I had planned to do engineering since Class 10. I was very clear about what I wanted to pursue.

I explored a lot of career options, but eventually came to the conclusion that engineering aligned best with my interests. Initially, like many students, I wanted to get into an IIT, but later I realized NITs were a more realistic target for me. During coaching, I could solve almost 80% of the problems, which gave me confidence. I first attempted JEE in 2018. Though I didn’t get my desired result the first time, I gave it another shot. In my second attempt, I got around 58,000 rank in JEE Mains and was able to crack VIT as well, but I opted for NIT Agartala and got Production Engineering.

In the first year, I wasn’t too worried about placements. But later, I found out the average placements for Production Engineering was only around 23%, which motivated me to go for a branch change. Nonetheless, my main focus was to enjoy the college environment while also studying enough to change my branch. I wasn’t the kind of person who only focused on academics. I tried to maintain a balance, spending time with friends, chilling, bunking a few classes, but at the same time, I dedicated around two hours daily to studying my subjects. That turned out to be sufficient, and I was eventually able to switch my branch, from Production to Electrical Engineering.

A suggestion I would like to present to the first year’s reading, looking for branch change is that, if you’re aiming for it, finding 2-3 hours a day to study is not a big deal at all. Even if you chill, hang out with friends, or bunk classes, you can still make that time. In the first year, most subjects are relatively easy, what matters is consistent effort and honesty with yourself. You don’t need to do anything extraordinary. Just show up for your goals daily, and that’s more than enough to achieve a branch change.

As I mentioned before, I was admitted to our college in 2018, hence, COVID did have a lot of influence in my batch. Two years of my college life primarily went by during the COVID period. I was able to be on campus mainly during the final years, when placements had started. To be honest, I wasn’t too deeply involved in the college environment, so I couldn’t observe too many changes first-hand. But both in terms of people and attitude, I have noticed a lot of talented folks coming in. Nonetheless, in my second year, I was able to crack an internship at a company where I worked for three months and was offered a full-time role. I later did another internship at a second company, and after three months, got a PPO there too.

While I was in college, I was part of two major things. First was the Placement Cell, and second was the E-Cell. Now, speaking about the E-Cell, what I felt was that the club was becoming too professional, that itself is not an issue but the problem arises when instead of focusing on the core concept and learning outcomes, they were only focused on maintaining a professional image. That was a complete setback in my opinion, and probably the main reason I stopped going along with their calls and activities. On the other hand, the second cell I was a part of, the Placement Cell, I really liked. Everyone there felt to be dedicated and motivated and working 24x7. One of the reasons might be the strong collaboration with faculty members. There was a structured approach, people knew what they had to do, and they worked in the right direction. Those kinds of clubs were great, especially clubs that focused on bringing in new concepts or adding a cultural angle. That’s something I really liked about that particular club.

I, myself, feel like exploring is good, that too in the first and second year, but you shouldn’t join more than one or two clubs. Because if you start joining everything, what ends up happening is that you spread yourself too thin and won’t be able to focus properly on any one thing.

The major problem in our college, as I feel, is that although our college has an environment where a lot of students are involved in coding, there isn’t a very strong collaborative culture. So what ends up happening is that a lot of students who might not understand things, or who don’t have the right resources, they get left behind. They don’t know which resources to refer to, or what steps to take. If they’re confused, someone needs to be there to motivate or guide them. That atmosphere of collaboration is something Indian colleges still lack, and it’s very important to build that.

Aman Gupta and Kunal Singh are two of my batchmates closest to me. We used to study and prepare for placements together, coding late at night, competing to solve problems faster. Our collaboration helped us grow faster in mock interviews, presentations, etc. Everything became easier as a team and that teamwork mindset helped us ace the placement season. One more person was Kartik bhaiya, he’s the person who changed my life. He always motivated me when I was low and confused. Whether it was coding or just life in general, he had my back. We had so much fun too, city outings, movies, late-night food runs.

