This article is for Indian parents who are looking for advice on choosing a good engineering college for their children.

It’s a parents’ choice

In India, the selection of engineering college is parents decision. Students don’t decide which college they want to join. At the age of 18, having just finished their 12^th, they don’t have enough maturity to choose a college to study engineering. Nor do they have sufficient financial authority to take independent decisions. So parents take an active role during this time. It is entirely parents’ responsibility to find the right college for their ward. So this article is dedicated to the Indian parents searching colleges for their children.

Know your child

The first and foremost thing you should do as a parent is to analyze the psyche of your son/daughter. Understand what your child expects from an engineering college. Not just in the academic angle but in a general view. Find out where you ward wishes to study. Does he/she prefer an urban environment or sub-urban or rural environment. Can he/she stay without you? Do they prefer to stay with parents or do they prefer to stay away from parents to learn to be independent? Does he/she have any regional or cultural preferences? Students from South India take time to adjust to cultural differences in North India and vice versa. Find out if your ward is comfortable with the food change and climate change.

Is public opinion useful?

Asking your neighbors or friends for opinion is a good thing. But they can only tell you which college suits them, they can’t tell which one suits your ward well. Their opinion is personal to their situation and not to yours. Their children may be smarter or dumber than yours. Their expectations from a college may be different from yours.

Rely Newspaper advertisements?

Don’t trust newspapers alone. Advertisements are meant to be advertisements. The very purpose of an advertisement is promotion. Don’t believe whatever is written in advertisements. Nothing can be a better check than a personal inquiry.

Get the inside story

I advice the parents to at least visit the college of interest 2-3 times before deciding to join their ward. Visit the college campus and observe. Don’t do anything else. Simply observe. God has given human beings a wonderful skills of deduction from observation. If you observe the college environment for half an hour or so, you will get a little idea about the college, how it works and about the students’ level of thinking.

Asking students for opinion inside college is a bad idea. Because students would not give your their frank opinion inside the college campus for the fear of talking against the college that holds the education and future career. You may ask students outside the college campus for a frank opinion. It is also a good idea to talk to the parents of students studying in a particular college. Again, asking teachers may not be a good idea. Teachers can’t voice a frank opinion against the colleges for which they are working.

Careful while paying admission fees

Do not pay the admission fees to unauthorized agents. Be sure to pay only to authorized agents registered with the college. I have known a case where parents of student from Bihar have lost 1 lakh rupees by paying to an unauthorized agent in Bihar.

College that fits your budget

Carefully plan your budget and decide whether or not to join your ward to a college. Think long term. Be sure whether you will be able to pay fees for all the 8 semesters in span of 4 years. I have known parents who had to sell their lands to pay fees of their students owing to the lack of forethought about the fees.

Placement is not everything

Career placement is not the only criterion for selecting a college. You should carefully examine the teaching standards of teachers in the college, facilities provided by college for education, food and health.

Make the best use of what is available

And after joining a particular college, you can’t compare the facilities of a particular college with other colleges. Once committed it’s done. You can do nothing complaining about the facilities in the colleges. Try to make the best use of the facilities given by that college.

About the author: Professor Kanniga works for Bharath University, Chennai. She has a teaching experience of over 10 years. She holds Masters degree in Engineering and Business Administration.(M.E, M.B.A). Professor loves her work as worship. You can ask education related questions to professor via email kannigatruth@yahoo.com

No matter how talented/knowledgeable/experienced you are, a single mistake during the course of an interview can topple your chances of selection. The interviewer, almost always looks for reasons not to select a candidate at the first place. Many a time, the interviewer draws (wrong) conclusions based on the candidate’s body language that the candidate is incompetent for the job posting.

The biggest challenge that fresh graduates face at job interviews is nervousness. They fail to show confidence and unknowingly show up a pattern of gestures that an experienced recruiter can easily read.

Nervousness is a very common complaint and is completely solvable. The bigger problem than nervousness is that people don’t admit to themselves at the first place that they get nervous at interviews. Sometimes, they don’t even know that they showed signs of nervousness in an interview.

