Tuesday, July 29, 2003
About Placements in IIT......
Hello reader. I am back again today to talk about something that happened yesterday. A friend of mine appeared for this test conducted by Oracle India, and he performed well through the two stages of the interview. The company was looking for people with a CGPA of 7.0 and above; my friend had 6.99. He could not get through. He feels that his CGPA is the only reason for this. Seeing the general rush among companies to hire people of high CGPAs, I also feel it to be true.
I don't understand why the companies come to IITs and look for high CGs and branch toppers. I have nothing against the toppers..in fact, all of them are really good.....but, what I don't understand is that the companies take these toppers, who go on to do MS and/or PhD at the best damn schools in the US ditching the jobs. The companies then crib saying that the number of people joining jobs from IITs are low and everyone is up in arms against the brain drain. Look at the situation of average to below average performers in IIT. They are definitely sure of not getting into the top universities, with aid, unless they have some papers published. So, effectively, the best options for such people are the jobs they get. They are definitely more likely to join a company after the BTech than the toppers are.
If you say that the companies are right in hiring the best among the students in any institute, not just IITs, I think that you are unfairly generalizing and that one cannot simply club IITians and ordinary engineering college students together. I am not saying that we IITians are damn better than anyone and everyone else. I am all for taking the toppers of ordinary engineering colleges and treating them on par with IITians. But you simply can't compare a 6.0 CGPA guy from IIT with a 60% student from other colleges. The IITians have definitely proved their abilities in JEE, which I feel is the toughest entrance test at the under-graduate level in India.
Let me quote the statistics from the year in which I wrote my JEE: 2000. Over 1,25,000 students all over India took the exam, and just around 2,700 got into IITs. That is like the top 2.5% of the test takers. The number of students appearing for JEE has increased very much since then, but the seats are now around 3,000, whcih is still around the 2.5 to 3% range. Now, isn't that enough display of we being better? I accede that there are deserving candidates who did not get through JEE: I have friends from school like that. But, they are usually in the top bracket of their own colleges now. That is why I said that it is not too wrong to treat these guys like IITians. But, comparing lower-scoring IITians to similar scoring non-IITians is simply too big an injustice on the IITians who have already shown that they are better.
Why should a software firm want the CGPA of a person in, say, civil engineering or metallurgical engineering to be above certein range when he/she did well in their own tests and interviews? Is it that they feel that the rating system in IITs suits the needs of their company better than the hiring systems that they themselves evolved? And how does my performance in any other branch show upon my skills as a programmer? I personally feel that the companies take a better look at their hiring procedures before going through all the expenses of holding campus interviews, etc. If the person does suit my needs, why should his CGPA matter? I know it might sound cliched, but, Bill Gates still has no college degree; isn't he good at what he is doing now? And it holds not just for the IITs!
I don't understand why the companies come to IITs and look for high CGs and branch toppers. I have nothing against the toppers..in fact, all of them are really good.....but, what I don't understand is that the companies take these toppers, who go on to do MS and/or PhD at the best damn schools in the US ditching the jobs. The companies then crib saying that the number of people joining jobs from IITs are low and everyone is up in arms against the brain drain. Look at the situation of average to below average performers in IIT. They are definitely sure of not getting into the top universities, with aid, unless they have some papers published. So, effectively, the best options for such people are the jobs they get. They are definitely more likely to join a company after the BTech than the toppers are.
If you say that the companies are right in hiring the best among the students in any institute, not just IITs, I think that you are unfairly generalizing and that one cannot simply club IITians and ordinary engineering college students together. I am not saying that we IITians are damn better than anyone and everyone else. I am all for taking the toppers of ordinary engineering colleges and treating them on par with IITians. But you simply can't compare a 6.0 CGPA guy from IIT with a 60% student from other colleges. The IITians have definitely proved their abilities in JEE, which I feel is the toughest entrance test at the under-graduate level in India.
Let me quote the statistics from the year in which I wrote my JEE: 2000. Over 1,25,000 students all over India took the exam, and just around 2,700 got into IITs. That is like the top 2.5% of the test takers. The number of students appearing for JEE has increased very much since then, but the seats are now around 3,000, whcih is still around the 2.5 to 3% range. Now, isn't that enough display of we being better? I accede that there are deserving candidates who did not get through JEE: I have friends from school like that. But, they are usually in the top bracket of their own colleges now. That is why I said that it is not too wrong to treat these guys like IITians. But, comparing lower-scoring IITians to similar scoring non-IITians is simply too big an injustice on the IITians who have already shown that they are better.
Why should a software firm want the CGPA of a person in, say, civil engineering or metallurgical engineering to be above certein range when he/she did well in their own tests and interviews? Is it that they feel that the rating system in IITs suits the needs of their company better than the hiring systems that they themselves evolved? And how does my performance in any other branch show upon my skills as a programmer? I personally feel that the companies take a better look at their hiring procedures before going through all the expenses of holding campus interviews, etc. If the person does suit my needs, why should his CGPA matter? I know it might sound cliched, but, Bill Gates still has no college degree; isn't he good at what he is doing now? And it holds not just for the IITs!
