My placement experience

[Cross-posted, as it is, from my answer to this Quora question. Go upvote it! Why else do you think I have given you the link!]

Question: What is it like to sit for placements on December 1st?
Answer:

1. Context:
My answer has some context specific parts -- my credentials, my goals, my constraints, etc. So, I think I should mention the context.

If you are a CS 9-pointer like me, getting a job is the least of your worries (this is in 2012, but I think it won't be any different for the forseeable future).

Which job? This can be tricky. You should ask yourself: what matters to me? Pay? Company brand? Work? Work/Company Culture? Life?

I didn't apply to non-core companies (Tower, GS, Morgan, etc.) partly because I didn't have enough fundaes (too lazy to practice maths puzzles or get finance fundaes -- I don't even know the difference between Finance, Consult, Investment banking, HFT, etc.), partly because I didn't want to work my a** off at such companies (which is general knowledge, though I wonder if it will be any different in other companies), and partly because I didn't want to RG others (RG = spoiling others' chances).

Since I was apping, I didn't want to prepare for placements since whichever job I would get, it will only serve as a back-up job. Hence, I wasn't as worried as others thinking I didn't get time to prepare, I don't know this/that, etc.

2. Before the placements:
My endsems got over on 27th. So, naturally, irrespective of what's happening in the world, I was going to enjoy (a.k.a. put peace!) on 27th.

On 28th, 29th, and 30th, I was busy coding off the assignments (and getting them evaluated) for a couple of dept. courses. It is a tradition in CS dept. that 5th sem onwards, you have to stay back after endsems for about 3 to 4 days to do this kind of work. (Unless you are Branch Position 1 or something and have completed everything before the endsems, which is crazy, right? I know.)

Suddenly, on 30th evening, I realized I don't even know which all companies I am shortlisted for on the 1st day.  I checked that out, printed a few copies of my resume, ate a burger, and slept. (The Cormen book being beside my pillow. No, I didn't read it.)

3. December 1st:
I had interviews for Samsung R&D (US/Korea) profile, Samsung Electronics (India) profile, Samsung Research (India) profile, and IBM Research (India) profile, in that order.

I won't fake that I wasn't tensed. I was. So much so that I didn't even realize that Brahmaputra hostel is not in the new hostels block -- shame on me! *sigh* I was also worried at my poor knowledge of algos and stuff, especially seeing many people so well prepared and all.

I said, "F**k it. Let's get over with this s**t." Whenever I wanted to cheer myself up, I reminded myself that it's just a back-up job after all. :P

First two interviews were disappointing to okay. Also, there was this Microsoft test from which they were going to select some people for interviews. I didn't get selected. My IBM interview got postponed. Junta were getting indications of getting placed. Horrible mess food for lunch. Everything adds up, and suddenly I was feeling like a loser. I should have studied something; should taken placements more seriously.

Enter the Samsung Research interview. I cracked it. I was pretty sure I would get a job offer from them, so I was happy. More relieved that happy. Though enervated, I attended the IBM interview at 8:30pm; that also went well.

3. Day 1 results:
Apart from IBM Research, I got offers from all other companies I attended interviews for on Day 1, that is, for all Samsung profiles. It was weird getting the highest-paying job in IITM (in all IITs?) as my back-up job, but I was happy I didn't RG others in the process.

                  

It was an awesome feeling knowing that my friends (for whom placements meant much more than what it did for me) got hi-funda jobs. Some got their dream jobs, some got all the jobs (yes, that Sujeet guy :P), while some were a bit unhappy even after getting jobs others can't even dream of.  I was very happy just to know that my friends -- whom I crack shady jokes with... you know, do all the crazy stupid things we do with our friends -- were soon going to be elites in the industry. :-) They have a term for it: Digerati.

4. Lessons learned:

1. Do some goddamn preparation for the placements even if it is your back-up job! Go through a few websites which have questions for the companies you got shortlisted in. (I won't be the right person to tell how to prepare in the best possible manner, because I didn't. Maybe someone else can elaborate.)
2. Interviewers ask (almost) the same questions to all the interviewees. So, as soon as someone finishes their interview, grab him/her (okay, not literally..) and pain them.
3. Once the company has selected a few students to whom they will give away job offers, you won't be considered even if your interview goes perfectly well. So, it is best to have your interviews as soon as possible. Naturally, this advice conflicts with point 2. So, there's a trade-off! Give more importance to point 2 in case of companies who are going to give many (>=5) offers.
4. Some companies (especially the research ones) look for passion in the candidates for doing research, apart from research experience, and not so much of algorithmic knowledge. If you don't have ideas/experience/etc., you won't be able to convince them that you have the knowledge and passion to do a research job. So, it is not easy to fake this passion by putting fart. But at least, prepare for such questions instead of facing them unprepared. My tip: Use your resume as the guideline. Same goes for HR questions (CS core companies don't really give importance to HR interviews, but others do). As they say, it's all about selling yourselves. But interviewers are not fools to buy anything.
5. It is very difficult to manage interviews for 3 or more companies in a span of 5 hours. So, choose your companies wisely -- how much chance you have of getting into it, etc. Give yourself some breathing space between interviews (perhaps to recover if the earlier one was a disaster), lunch space, dinner space, etc. If necessary, sacrifice interviews for some company over other. For ex. I knew IBM takes very few students and that too, ones with high CGPA. I had less chance of getting placed there. So, I preferred the Samsung Research interview over IBM. And it turned out to be a good choice!
6. Be calm. Don't let one interview affect others. Keep talking to friends between interviews. Many times it will so happen that you won't get shortlisted for the next round of interviews or you won't get the offer even if your interview went perfectly well. Don't worry; cheer up yourself! Placements, either on Day 1 or otherwise, are not the end of life.