Here are few symptoms of nervousness:

• Your heart beats fast and you can hear your heartbeat while speaking.
• Your palm and forehead sweat.
• You shake your leg / clasp your hands unconsciously.
• You get a feeling of butterflies in your stomach.
• You stammer while speaking or repeat a sentence twice.
• You suddenly loose concentration while listening to a question shot by the recruiter, ask him/her to repeat the question.

It would be easier to find a solution to this challenge, if you first admit it to yourself that you get nervous. After that identify the reason why you get nervous and then work on that weakness.

Few possibilities why you get nervous:

1. You have not attended any interviews in the recent past.
2. You subconsciously think that you are not competent for this job / that you don’t deserve the pay that they offer.
3. You are not comfortable with yourself – your dressing or your oral skills.
4. You are not confident with the preparation on topics to be interviewed.
5. You fear losing this job interview to a worthier candidate.

The Solution:

• Do a lot of mock interview practice. Mock interviews help you to get adjusted to the interview environment, you can get to know of the common errors that you unknowingly commit in interviews. Make use of the free mock interview services.
• Look your best. Wear a brand new dress, get a special and decent haircut done for the event of interview. Use a mild antiperspirant, shine your shoes, wear a tie, look corporate. Looking good from outside helps you feel good from inside. Good attire is a confidence booster.
• Avoid unpleasant surprises in the last minute. Go through this checklist on things to do before an interview. Last minute surprises may disturb you and increase your anxiety.
• Get a grip of your emotions. If you feel your heart beating faster than normal, take a quick deep breath, hold your breath for 5 seconds and exhale slowly in the next 10 seconds. Repeat this breathing exercise until your heart slows down to its normal speed.
• Control your body language. Keep your shoulders stiff and back straight, do not slouch in the seat. Walk with heavy steps confidently like an elephant. While you are doing the interview, don’t clasp your hands, don’t shake your legs, use a handkerchief to wipe sweat from your palms.
• Condition your mind. Tell yourself that you are the best candidate and you more than deserve this job. Recollect your latest achievement at work. Think about a similar situation when you were nervous about outcome of an event and you succeeded. This exercise busts your diffidence and boosts confidence.
• Become a narcissist for a while, love yourself. Become supercilious, fill yourself with pride of being you. Tell yourself that you’d not join this company even though you get selected. This exercise helps you to lose the fear of losing this job to a worthier candidate.
• Imagine yourself giving an interview for the best company in the world. Tell yourself that if you can’t face an easy interview with this easy company today, you can’t face a tough interview with a better company in future. This trick works for me really well.

Hope these tricks work for you. Do comment below if you have any tricks or tips to beat nervousness.

Image Credit

The year 2011 is already one month old. But, it is never too late to take good advice.

Note that this article was written targeting fresh graduates looking for jobs.

Try to follow most of the bullet points given below

• You shall not lose hope, no matter how many interviews you fail
• You shall spend more time on your resume to bring it to decent shape
• You shall get in touch with all your contacts, relations and friends who work in the industry that you are aspiring a job for
• You shall forward your resume to your seniors and request them to refer to companies
• You shall spend time knowing yourself, strengths and especially weaknesses
• You shall feel happy about your unique strengths
• You shall work hard to overcome your weaknesses
• You shall spend more time in recreational activities like sports, reading, community service
• You shall spend lesser time on activities that add no value, such as watching TV/movies, listening to music, wandering on streets with no purpose, gossipping about movie stars
• You shall not aimlessly browse facebook or youtube or internet in general
• You shall not spend time in downloading nonsense using torrents
• You shall not discuss with friends about depressing topics like who has got the best salary package or who has got the best job yet
• You shall take career decisions based on your interest in the subject matter
• You shall not take career decisions solely based on the salary offered
• You shall not compare yourself with your friends or relatives
• You shall focus on specific technologies and not get tempted to learn whatever is trending
• You shall not take unsolicited career advices from relatives or friends, who infinitely lecture about career decisions (especially those that don’t have first hand experience in what they are advising about)
• You shall not spread discouragement or pessimism to your peers

Good luck for job search!

Once there lived a grasshopper in a meadow. Everything was green and the scene was very lovely. The grasshopper was very fond of dancing and singing. He danced and sang at all times. He had nothing to do. He did not think that there was anything else worth doing at all.

