Question: Hi Akash, We’d love to hear about an in-general, brief overview of your experience here, at IIT KGP.
It was a great experience. I have tried to do everything and would like to say that I have done everything that I really wanted to do. I wanted to immerse myself in dramatics, which I did. I held a few positions of responsibility, which were quite close to my heart. I never took this much interest in academics. The experience was more about the people there, the seniors I met, the peers that I came across, and the lovely juniors. Overall these past five years have been a transformative experience for me. The journey did have its ups and downs, but everything turned out to be great eventually.
Question: Could you tell us more about your involvements, here at IIT KGP?
I had loved dramatics even before joining college. There were a few seniors like Mr. Kacho Sohrab; I had seen a few of his productions before joining KGP. I was really fascinated by his work, so I really wanted to be a part of Pravah. I had a goal that regardless of what I do, and what CGPA I get, I wanted to be a part of the Inter-IIT SoCult contingent in my first year. I worked hard for it and was fortunate enough to make it. So that was my first year, mostly involved in dramatics, making new friends, and getting new experiences.
In my second year, I joined the Students Alumni Cell. I got very engrossed in the work of the cell and could not devote much time to anything else. This was a totally new experience for me, working with a large team over something over a long period of time, the experiences we had with our seniors, and so on. At the end of my second year, covid struck, and a lot of us were in a dilemma on how to go about it. Over these five years, I have not really been a person with a plan. The golden rule that I have followed is, I tried my best at anything that I felt I liked and I would enjoy doing.
At the end of my second year, I had to choose between becoming the Governor of Pravah or becoming a head at SAC. I chose the cell, but that did not mean that I would stop doing dramatics in my third year. As it turned out, I did both in my third year. That was a very different experience because we had shifted from the offline to the online mode. That was a very difficult time for us, all organisations were struggling to adapt to the new normal, we also had to train our juniors in the online mode itself, so that they could take the organization ahead.
At the end of my third year, I decided to give a shot at becoming a Placement Committee Member. It seemed fun and was much like the Cell, only you had a much larger team with varied experiences, and the stakes were much higher. I had to then wake up to the call from HR, pretty disappointed in us, and almost decided not to visit IIT Kharagpur. The work we did here was not only for us, but to help others, and that gave us a different level of satisfaction.
After my fourth year, came the dreaded placements. I had to prepare for 4–5 months for my placements, and my efforts did come to fruition. I hope I was able to answer your question.
Question: So you mentioned you participated in the Inter-IIT in your first year. Could you elaborate on your experience for us?
I could not participate in the meet this year because I had my field trip. Some of you here are from the Department of Geology and Geophysics and do know the struggle, we have our field trips in December. Field trips are fun as well though. When I participated in Inter IIT in my first year or when my batchmates participated in their second year, things were quite different. The productions were different, the Captains back then had three solid years of dramatics experience. They were involved in a lot of productions. This was a major disadvantage as our batch lacked this experience, and our seniors had already graduated. So it was a little difficult to recreate the same funda. IIT Kharagpur had a very rich culture of Nukkad, which I was fortunate to see in my first and second years. The online years served as a drawback, as we did not have people performing in front of us, practicing round the clock. But I think the Contingent, particularly the Captains and Vice-Captains did a really good job. The cup stayed home.
Question: How did you manage all of your involvements together?
I did things, in which I had fun. I never did something because it would look good on my resume. I really wanted to do dramatics since my first year. I have been involved with the SAC for the past four years because I believe in its vision. It was similar for the Placement Committee. Most of the time, it did not really feel like work. Enjoying the work, a sense of responsibility, and the satisfaction of knowing that I was working for the betterment of others was what drove me. Apart from that it was the people with whom I worked.
Question: Placement Committee Member is one of the most sought-after positions at IIT Kharagpur. But it also has its responsibilities and challenges. Could you elaborate on those for us?
Being a Placement Committee member is often a very sought-after thing. There’s always this aura about being a part of the Placement Committee that attracts people, but there are challenges too. Once you become a Placement Committee Member, you are no longer responsible just for yourself, but you are responsible for each and every person of IIT Kharagpur because you are working for their internships and their placements. If I screwed up, someone may not have gotten to apply for their dream company. So, it’s a very big responsibility at the end of the day. A very big personal challenge for everyone who joins the Placement Committee is to manage their own personal goals alongside managing their responsibilities. The first job that you actually got to do is to look after the internships of that particular session. So if you join in your fourth year, you have your CDC internship as well as the CDC internships for the rest of the batch. You have got to conduct the tests, onboard the companies, resolve the conflicts with HRs, and make sure everything is in line, both, in terms of the administration and the students’ side. So, that’s a lot going on on a very small time scale. A lot of pressure builds up and if you have your goals, for example, if you want to bag your internship on a set date, then it’s quite difficult to manage it, but again, there are people who have actually done it. Placements are much more difficult to manage as compared to internships. At IIT Kharagpur compared to other IITs, we have the maximum number of students, the maximum number of branches, and departments. Our student community is a lot more diverse when you compare it with the rest of the IITs. I would say, particularly as compared to Bombay, Delhi, and Madras, we face a locational disadvantage. For example, a lot of companies that wanted to recruit from IIT Kharagpur did not have the chance or did not have the motivation to do so. It would really take a day or two of their calendar, just to hire individuals from IIT Kharagpur. So that was something that we were able to make up for in the online hiring season. But the other challenges are always there. I would say that the 16-member team that I was working with was a great one because we were able to achieve historical figures. And not only statistics, a great part of the satisfaction actually comes when people are thankful for the job that you have done and for the opportunities that you have brought on campus. You see that your hard work of 6–8 months has actually made a difference in the lives of the people because a lot of us are here for our placements. So when they realize that there’s someone who made the entire placement process 1% better, 1% easier, and 1% more friendlier for them, they would definitely like it. And knowing that you are the one who actually did it, brings a different sense of satisfaction altogether.
