Placement Season Begins

Campus recruitment for BE Computer Science students at Thapar University began on 16th August.

It all started 5 years ago. May, 2005 (Class 10). Those were the days when life was as simple as English, Science, Maths and Social Studies. Back then, the word "engineering" was nothing more than a distant speck. Life was simple. But then things started getting complicated.

I decided that I wanted to be an engineer. The question of how I made that decision is pretty much unanswerable. Perhaps I was fascinated by science. Or perhaps I had no clue what I wanted to do in life (apart from the astronaut dreams that everyone seems to have), and just chose the most visible option. Not to say that I regret the decision, so far it has turned out to be a good one.

So that brings us to 3 years ago. June, 2007 (Class 12). Admission time. After rigorous (yeah, right) preparation and many exams, I had secured admission to many reputed colleges in the country. I chose to come to Thapar. Again, a choice I don't regret.

Which brings us to the present day. And the first thing that pops into your mind when you hear the words 'engineering college' - placements. Many heavy words could be seen strewn across the Facebook walls and the Google Groups - 'The end has begun', 'Judgement Day', etc. People were studying - some secretly, some openly. Everyone was telling everyone else 'arey teri toh ho hi jayegi yaar, bas meri karva do kahin' [You will most certainly get placed, I just hope I do too]. In such an atmosphere of nervousness and excitement, the first company for the BE CS 2007-2011 batch arrived - Winshuttle India, on 16th August 2010.

I was nervous, excited, and hopeful at the same time. I guess I wanted to see what I could accomplish without much effort. The answer was - nothing! The written test had 5 aptitude questions and 20 technical questions (I think), the level of the test was good. But I didn't get through. I was disappointed beyond reason. What did I expect? That I would get through without even an iota (I'm exaggerating a little) of preparation? Perhaps I did. That day I bought Yashavant Kanetkar's "Test Your C Skills" with all intention of completing it within 2 days (I still haven't opened it :P).

Anyhow, so that's how placement season started for me. With rejection.