My Internship Season Experience

Disclaimer: The purpose of this blog is to paint a picture of how the internship season looks like at IITK. The views presented are my personal experiences and opinions.

The blog is a mix of advice as well as personal experiences. I have tried to list the key takeaways after each section. If you are just interested in the tips and tricks, those will be sufficient.

PREPARATIONS

Many of my friends had started preparing for internship season as soon as the fourth semester was over. On the other hand, I was busy with Robosub 2021, an international marine robotics competition in which our team AUV-IITK participated. My focus for half of my summer was primarily on this competition and not on my internships season. It was only in the last one month before the internship season started that I seriously started preparing.

THE CONFUSION

I had the same confusion as many others: Which profile do I choose? Let me first describe my situation. I had many options open for me. I liked solving programming problems, and I was decent at it. I had done competitive programming for few months in the past, and I knew I could do better. Although I had not officially done the ESO207 DSA course, I had completed it online on Coursera. I am currently doing ESO207 in my 5th semester. My conclusion? It hardly matters whether or not you have done any university course on Data Structures and Algorithms as the interview preparation is very different. My next option was quant. I had done the Probability and Statistics course in my 4th semester, but I was not good at it. I understood the basics, but I was not good at problem-solving. I knew that some of the highest paying companies are in the quant profile, so I wanted to keep this option open. Being from the EE, core electrical was also an option for me. I liked the EE courses but never loved any. Electrical core was my fallback option. The techno-managerial profile that I eventually ended up in was not even in the top 3 on my list. I never prepared for it because there are very few companies that are open for this profile.

MY PREPARATION

I had exactly one month to prepare before the internship season was going to start. I was confused about what I wanted to do? So I closed my eyes, shut out all other thoughts and started coding. I started solving questions on InterviewBit. Every day I used to wake up, solve questions on IB, read articles on geeks for geeks and watch videos of different concepts on YouTube. I had to do things very quickly because I knew I had started pretty late. While I was hovering around 5-6K points on IB, some of my batchmates were in the high 50Ks. I used to target solving 30 problems each day. And no surprises, I never succeeded :(. In the next 20 days, I had completed 40 K points, and I improved quite a lot in the process. I felt that instead of starting to solve code forces directly, I should have started here first.

In the last few days, I focussed a bit on the quant preparation. I never thought I had a shot. I was just looking at the big companies and their stipends and thinking, what if I get it? I solved the 50 challenging problems and the brainstellar entirely in 4-5 days. By the end of it, I just knew the solutions to a lot of tricky puzzles. My problem-solving ability was nearly the same as I used to look up the answers for most questions. As the days passed and the internship season came closer, I started switching between software and quant more frequently. In the process of doing well in both simultaneously, I was doing well in neither. The pre-placement talks began sooner than I had thought. The preparation time was over!

Key takeaways:

• It is best if you decide what profile you want to target so that you can prepare better.
• Start with basics and focus on improving skills rather than knowing solutions to difficult problems.
• It is better to start early. However, it is possible to prepare for the internships in a month if you have basic coding knowledge. It is all about momentum! One of my friends who also prepared just for a month got one of the best internships in our batch.

RESUME

Apart from preparation, I spent about 3-4 days preparing my resume. I had done multiple projects, so compiling them, writing them in the proper way and format, collecting proofs and getting every ratified was a bit tedious.

Key takeaways

• Keep all your resumes in sync. I edited a lot in my one-page resumes and added new points there. However, only the master resume gets verified by SPO, so you cannot write anything not on the master resume on one-pager. It was a lot of trouble for me as I only used to edit the one-pagers.
• Make multiple resumes. It’s better to have different resumes for different profiles. Even if you have the same work to show, you can focus on the technical part for one profile and the management for the other.
• Other points are cliche. Ask all your seniors who know you to read your resume, avoid grammatical errors, prioritize properly, don’t lie on resume blah..blah..blah

THE MORAL DILEMMA

Some people call it cheating but let’s call it mutual collaboration for this blog. It is a tricky decision to make whether or not to collaborate with others during the tests to solve the problems. I faced the same problem. My gut feel was to attempt the tests on my own. I used to think,” If I am going to secure an internship, it better be because of my efforts rather than someone else’s. Even if I get through the initial rounds, I will get rejected later.” And boy was I wrong! Solving a question again by yourself when someone else already has, and the solution is available on the internet is like shooting yourself in the foot. Even if you write the code yourself, getting an idea or hint could be the difference between you getting shortlisted or not. I took a bit longer to learn this.

Key Takeaway:

• Be smart enough to discuss the solutions and search the internet but not dumb enough to copy the exact code.

CODING AND QUANT

The PPTs and tests started around 15-20 days before day 1 of the internship season. Most Day 1 companies like Google, Optiver, DE Shaw etc., had their PPTs well in advance. The PPTs were mostly useless. The openings started appearing on the portal, and schedules for the tests were released. Being from EE, most of the companies were open for me.

The first test I gave was Google’s coding round. I was able to solve one out of the two questions. However, I did not get shortlisted as the cutoff was 1.5+ questions correct for guys. It was more lenient for girls. Optiver’s cognitive test followed it. The first part had mental math, and the second was pattern recognition. I could not get to the third part as I did not do well in the second. It was another sign; quant was not for me. The next few days, there were multiple tests of different companies: DE Shaw, Alphagreph, Sprinklr, Microsoft and many more. I performed well in the Samsung test and a couple of other companies. I used to solve partially but did not solve in any of them. To add to my misfortune, I forgot to register on the portal for Microsoft, and they had the simplest paper of all. In the end, I did not get shortlisted in any of the day one coding companies.

