How to prepare for placements?

As already said there are different aspects involved in the selection procedure.
You’ve got to be ready for all those.
1) WRITTEN TEST
2) GROUP DISCUSSION

3) INTERVIEW

1) WRITTEN TEST

The first and the foremost step in any job interview process is a written test. This is basically for mass elimination. Depending on the requirement of the particular company people are shortlisted through this.Software companies mostly test verbal and analytical ability of a person so one can expect questions from these two fields. Unless and until the job profile requires good knowledge about programming languages questions won’t be asked based on them.But this doesn’t apply for all the companies, for example Microsoft’s testing procedure involves questions from programming etc. So people apart from IT or CSE would find themselves in a tough situation.Now coming to core companies, they would like to check your knowledge in your field as well so one needs to brush up their technical skills before appearing for the test.

A) For software companies

• Whether software or core the first step in preparation should be solving “Quantitative aptitude by R.S.AGARWAL “
• You need not solve the entire book, just check out all the models and practice questions from each model. By the end of it you be in a position to solve any of those models in the actual written test.
•  Once you are well acquainted with these models you can easily crack the quant section and time won’t be an issue
• For verbal section there is no particular book to refer to, but it would mostly involve reading comprehensions, synonyms, antonyms, sentence correction ,grammatical error correction etc
• So any decent book with all the above exercises would make it up(unless you really have a problem in verbal, preparation is not required for this section coz the questions are pretty basic)
• Apart from that “puzzles to puzzle you by Shakuntala devi” is a good book(haven’t read it personally but lot of forums suggest it’s a good one)
• And finally sometimes GK is also a part of the test paper so it’s better if you are aware of current affairs etc.

B) For core companies

• As already said the testing procedure varies from company to company so apart from the above mentioned points one needs to be on toes when it comes to technical knowledge related to his/her field of engineering if he/she wants to make it to a core company
• You need to be really smart when you are preparing for a core company’s written test. It would be very difficult for you to study all the topics of engineering covered in the last 4 years in such a short period of time so I would suggest you to first check what the company/job profile demand  and then start preparing accordingly.
• For ex. LNT (a mechanical core company) deals with solutions to engineering design problems and provides technology. Once you well acquainted with the companies profile you can prepare specifically. One can study machine design, mechanics of materials etc and leave topics like material science or kinematics of materials.
• What I am trying to say is first do a background check on company’s profile and then mainly on job profile (by checking out the website or asking your seniors or people who work in that company) then you would understand what kind of job it is and what are the subjects that would be necessary in order to do that job. Once you are clear with that it will be easy for you to prepare

NOTE: The written test for any company would check your basic knowledge; in depth detail in any topic won’t be required so relax.

P.S: After reading the above context please don’t feel that one needs to put in so much effort just for the written test coz there are lot of cases where people don’t do any of it and still get through the written test. But preparation is the best thing coz it will be useful for all the other companies as well and would boost up your confidence.

2) GROUP DISCUSSION

This is a pretty interesting part of the recruitment process because it has nothing to do neither with your subject knowledge nor with your verbal/quant ability. Let me first explain what exactly happens in a GD. All the shortlisted candidates are made into groups. Then batches are called and a topic is given to them to speak. Topic can be anything, so you can’t prepare anything in advance. Before the group discussion starts some time is given for you to prepare what you are going to speak (usually you are given a piece of paper for jotting down your ideas).Then starts the group discussion and it lasts for about 10-15 minutes.

HOW TO WIN A GROUP DISCUSSION??? 

• PEN DOWN: The first and the most important step would be jotting down all the ideas that come to your mind before the GD starts. For example: assume topic is “RESERVATION SYSTEM” As soon I hear the topic, things which come to my mind are college admissions,caste based quota, implementation of reservation system based on economic basis backed up by merit, government policies and movie rajneeti: P.Time up….so now the GD starts…as soon as it starts try to restructure your ideas in the order cause, effects and solution. It’s little difficult to do in such a short span of time and in such chaos but try doing it. 
   
