students read once... The Testament After an overwhelming praise we received for our interview with IIT- R, IIT-G, NSIT and DTU students, we are here with the much anticipated interview with a MECHANICAL ENGINEER from NIT – Warangal. Chaitanya Sai, student of mechanical engineering, NIT-W is placed in ONGC at a package of 11 lakhs per annum. “Never waste time and never let an opportunity to excel go by” he says. Read. Learn. Rise The Testament: Hello Chaitanya. First of all many congratulations to you on this accomplishment. You must be feeling great! Chaitanya: Thank you so much. Yes, I am feeling really happy and privileged to be at this stage of my career. As you know, ONGC is a great company. It is one of the top PSU’s. Along with the salary it also provides its employees with certain facilities and allowances that would prove to be an immense support for my family as well. Also, it deals with the core aspects of mechanical engineering which is certainly my field of interest. TT: Indeed. Well, as you know the competition is fierce out there. To be at par like you, one requires a driving force to push him forward. Not everyone is as talented and fortunate. What do you think are the factors that helped went through? Chaitanya: (thinks briefly) That’s a nice question. I must say that I never contemplated too much on the end result. I was always very methodical in my approach. I always set short term goals from very beginning. Having done that, I made sure that I put sufficient amount of time and energy to achieve those goals. And once you start reaching those targets efficiently you start developing the motivation inside you that keeps you focussed. Yes I have worked hard throughout my college life and ultimately it paid, which it always does. So I’m happy. TT: Please share your professional journey with our readers. Chaitanya: Sure. Let me begin with my first year. In my first year I was confined to my college only. I was inclined towards developing my basic knowledge about the subjects. Not only core subjects but also from other streams which were part of the curriculum. Communication skills was a subject I paid considerable attention to. I ought to explore various opportunities to learn available in the campus. It was in second year that I did my first internship at HVF (Heavy Vehicles Factory). This company is into developing military tanks. It was an altogether awesome experience working with them. During summer vacations, I did another internship at BHEL. I also did a project with them on ‘frictionless bearings’. In the third year I got an opportunity to visit Germany for a project on PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) and its applications. It is a digitized technology used for various automation and electromechanical processes. This project had a significant impact on my Resume. Finally in my fourth year I undertook another project on flying machines. You must have seen that equipment developed by a guy in the movie ‘3 Idiots’, ours was just an extension to it (ha-ha). Finally there was my 4th year regular project that I submitted. TT: That’s really quite a lot. Kindly elucidate a bit more on your Germany based project. Chaitanya: Sure. I got this opportunity through an organisation called DAAD. It’s a very big organisation in the field of international academic co- operations. I applied through it and was selected on the basis of my previous works that I mentioned. PLC was a completely new subject for me. I had to learn MATLAB language which I did. I also did a course on designing software like Pro-E and Ansys which was required. I had a hold over C and C ++ which was taught in college itself which proved to be really helpful. All in all it went pretty well and was an amazing experience. TT: That’s really nice. How important do you think is the academic score? Also, how well did you do there? Chaitanya: As far as my result is concerned, I was the college topper. Academic score is although important to some extent. Till the time you are shortlisted for the recruitment. But that’s not everything required. There are plenty of other things that add to the skill set. TT: Yes. That eventually brings me to talk about the interviews and other selection processes. How did you prepare for them? Chaitanya: I explored about the demands of the various companies beforehand. You need to be very prudent over the technicalities of the course. Technical interviews are more or less like VIVA’s only. But that’s not all about it. The companies also look for the dynamism in the candidate. To what extent he can adapt to non linear thinking. Soft skills are also very important. Your expressions, confidence and presentation count a lot. Extracurricular activities also play a part. I read a lot of interviews and articles on cracking the interviews. I worked upon my speech, presentation and expressions. Few of the video tutorials helped a lot. Anyone can search for them on net. I followed the coaching from Mr. Ramit Sethi. He is an alumnus of MIT. The coaching significantly contributed to all the requisites. When we converse in an interview or Group Discussions we need to be very specific and at the same time our remarks should lead to fresh discussions. That is the point. TT: Any future plans? Chaitanya: For now I’m working with ONGC, in future I might go for masters. Eventually i want myself to be working in a research lab as a profound scientist. TT: Great! Any valuable suggestions from your side to the young engineers? Chaitanya: Ummm... All I can say is that be thorough and don’t cram up things. Time is your most valuable asset. Make it count. In this age of smart phones, people rely on them for their part of knowledge and comprehensions. That shouldn’t be the case. Always be keen on learning. That’s about it. TT: I guess that would be all from our side. Thank you for your time. A final word on The Testament? Chaitanya: Yes. I think it’s a really nice initiative. Awareness is an important key. And The Testament is fulfilling that requirement very effectively. People need such platform.v
Posted on: Wed, 10 Dec 2014 03:36:32 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015