He never cared to do any work while it was time to work. He kept singing and dancing throughout the spring and the summer.

When winter came, it began to snow. It was snow everywhere. There was snow on hills and snow on plains. No flower or leaf was visible. The once-happy grasshopper was now very unhappy. He had nothing to eat. He felt very miserable. He looked for his friends to help him in his time of trouble.

The grasshopper went to his friend, the ant. The grasshopper said to the ant, “Please give me something to eat. I am dying of hunger at the moment. You alone can help me in my hour of need.”?

The ant said to him, “We ants work hard during summer. We store food for winter. But what were you doing during summer?”

The grasshopper replied, “I sang through summer, the time was so happy. Everything was beautiful and lovely.”

The ant was angry and said to him, “Then you should dance winter away as well.”

———————————————————————————-

Can you relate to this story?

When you join a college, everything looks beautiful and lovely. We have new friends, new world, new life.

Due to our natural urge for enjoyment, we waste time partying, watching movies, playing computer games, wandering aimlessly around the town, trekking, watching TV, picnicking and hanging around with friends, gossiping and having fun.

Like the grasshopper, we don’t see any immediate need for doing anything else at all. We mock at people like the wise ants to get a life. Wise students invest their time in scoring better marks, bettering their technical skills, learning foreign languages, improving their written and spoken communication, participating in events that add value to resume.

The first two and half years of engineering are like Spring and Summer. Everything will look rosy and comfortable. The last two years of college are like Winter and Autumn.

Once on-campus placements start in third year, we start feeling uncomfortable. It feels very painful to know that we don’t qualify for a campus placement interview due to poor grades or due to backlogs in college. It feels like chilling winter, when others secure jobs well ahead of graduation from college, while we don’t manage to impress the interviewer in the job interview.

As a reaction to our failures, we stop partying, and start grieving. We start losing our self confidence and stop believing in ourselves. This makes the tough task of getting a job look tougher. Job search becomes a depressing task.

Avoid all this. Learn from the wise ant and lazy grasshopper. Don’t waste your time in enjoyment. Balance your fun activities with useful and recreational activities that benefit your job search activity.

Are you an ant or a grasshopper?

Congratulations to the five winners of the C Quiz Contest.

In all 50 people responded to this contest. Out of which only 7 people got all the answers right. The earliest five responses have been chosen as winning entries.

Key for the quiz contest in C language

Recently, we had posted a Quiz Contest on C language.

So far we have received received 30 responses. And we are shocked to know that only 1 out of the 30 people,  got all the answers correct! According to us, the questions in this contest are far from being tough. They simply test basic concepts of C language.

Not to forget, this quiz contest is like an open book test. You have Google, text books, lecturers and friends with you to check your answers. You even have free compilers and IDEs for C to check the output.

It is so hard to believe that there are so few Indian students who can get all the questions right. Guys, try harder. Before you send your answer, check and double check if your answers are correct. To win this contest you must get ALL the 20 questions right.

Take this as a challenge and forward it to all your friends who are interested in C programming.

Update: This contest is now closed. Key and Winners will be announced soon.

Instructions

• This quiz has 20 questions – 19 multiple choice questions & 1 text answer question
• Each multiple choice question has only one possible answer
• This Quiz Contest is targeted for freshers who have recently passed out of college.
• The first five people who send accurate answers at the earliest are rewarded.
• The winners would be mock interviewed by Sridhar Jammalamadaka on phone.
• To send your answers, send an email to sridhar@interviewmantra.net in the format 1)A, 2)B, 3)C ……. 19)B, 20) (text answer)
• Winners will be intimated via email and results will be announced on www.interviewmantra.net
• If you want an offline copy of the quiz questions, click on Download PDF icon below.

Mock interview is one of the best ways to prepare for an actual job interview. Mock interviews help you to find out how well you can fare in a real job interview. Mock interviews help you to boost your confidence and give a smooth performance at the real interview.

Your time starts now!!!!

This contest is closed now. Winners Announced.

