excitement. I was waiting in LT1 when someone announced 48 out of 105 students have been selected. I just wished me and all my friends were in the list. The result was announced and I was the fourth name on the list. All but a few of my friends made it to the second round. My interview was scheduled to start at 6.45 an now it was 4.35. I decided that this time I’ll prepare myself well for the interview and not mess it up like I did the last time (Read “Campus placement begins…”).

It was 6.45 and I was ready to face my interview (Read: I had mugged up the answers to common interview questions). I learnt from the feedback that they were asking very difficult puzzles inside for e.g. “What’s similar between lemon, page and light?” Now there was no way in hell that I could answer this in a tense interview environment. So I closed my ears to any further feedback. And then, I was called. I went in amidst confusion and best wishes. A man escorted me to an open cubicle (I was wondering how I had never been to this part of my college). I was told to wait for sometime. After sitting there watching myself in the glass cabinet door for 5-10 minutes I was called inside.

The interviewer was a middle-aged and graceful lady. After some casual questions like my name, city of birth etc., she asked me the first question, “What kind of person do you think you are?” Oh my God, It was not in my list of my interview questions. I ran around my mind and thought that I should frame my answer around my strengths. I did that and she was impressed. Then I told her about my interest in Computers and how the interest developed into passion. Again I kept embedding lots of strengths of mine in my answer. The second question she asked was, “What do you do to keep yourself updated about technology?” I answered her giving names of websites and computer magazines I regularly read along with the recent articles I read on each of them. The third question was “What are your other interests?” I said Cricket. She asked me different questions like “When is the second match between India and Australia?”, “How do you rate the current Indian team and it’s captain?” and “Have you ever played cricket?” I answered all the questions easily and I could see the balance tilting my side. After this she came to teamwork. She asked me the roles of leader and member in teams and whether I have played any of the roles. I answered the question giving one positive (successful member) and one negative (unsuccessful leader) answer. I supported my answer with the fact that I have learnt a lot from my experience and now I have perfected myself to play any of the roles. Then she asked me something I dreaded, a puzzle. To my relief the puzzle was easy and I managed to solve it quickly. She was done with her quota of questions and asked me if I had any. I asked two questions, “What is the growth tree for an Infoscion?” and “Is a management degree necessary to continue climbing up this tree?” She satisfied me with her answers, wished me all the best and asked me to leave.

I narrated the above interview experience 4-5 times to different people outside and went into the waiting room (Lecture theatre). All the interviews were over by 10.15. We were waiting for the results when a friend came and announced 41 out of 48 students have made it. I felt the height of mixed feelings. Only 7 students had been rejected but who were the unlucky 7 and what if I was one of them. In 5-10 minutes the same astoundingly beautiful lady, who gave the morning presentation, came to announce the results. She requested us to be quite and announced the names quickly. I and most of my friends were IN the list.

The atmosphere was filled with happiness. Everyone was shouting like hell and the news spread like fire. Our college managed 40% success rate in Infosys in the very first year of placements. I went to my friends house as it was too late to go back home.

As of now, I am back to normal self. I am eager to study hard and get admission in one of the IITs for my Post Graduate studies.

I wish that all my classmates who couldn’t make it get better jobs by the end of this semester. In the end I want everyone to have his/her Messenger status saying "I am IN."