• SPEECH: The way you speak reveals your personality and thus your chance of making through GD. Make sure whenever you speak your voice is loud and clear (which are signs of confidence), only then people would look at you when you speak.Don’t bother about the language at all, just be confident about what you speak, Even if your English is not that good make sure you speak aloud and make your point in a precise manner.

Note: there is a clear demarcation speaking loudly and shouting. (Just because you     want to win the GD don’t shout at top of your voice it’s considered  unprofessional)

• EYE CONTACT: eye contact is very important whenever you communicate with anyone(again a sign of confidence). Don’t shy away even if you are talking to your opposite gender, look right in the eye )
• INITIATION: Starting the group discussion requires lot of courage and confidence. It would fetch you many points as initiating is considered the first quality of a leader.

If you are very confident about the topic and have real good points to speak then you should not wait, go for the kill and start of the discussion with full energy.

• GIVE OTHERS CHANCE TO SPEAK: Just because you are well familiar with the topic doesn’t mean you keep on talking all by yourself. Speak for a couple of minutes and then make a gesture looking at others indicating that it’s the turn now.

• CLOG BREAK: Many a times whenever somebody is speaking you wait for your turn and as soon as he/she is done many people start to speak simultaneously, don’t stop whatever you started continue speaking loud and clear until others are forced to stop. This would fetch you hell lot of points.

• STAND OUT OF THE CROWD: This one is real crazy. I’ll try to explain it with a example. Let the topic be ADOLF HITLER .Let us assume there are 8 people in the group and all the 7 members are against ADOLPH HITLER. You start talking by telling that ‘’ I admire MR.ADOLPH HITLER, as soon as you say you support it the attention of all the 7 members and also the recruiters would be drawn towards you, this would make you stand out of the group. But when you say that you admire him you should immediately explain why you do so with a couple of points (For ex: according to me he is one of the greatest orators of all time, he had the ability to persuade the whole of Germany,his baritone, leadership skills and command over public speaking were truly remarkable)

Imagine all the members of the group speaking against him, about the war about the killings, about the massacre, about the damage done to the world on one side and you on the other side supporting him, admiring him(and giving reasons for why you do so)……surely you will emerge the winner of GD.

NOTE: Only if you are very confident of giving out valid points supporting your
argument only then go for this type of strategy

CONCLUSION: Sometimes what happens is that you don’t get a chance to speak in the entire GD (Reasons could be anything, maybe you were not confident enough, may be you didn’t have content to speak). But you can still turn it upside down, just recollect what all the others said and make a nice conclusion with all the strong and valid points and present it with utmost confidence ( it should look as if all those points were your own :P )

*** What if you aren’t able to think of points related to the topic given during a group discussion?? 

• Don’t worry at all, it is a pretty common phenomenon
• When you don’t have any points then don’t try to start the GD just because you want to initiate somehow.
• Instead wait for others to speak and listen to them very carefully…if you get any points in that process then well and good if not then just combine a few ideas of others, frame a nice sentence and present it as if it was yours

TIPS & TRICKS 

• initiate by taking a side…you can talk for the topic, against it or can do both in a diplomatic way
• Don’t argue with people who are against you instead avoiding them and switch to others to speak
• Don’t point out anyone’s errors ( its disastrous)
• Take initiation only if you are very confident about the topic else it will backfire.
• Speak out complete sentences not just phrases that way you can give yourself time to think and also protect yourself from being interrupted by others
• Take examples/statistics/facts or any recent issue to support your argument
• Don’t be a mute
• Don’t allow a person to talk more that what is required instead interrupt him and make your point in a loud and clear voice until he stops speaking
• MAKE SURE WHENEVER YOU SPEAK YOU ARE LOUD & CLEAR
• Don’t take anything personally, it’s a professional thing
• Picking up fights with others is a total no, hell no

3) INTERVIEW

You just can’t go out and speak in interview. There are a few things which you need to take care of before the day of your interview. Some of the aspects of an interview:
i. Resume
ii. Mini/study project
iii. Dress code
iv. Research about the company and job profile
v. On the day of interview/during an interview