The two companies in which I was hoping to perform well were GS and JPMC. I had prepared quant specifically for these companies. GS repeated many of the questions from its previous tests. However, I was got stuck in some coding problems. I was just not able to think that day. Although the JPMC test was a bit better, I could still not solve one of the problems. I did not get shortlisted for GS, and JPMC was pushed to Day 2.

Key takeaways:

• It might sound dumb, but do not forget to apply to any company.
• If there is a slot in which the exam is conducted, do not start until the very last moment. Many times you can get questions before the exams.
• Partially completing a question is better than not completing it at all. A brute force solution that works is better than a DP solution that does not.
• There are groups/discord servers where people from different IITs add questions that appeared in their tests. Many companies like GS did not change these questions. Joining such a group/discord server will surely help.

Find and solve past questions. Just like profs, companies don’t change their questions over the years.

TECHNO-MANAGERIAL ROLES

The first company to open for this profile was HUL. Although I applied for it, I did not have big hopes. I knew that HUL rarely recruits from the electrical department, and till then, I was hopeful that I would get into coding or quant roles. The selection procedure involved filling out a google form with questions about achievements, work experience and leadership roles. I just copy-pasted my resume into the form. Surprisingly, I got shortlisted for it. The next round was a virtual interview on HireView, where they asked case-based problems. Some of the problems were the same as last year. I had not prepared for it well. I was just happy to wear a tie and give an interview. Then came PnG, for which I did not apply. The reason? I again forgot to fill the application form.

The next FMCG firm was ITC. I was a bit more serious this time as I was not doing great in the other coding and quant tests. The selection procedure was again the same, a form with multiple questions. The form also had questions like give an instance where you put mind over matter. I mostly copied my resume again, but I did put in some effort while answering the personality questions. I was expecting to get shortlisted, and I did.

Round 1

The first round was a Group Discussion. It is generally recommended that you do at least a couple of demo group discussions before you go for the actual one. I had done zero. I did not know what to expect. I asked one of my friends about the GD and the questions which were asked. It was a case study involving the allotment for a residential house to one of the five candidate employees. The task was to discuss who gets the house. The GD was department wise, so it was relatively easy as mechanical and chemical students prepare for such GDs. Although I had never done a GD before, I knew how to convincingly make a point, thanks to the debating society I had been a part of for two years. It went pretty smoothly, and I knew I would make it to the next round.

Round 2

The next round was supposed to be a technical round. However, it was more like an informal chat. I was asked about a couple of projects on my resume. Although my answers were fairly technical, there were no follow up questions. There was an elaborate 10 min long discussion on debating and activities of Debsoc. I was not asked even a single technical question throughout the entire interview. This is where a good CGPA helps a lot! My friend, who was interview by another panel for mechanical people, was asked some technical thermodynamics questions. After the interview, I was pretty confident about making it to the next round.

Round 3

The third and final round was the HR round. I was the only person shortlisted from Electrical, and I knew my chances were good. The interview again started with a discussion on debating society. They asked me to state two current global topics. It was followed by an elaborate 5-7 min discussion on the Israel-Palestine conflict. It went well as I knew sufficient about the topic. The interviewers were less friendly as compared to the previous rounds, and they tried to push me out of my comfort zone by asking questions like, “Why are you not applying for software or quant roles?”, “Why do you want to work in a factory in some rural location?”, “Why not research in robotics given your academic performance and interests?” and “Do you really want to join an FMCG firm?“. I was not well prepared for these questions. I gave barely convincing answers like improving leadership and management skills, solving open-ended problems, and avoiding working from home. Finally, the interview ended, and I knew it had not gone well.

Key takeaways:

• Improving your communication and speaking skills will always help in an interview.
• Start preparing for GDs if you are targetting such profiles(and not part of DebSoc XD). All you get is 2 mins to speak, and you have to make the most out of it.
• Always come to a conclusion at the end of a GD, even if you have to change your opinion.
• Prepare what you are going to say about each point on your resume beforehand. It creates a good impression when you don’t have to think a lot about your project.
• Good PORs + Good Communication + Good CGPA is sufficient for techno-managerial roles without any preparations.

THE DAY 1

I had not been shortlisted for a single company on day 1. ITC interviews were completed the day before, and I felt it had not gone well. I was preparing for the Texas Instruments and Hotstar tests the next day. While people were busy giving interviews, continuously one after the other, I was watching cricket highlights of some match ten years back. It was not a great day.

ITC IT IS

Later that evening, the shortlist for the Hotstar test came out. I was surprised to not find my name in it. I then observed that none of my friends was shortlisted either. It was strange and sad. I then called one of my friends to ask how had the interviews gone for him. I was on the call when I heard a notification sound on my mobile. It was a mail from SPO stating that I had received an offer from ITC. It was a delighted moment. I hung up the call and ran to tell my parents about it. A few minutes later, I called back my friend. A few moments later, he received his offer and hung up. Then everyone started receiving their offers. Almost all of my friends received offers from companies like Google, Microsoft, Sprinklr, Quadeye, Uber, De shaw etc. Some of them even got international interns from Optiver, Jane Street and Samsung Korea.

Key Takeaways:

• Coding tests are the bottleneck in the selection procedure for coding profiles. There are very few people (I know of who got rejected) after the interviews. If you make it to the interviews, you have a good chance of making it through.
• Do not underestimate yourself. I never thought that I was good enough for some of the top companies. It kept me from giving my best shot.
• Do not get disheartened. There are many excellent companies even after day 1.
• In the end, everyone will be happy :).

People are not paid what they're worth: they're paid what they're able to negotiate.