Download Quiz

Download Key

Questions

1)            The correct order of compilation of a C program is

i) Compile source code to object code
ii) Link object code and libraries
iii) Create binary or executable file
iv) Process Preprocessor directives

A)     i → ii → iii → iv
B)      iv →  i → ii  → iii
C)      i → iv → ii →  iii

2)            Which of the following data type can be used for storing a floating point constant?

A)     long int
B)     double
C)     unsigned char

3)            What is the result of running the following code snippet?

float result;
result = 5/2;
printf("%.1f",result);

A)     2.0
B)     2.5
C)     0

4)            What is the result of running the following code snippet

if(0)
printf("The Sun rises in the East");
else
printf("The Sun rises in the West");

A)     The Sun rises in the East
B)     The Sun rises in the West
C)     Compilation Error

5)            What is the value of variable ‘i’ after running the following statements?

int i = 10;
i = i / 2;
i = i % 2;

A)     0
B)     1
C)     2

6)            The purpose of the function int toupper (int c) as defined in ctype.h is to

A)     Convert the input string stored in variable c to upper case
B)     Convert the input character stored in variable c to upper case
C)     None of the above

7)            The difference between the user defined constants ‘Z’ and “Z” is

A)      ‘Z’ is a string constant whereas “Z” is a character constant
B)      ‘Z’ is a character constant whereas “Z” is a string constant
C)      There is no difference

8)            Output of running the following code snippet is

int i;
for ( i = 0; i < 3; i++ )
{
if(i == 2)
{
printf("%d\t",i);
}
}

A)     0              1              2              3
B)     0              1              2
C)     2

9)            The conversion character for printing an integer in hexadecimal number using printf is

A)     %x
B)     %d
C)     %o

10)          Output of following code snippet

float marks[10] = {53,66,36,36,53,23,64,12,53,88};
float *marksPtr = marks;
marksPtr = marksPtr + 4;
printf("%.0f", *marksPtr);

A)     0
B)     53
C)     36
D)     Garbage value

11)          Which of the following is the correct way to allocate space for an array of 15 float variables?

A)     float  *floatArray = (float *)  malloc ( 15 );
B)     float  floatArray = (float *)  malloc ( 15 );
C)     float  *floatArray = (float *)  malloc ( 15 * sizeof(float) );
D)     float  *floatArray =  15 * malloc (sizeof(float) );

12)          The following C statement causes an infinite loop (true/false):

while (1);

A)     true
B)     false

13)          Output of the following code snippet is:

int array[] = {1,2,3,4,5};
printf("%d", array[5]);

A)     0
B)      4
C)      5
D)     Garbage value

14)          Output of following statement is:

#define NUM 5
int main()
{
NUM++;
printf("%d", NUM);
return 0;
}

A)     5
B)     6
C)     Compilation error

15)          Output of the following statement is

int i = 5;
if(i = 5)
{
puts("Structured programming language");
}
else
{
puts("Object oriented programming language");
}

A)     Structured programming language
B)     Object oriented programming language
C)     Compilation error

16)          Which of the following is a true statement?

A)     Strings in C are char arrays terminated by ‘\0’
B)     Strings in C are char arrays terminated by NULL
C)     Strings in C are char arrays terminated by EOF

17)          Which of the following is a NOT a true statement?

A)     The base address of an array is same as the name of the array
B)     The base address of an array is address of the first element in the array
C)     The base address of a static array can be modified

18)          Which of the following is true about break statement in C?

A)     break statement exits out of the innermost loop nested around it
B)     break statement exits out of all the outer loops nested around it
C)     break statement skips one iteration and continues looping

19)          Output of the following program is:

int main()
{
int i =0;
modify(i);
printf("%d", i );
return 0;
}

int modify(int z)
{
return (++z);
}

A)     0
B)      1

20)          Point out at least two errors in the following code snippet

float a;
scanf("Enter number: %f", a );

Tata Technologies is looking for SAP ABAP developers with 3 to 6 years of experience.

Mandatory skills: Smart Forms, Reports, BADI, BAPI, ALE, EDI, IDOC, User Exits.

Technical Details:

• Sound knowledge in ABAP/4 programming- RICEFW (Report development,  Data interfaces,  Dialog programming, Forms, BADI, BAPI, ALE, EDI, IDOC, Change pointer, Work Flow User Exits)
• Experience in NetWeaver / XI / EP / Web Dynpro will be an added advantage.