Monday, July 28, 2003
AAARGHHHHH
Just read my first blog again.......big mistake...not the reading part...the blog! Anyways, I guess one advantage of getting so low is that I can only go up. By the way, I have put up a blog abt my friends...visit it. Also I am adding a link to one of my hostel friend's blog; it was darn good....actually makes me want to stop blogging when I read his blog and then mine!
But, whatever is done is done. The past few days, I have been like totally jobless. And you realise that you are so jobless more so when you are in fact searching for jobs! I am talking about the campus placements that are going on in my institute now. Filling out the applications, especially the online ones, always makes me feel a bit guilty and a lot good at the same time. This is because I indulge in creative writing and then sign a declaration saying that the above information is true to the best of my knowledge! The only solace is that everyone else does so. And who would like a true and honest resume anyways?
A case in point is the form I was just filling up. The application has a question which goes: "Sometimes we are faced with a moral conflict where we have to choose between two seemingly right alternatives. Give an incdent where you faced such a conflict and how you resolved it" Now, an honest answer should have been "I am facing one such dilemma right now...whether to write in the truth that I did not face any significant moral dilemmas or to write in a juicy bit which would hopefully increase my chances of getting shortlisted." But then I succumbed to the second alternative and wrote a fictitious bit. If you are wondering why I haven't faced a moral dilemma yet (afterall, everyone does), it is because I am rather open, to put it nicely, to everything....not much morals if I stand to gain from doing someting.
I hope that you do not picture me as an immoral, opprtunistic guy, dear reader. Afterall, I have to survive in this world, don't I? Then again, I guess it is also the influence of the institute where I am studying now.....it is an ideal example of Darwin's theory: survival of the fittest. But then again, I really do not need to justify myself, do I? I am what I am...and do not intend to disturb the status quo.
PS: If you are wondering as to how I am posting so regularly inspite of stating that I would do a biweekly post....I told you I am totally jobless & so I am here again.
But, whatever is done is done. The past few days, I have been like totally jobless. And you realise that you are so jobless more so when you are in fact searching for jobs! I am talking about the campus placements that are going on in my institute now. Filling out the applications, especially the online ones, always makes me feel a bit guilty and a lot good at the same time. This is because I indulge in creative writing and then sign a declaration saying that the above information is true to the best of my knowledge! The only solace is that everyone else does so. And who would like a true and honest resume anyways?
A case in point is the form I was just filling up. The application has a question which goes: "Sometimes we are faced with a moral conflict where we have to choose between two seemingly right alternatives. Give an incdent where you faced such a conflict and how you resolved it" Now, an honest answer should have been "I am facing one such dilemma right now...whether to write in the truth that I did not face any significant moral dilemmas or to write in a juicy bit which would hopefully increase my chances of getting shortlisted." But then I succumbed to the second alternative and wrote a fictitious bit. If you are wondering why I haven't faced a moral dilemma yet (afterall, everyone does), it is because I am rather open, to put it nicely, to everything....not much morals if I stand to gain from doing someting.
I hope that you do not picture me as an immoral, opprtunistic guy, dear reader. Afterall, I have to survive in this world, don't I? Then again, I guess it is also the influence of the institute where I am studying now.....it is an ideal example of Darwin's theory: survival of the fittest. But then again, I really do not need to justify myself, do I? I am what I am...and do not intend to disturb the status quo.
PS: If you are wondering as to how I am posting so regularly inspite of stating that I would do a biweekly post....I told you I am totally jobless & so I am here again.
Saturday, July 26, 2003
My first Post
Well, I finally took to blogging! All I can hope now is that some people do read it and find it at least ok. I have been thinking about getting a blog up since sometime now, but then things never took off...it is actually a trait with me, I guess. The time gap between the inception of an idea and its final execution has always been very wide in my case. I should say that there are still some really good ideas that I have, which are gathering dust because of my lethargy. At least this one got off the ground. More than anything else, I want this to be like a reminder of what I still have got to do, apart from its share of ramblings!
Anyways, now let me address the rare reader that might come across this blog. If you like this (which again is rare), and you would like to come back for more (rarer still!) I want to tell you that I don't think that I can do any posting oftener than biweekly. My lethargy in action again. So, that should let you be able to come back sure to find something added here.
Coming to the contents, I am still not sure.I surely don't plan to keep it as just an online diary (I keep a proper diary which serves my purpose well enough). So, I have to think of something to write about, even if it be shit...some theme to rant about. (I am now wishing that no one reads this piece until I do get another one up)
Well, I guess that this much of introductory blogging is enough for now. Frankly, I myself am appalled at the horrible kind of writing I just produced........:((
Anyways, now let me address the rare reader that might come across this blog. If you like this (which again is rare), and you would like to come back for more (rarer still!) I want to tell you that I don't think that I can do any posting oftener than biweekly. My lethargy in action again. So, that should let you be able to come back sure to find something added here.
Coming to the contents, I am still not sure.I surely don't plan to keep it as just an online diary (I keep a proper diary which serves my purpose well enough). So, I have to think of something to write about, even if it be shit...some theme to rant about. (I am now wishing that no one reads this piece until I do get another one up)
Well, I guess that this much of introductory blogging is enough for now. Frankly, I myself am appalled at the horrible kind of writing I just produced........:((