When my placement season was going on, it was kind of the peak phase for placements. In fact, during my time, the Electrical Department had around 90% placements, one of the highest. The highest package from the college also came from my batch, and I think that record still stands. It was expected, though, because during the COVID period, companies started investing heavily in tech and frameworks. They were hiring engineers in large numbers, since tech roles have longer expiration periods, they stay relevant longer. But after COVID subsided, things kind of normalized again. Right now, the situation isn’t declining as people say, but it has become a bit stagnant. Still, if you put in a lot of effort, there are immense opportunities available.

One big tip I want to give is that when you are building projects, build projects from scratch. Don’t just copy from YouTube. Unique projects help you stand out, and interviewers get more curious. In my interviews, the discussion on my project lasted for 30-45 minutes. In fact, I told one of my interviewers, “Don’t ask me DSA questions. I won’t be able to answer. But if you ask me about product logic, stakeholder handling, or how I executed my project, I’ll explain everything.”, and that confidence came because I had full ownership over my project.

I worked mainly on two projects during my placements, firstly, would be an Employee Management System and another was an end-to-end delivery platform for an e-commerce company. I built both the merchant app and delivery agent interface, while being involved in the backend logic and product flow. Eventually, I cracked Yellow Class, one of the top companies in our placement season, offering 12 LPA. Only two people cracked it, and I was one of them. Unfortunately, something went wrong with the company, and I had to look for other opportunities. Around 15 days later, I got selected by PhonePe, that became my final placement, and it happened around the beginning of my fourth year.

One big mistake I made was limiting myself based on peer perception. Everyone around me pushed for SDE roles, while I was better suited for roles like product management, program management, or analytics. Another mistake was not understanding non-core roles early enough. There are so many profiles, program management, business strategy, product ops, where coding isn’t the key, but logical structuring and stakeholder management is. Had I explored these earlier, I might have aimed more confidently toward those roles.

During my last six months, we used to chill at the “market place”, our main hangout spot. Outside the admin building was another favorite, especially during late-night walks. Those spaces hold a lot of emotional value.

I joined PhonePe as an intern, and the internship period was pretty chill. My team was based in Pune, so for the first 15 days, I just played games, watched YouTube videos my manager suggested and that was my honeymoon phase. Once the team returned, they started giving me small chunks of work. Over time, I began understanding how the work environment functions. I proactively asked for deeper, more impactful projects, the kind usually reserved for experienced folks. The principle was simple, if you ask for ownership and prove your capability, people trust you.

Gradually, I started collaborating with cross-functional teams, which helped my transition to a full-time role. I got involved in project management-type work. One of my key contributions was launching a feature for Bike Insurance in just 15 days. I was completely hands-on with it, from ideation to execution. We later launched a second project focused on old bikes, older than 15 years, which are usually avoided by insurers due to risk. I convinced both the team and our insurance partners to take the bet. The result? A 10% jump in sales the very next day. That boosted everyone’s confidence. After that, I transitioned to a newly formed growth team, a 2-member unit initially, just me and one guy from IIT Dhanbad. Our job was to experiment with ideas, test them fast, and scale the ones that worked. Most of our experiments succeeded and brought tangible business growth. Eventually, more people were added to our team, and we started building even more.

Corporate life is full of mini-failures. For instance, once I enabled an old vehicle on our system without the insurance company’s approval, which created a legal issue. Another time, I skipped proper testing due to tight timelines, which led to issues in the live product. But the key thing is, I never faced these alone. My team always backed me up, and I realized that the environment matters more than the error itself. I learned that delays are better than disasters, and mistakes are part of growth if you’re transparent and open to learning.

Another thing is that, when you’re in college, money seems to disappear before you realize it. That changes once you start earning, but only if you’re disciplined. I adopted a financial model after I started earning which goes as, firstly, making a separate savings account where 40% of my salary goes directly into a savings account that’s not linked to any of my UPI apps, even the debit card is with my mom, so it’s not easy to touch that money.