Prerequisites:

• Good written and verbal communication skills.
• Willing to relocate anywhere in India as per the project requirement (Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai).
• Should have a valid passport.

Qualification: BE / MCA / MCS (No gaps during education and career)

Experience Level: 3 yrs to 6 yrs

Scheduled interviews on 17th, 18th and 24th September, 2011 in Kolkatta, Mumbai and Pune.

Hurry up.. Send your resume to tatatechjobs@interviewmantra.net as soon as possible!!

See Interview Mantra Job Network for more Job postings.

Here is a tricky Interview question that is asked in almost every interview: “Why should I hire you?”

The trouble with this question is that this is a trap. The interviewer evaluates your attitude and self confidence while simultaneously evaluating your honesty and spontaneity.

If you are not prepared with this question prior to the interview, and lack spontaneity, you are in a big trouble. You could end up giving a plain salted bloated answer such as, “Er, Em, I think I should be selected, well… because…. I am a really good programmer. Because, em…. I can code really well.”

If you over-prepared for this question, you may end up giving an impressive sounding answer that was probably already given by other applicants. The employer may conclude that you are not honest and are not good at spontaneous answers.

So, what qualifies to be a perfect answer for this question? What kind of answer may impress an employer who is bored of listening to the repetitive flowery answers borrowed from the internet and books?

Brian Kruegar with collegegrad.com has a good piece of advice to offer for tackling this tricky question. Check out this youtube video.

Let’s start with a quiz. How many of the below shown personalities can you identify?

These are the pictures of handful of many great people who had passed away in the last two years. They are known for the extra ordinary contributions they did to their respective fields of career. This list is no way a comprehensive one.

One of them was awarded with India’s highest civilian award, Bharath Ratna for his legendary performances in Hindustani vocal music. While one of them pioneered the Indian comics.

One of them drew paintings that fetched millions of dollars. While one of them made it to the list of 100 most spiritually influential people in the world.

One of them was a Tiger expert who dedicated his life for wildlife conservation. While one of them was a renowned space scientist known for making the Raman Research Institute a world renowned center of astronomy research.

One of them won National and Regional Awards for writing best song lyrics in Telugu movies. While one has been awarded Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award in India, for his exemplary work in the field of rural self-reliance.

Click on the photographs above to visit the corresponding Wikipedia page dedicated to them. Go and read their biographies in their wiki pages.

Try to get answers to the questions such as what was their beginning? Where did they come from? Why were they famous? What was their contribution? What difference did they make to this world?

Most importantly, ask yourself, what can we learn from them?

Career is not just a phase of life when you earn money. Profession is not just a ritualistic activity that you do to make a living. It’s a lot more than that.

You should perfect your job, and touch lives of people. No matter what job you do, no matter what title you have, you should make a difference to this world. You should try to give back something to the Earth and the human community directly or indirectly with the help of your job.

Love your job. Put your heart at work. Don’t keep asking the question “What’s in it for me?”. Just add value to your work. Wow your customers/audience/management.

Under promise and over deliver.

Stop asking questions like, “Which career fetches me more money?”. Choose a career that you would never want to retire.

Forget the office politics. Forget the company policies. Forget the equation of what you give and what you get. Do tasks beyond the ones that are “monitored” by your boss.

Just deliver in style. See that expression of wonder, amusement, happiness or pleasure on your boss’s face.

More importantly, work and deliver content to a quality that “you” like what you created. Don’t lie to yourself. Self-evaluate your work honestly. Deliver stuff that you loved creating.

No job is inferior. Every job is important. Anybody can make a difference in any field irrespective of their “title”. Just do extra-ordinary work and enjoy that bliss of working and touching lives.

Life is short. Before your body shuts down, deliver your best.

Start the change NOW.

Names of the personalities shown in pictures above:

• Pandit Bhimsen Joshi
• Anant Pai
• Maqbool Fida Husain
• Sathya Sai Baba
• Fateh Singh Rathore
• Venkatraman Radhakrishnan
• Veturi Sundararama Murthy
• Nanaji Deshmukh