Campus Visit to Guntur

The Journery

As part of the recruitment drive, we’d been to the RVR & JC College at Guntur. This is this story of our journey and the actual selection process.

The campus visit was scheduled for 14^th May, a Saturday. We were to leave for Guntur on Friday the 13^th, after Abhinay. Since the event was getting over at 7:30 pm, we had planned to travel by a bus.

At 9:30 pm, we assembled at the Phase 2 building. We had been told that the bus would be a Mazda. It would have AC and the comfort of a Volvo. So, all of us stared expectantly at the lone Mazda waiting outside the campus. When it came and stopped before us, we were amused. The bus had AC. The seating arrangement though was congested at its very best. I really can’t imagine how Bala managed to even fit inside!

Anyway, the bus journey started at around 10. We picked up Jayant and Pani on the way. By Tank Bund Road, all of us were hungry. So, we stopped for a quick ice-cream break. The options were few. So, most of us selected matka Kulfi (in a plastic Matka) and others chose Vanilla or Chocolate. After that, the bus halted again at Big Bazaar where Rahul had to withdraw some cash for the trip. This was the last stop before we actually left Hyderabad.

By now, we had realized the comfort level of the Volvo like Mazda. The driver had put on some songs. Unfortunately, his Hindi songs music collection ended at the time Rahul and Bala passed put from College. The latest song he had was from Saajan! And to top it all, during the whole night he repeated the songs more than 4 times! We were totally bugged by the “Tu Shaayar hai” and “Dekha hia pahli bar”. Still we had no option. We could either listen the songs repeatedly or have the driver doze off while driving. We thought the latter was too much of a risk. So, we gave Saajan a few more chance.

All of us tried to get some sleep, curling and twisting in all sorts of contorted positions. I am sure any Yoga teacher would have been proud of our flexibility. After all, you don’t see experienced(meaning corpulent, euphemistically called Healthy) IT professionals managing to curl up and fit into a tiny two seat of a Mazda!

The bus was moving at a pace that would have made lorry look like a F2 car! By 3 am, we were all worried if we’d make it on time. So, we asked the driver to switch off the AC. Only then did the Mazda get enough power to overtake and move ahead on the road. Pani though was very frustrated at this. He vehemently opposed the idea of AC being switched off. Sulking over the heat, he finally went of to sleep.

Finally, we reached the hotel the next day morning at around 6:30 am. Bala and I shared a room. We got ready immediately and by 7:30 we had all assembled at the restaurant for breakfast. The placement officer of the college joined us by then. He had got three cars for us. After performing a lot of permutation and combination, it was decided that Rahul, Sandeep and Bala would go in the first car. Supreeta and I went with the HOD of Mech department. In the third car, Jayant and Pani were supposed to follow us. On the way, we observed the huge cold storages for the famed Guntur Chilli. It seems, Guntur is famous for Tobacco too. The HOD told showed us the tobacco processing plants along the way to the college.

After traveling for about 15 km on a fabulous road, we reached the gates of the college. It looked magnificent. The backdrop was breath taking. The whole campus is lush green. The place is flanked by hills on sides. The main building literally seems to have been built at the lap of these hills. Guess it must be a really beautiful scenic place in the rainy season.

Pre Placement And Aptitude Test

We entered the seminar hall where the students had already assembled. At 8:50 am, we started the first campus pitch. It went off quite smoothly. Somehow, Sandeep managed to pull the melodrama of “Emotional Bond” into the presentation.

I thought the tests would begin soon. Only then, I realized this was half the crowd. There was still one more roomful of students waiting for a second campus. This time, Rahul introduced the Cognizant team a little more elaborately. He introduced me saying I was a fresher just like them, when I’d joined barely two years back. He said, the students could ask me questions regarding the change from the college life to professional life to me.

During the QA session, one girl got up. She said, “This question if for Mr Akshay”. Somewhere at the back of mind, the word, “Akshay” registered. The “Mr” sounded funny! Nobody had addressed me like that before. She wanted to know if I felt that I’d made the right decision in joining Cognizant. I said yes. She then wanted to know specific examples of the times when I felt good. I gave the example of HiFliers. By now, I was really getting worried about her motives! Was she interested in Cognizant or was she interested in me?? She finally asked, ”Can you give me the assurance that if I join Cognizant, I too will be given such a chance?” What chance will I give her? She’d not even cleared the aptitude test! Anyway, I told her, she’d definitely get a chance, only if she too could prove the company that she could deliver. Finally, she sat down. God, that was strange QA! When I sat down, Bala, Fayaz and Jayant had a field day. They were like: “Boss, she’s has a major crush on you. Why don’t you take her number down?” Bala said, “Your final answer was a bouncer!”

Anyway, the QA ended and the written tests started. It was then that we realized how hot Guntur really was! If you were not standing under a fan, you would feel like standing in a hot pan! Heaven only knows how the poor students attend classes in this place.

From 12:10 pm to 1:30 pm, we were trying to beat all odds in completing the correction. Luckily, we were made to sit in the Computer labs that had AC. Or else, I believe most of us would have landed in hospital with sever dehydration. The college was taking very good care of us. Every now and then, they would get tea, coffee, cold drinks and biscuits. The aptitude scores though was rather depressing. Anyway, we declared the short-lists by 1:40 pm.

We were then invited for lunch with the Principal, Placement Officer and others. The food served was heavy! I mean there was Roti, two types of Sabzi, Fried Rice, Sweets, Rasam, Sambar, Curds, cut Mango and Ice Cream. After this all of us were half asleep. After all, we still had to catch up on the sleep! Dragging ourselves, we started the interview process at around 2:30, a full one hour delay.

Interviews

Initially, Supreeta asked me to help her with the allocation of students. Then she said, I could sit with some panel. I initially sat with Sandeep. Then, having seen that Bala was selecting all the girls, I decided to sit with him in the panel.

Once we started the interview, we were shocked! The sheer infrastructure of the campus had given us a feeling that the college was good. But, the students’ level was shocking to say the least. People in third year engineering were telling us that they had forgotten subjects from second year or third year. Some were even claiming that they had not prepared for a technical interview. Well, we were there to recruit for CTS, not for Channel V or something!

Anyway, we were getting steadily appalled. After 11 interviews, we had selected just one candidate and she too was a benefit of doubt! Then, came a real refreshing candidate. After the interview, we asked her, if she had any doubts. She said, “Last week TCS was here to evaluate the campus. One of the guys told us that IT is a very tension filled profession. People at the age of 32 years suffer from heart attacks!” At that moment the look on Bala’s face was a real Kodak Moment! In life, there are situations when the mind just goes totally blank. This was one such moment. After a pause, Bala replied, “I am 32 years old and I’ve not yet suffered a heart attack!”

Well, the interviews went on and finally got over at 9:30 pm. We went to announce the results. When we told the Placement Officer that 32 candidates had been selected, he started to sulk like a kid! I mean, he literally started throwing tantrums.

Even when we announced the results, we were surprised. The selected candidates were so quiet! I mean, they were accepting the offer letters like some participation certificate! Anyway, our job for the day was done and we came back to hotel. The Campus Officer raced like crazy at speeds over 125 km to show his frustration!

After having dinner, all of us left for Hyderabad. Suffering from the same Yogic gestures, we slept along the way and reached the office at 7:15 am bringing the campus trip to Guntur to an end.

16-May-2005