Also about investments, which I believe is really necessary in today’s world. I invest around 20% of my salary in SIPs every month. This grows quietly over time and gives a feeling of long-term security. Again comes the most important, living expenses. Another 20-25% goes into my daily expenses. Bangalore isn’t cheap, but if you’re careful and mature at spending, this is enough. Finally, being a support to my family. I make it a point to send some percentage of my money home. That’s just something that is the point, something I always wanted to do. As your career grows, salary increases help, but the discipline you build early on stays with you. That’s the real game changer.

One more thing, I want to add is, if you’ve just started to explore coding and placements, it’s natural if you’re confused. In the world of the internet, you have too many options in front of you and it’s not realistic to try everything. Instead, try to talk to people already working in different domains, understand their roles, responsibilities, and what a typical day looks like for them. That’ll give you clarity. Don’t just follow trends blindly like going into web development just because everyone else is doing it. Focus on what aligns with your interest and personality.

Another thing is that Tech will always evolve. If some jobs are going away, new ones are being created. Don’t panic about layoffs or AI taking your role. Instead, upskill and adapt. Learn how to learn. Stay curious. And for the students, who believe coding rigorously is necessary for good placements, to clear this out- that is not completely true. Coding isn’t for everyone, and that’s completely okay. There are many such roles in the market such as Product Management, Business Analytics, Brand and Content Management, etc. To elaborate, let’s start with the most interesting one, Product Manager. A Product Manager is like the conductor of an orchestra. You may not play every instrument, but you understand how the music works. You collaborate with developers, designers, analysts, and ensure the product gets built the right way. If you’re good at communication, organization, and understanding user needs, this is for you. Here, you’re managing timelines, deliverables, and people. You don’t build the product, but you make sure everything stays on track. It’s about leadership and structure.

Another role was of Business Analytics, which, hopefully, readers don’t confuse with Data Analytics. Unlike Data analytics where, Data analysts often just crunch numbers on demand, “do what you’re told” kind of role. Business analysts look for insights and strategies to grow the business. That’s where it gets exciting. You’re helping shape decisions. One more role I spoke of was Brand and Content Management, which if you’re creative and good with words or visuals, this is a growing space too. Marketing roles now require strategic thinking. It’s not just about ads anymore. The key is to build skills in the domain you’re interested in, and then position yourself as someone who brings value to the company.

And another thing, I want to add is for the people who are still stuck with the pain of not being into an IIT. Trust me, I have worked with an IITian as mentioned before. Where you are doesn’t matter as much as what you’re able to do. Yes, having an IIT tag might help you land your first job slightly more easily, but after that it’s all about your skills, your contribution, and the value you bring to the table. Don’t get stuck in that “IIT regret” loop. Focus on what you can do from here on, and success will follow.

I was very active in sports during my time in college. I played football regularly, occasionally cricket, and also enjoyed chess. I used to attend most sports sessions, and they helped me keep a balance and form deeper connections with friends. Even now, we have cricket matches on Fridays, sometimes football, even pool games in the office. And just walking with friends after work, that helps too. The idea is to not let work define your whole life. Find little joys and stick to them.

For my future, I’ve always been drawn to management roles. Planning, execution, working with people, that’s where I naturally fit in. So I’ll continue growing in that path, hopefully take up more leadership positions and keep learning along the way.

Concluding my interview, focus on things that you are genuinely interested in. Don’t get swept away by what others are doing. College is about discovering yourself. And academically, it’s manageable, if you give two focused months, it’s enough to prepare for placements. And some final suggestions to sum everything is that to Build your own journey, not what the crowd says, Choose roles that align with your skills, not just what’s trending, Have strong projects that reflect your thought process, Find a support group, college friends who grow with you and most importantly, mistakes are part of the ride, embrace them and learn from them.

Piece written by - Harsh Srivastava and Manya Agarwal