Question: There might have been some points in this journey where you might have experienced burnout. So, how did you deal with it?
True, that was every other day. There’s just so much work, and there are so many stakeholders that you have to cater to. You have your team; you have students who have their very own logical and reasonable doubts, and you have companies, their stakeholders, the HRs, and the administration. So, there are so many stakeholders for the very same process. That’s a great challenge, and that really takes a toll on you as an individual. As I said, though we at IIT Kharagpur have the largest number of students largest student body, the placement committee here happens to be the smallest across all the IITs. I don’t think the number has gone ever beyond 17 or 18 for the Placement Committee. If you combine the entire pool of internships as well as the placement students, then one placement committee member caters to more than 250 students statistically. In reality, the work is way more than that. A great motivation comes from the team that you work with. Me and my team, back in September 2021, we got back to campus, and we all lived together in Nehru Hall. I think no other placement committee really got to enjoy this. We really got to work together. We started the day together and went to the office together, and everyone knew every single facet and every single team member’s portfolio. Since we shared a great part of the entire day together, it was very easy for us to communicate and share our problems. If I was the coordinator, it really didn’t mean that I was overlooking everything. There were other people alongside me and we all would make sure that the work would be divided 16 ways.
Question: So, talking about the placements, what is your opinion on the talent pool in KGP right now, and how has it changed or diversified over the years? Have there been any changes in the number of companies that come in and the roles that they offer?
If I have to compare the number, the roles, and the type of companies that are visiting Kharagpur, then that has really seen a significant change. For example, talking about the types of firms, there’s one particular type or role which we really saw surging in my tenure, and that is, HFTs ie. High-Frequency Trading Firms. Those were very well-paying jobs. I remember the years before that, there used to be just a handful, not more than 5, overall hirers including for both internships and placements. But that year in the internships itself, there were a large number of HFT companies. They hired a lot of students, and that was something that was seen in the placement season as well. Similarly, there are a lot of product-related roles as well; there’s a great demand among the students as well. Students are preparing for that particular role, as well as there is a need for product managers in companies as well. I think with different kinds of roles emerging in the companies, with the companies realising that freshers are suitable for these kinds of roles and particularly IIT Kharagpur bringing that locational barrier, I would definitely say that we have been able to get a great number of roles. There have been roles that have been visiting IIT Kharagpur for a number of years but there have been some companies that have really been added to our portfolio and I hope that this continues for years henceforth. And the major reason why I hope so is where I answer your question regarding the talent pool, is because, I think, the talent pool at IIT Kharagpur is really one of the best. Comparing it with other IITs, for internships and placements, I would say the people at IIT Kharagpur are the most prepared. If you talk about the top companies that hire from, say, Madras, Bombay, or Delhi, those campuses have a greater number of opportunities there. So the students there, the ones who actually make it to those companies aren’t as good as the ones who are selected at IIT Kharagpur in the very same firm. So our students in the very same time frame of say, 2/3 years for their CDC internships and 3/4 years for their placements, the work that they do is sometimes incomparable to the work that the guys at the other IITs do. To conclude, the number of roles, and types of roles, all of them have significantly increased. I really hope to see a great increase in the coming years as well and the major reason being of course the great talent pool at IIT Kharagpur.
Question: Any advice which you would like to give to your juniors?
I think this is applicable to anyone, regardless of whether they are a junior or a senior. I would say everyone for at least the first two years must try out different things during their stay here. Secondly, you always need not really have a plan. I really didn’t have a plan for four and a half years. The only plan that I had was to enjoy my final semester at IIT Kharagpur. I won't say everything I did was chaotic. The rule that followed was that I did something that I really thought I would enjoy. Something that seemed really right at that moment and I made sure that I worked really hard for it. There’s something that I have seen come up in recent years, that there are a few career domains or positions of responsibilities or extracurriculars, that may seem flashy because of which students tend to choose them and later realise that, that is something not meant for them. Still, they choose to stick with that. So when you realise “that’s not for me”, you should actually pull out of it. Or if there’s something that you really enjoy, but still if it’s not reaping results in the same amount of time as your friend achieves something, that really doesn’t mean that you are not doing something or haven’t achieved something. So, just make sure that even if you don’t have a plan or even if you are doing the best that you really can, and you cannot see the results, it doesn’t mean you are wasting your time. For me, for people of our batch, it really took 4–5 years to actually get those results. If you just say that you are going to start working towards a particular domain, and just hope that you are going to get the best internship out there, that’s really not how things work. And that is going to be with every single domain, with regards to any particular sports you take, with regards to any extracurricular, be it a position of responsibility or anything. My only advice would be to try things out, be true to what you have chosen, be true to yourself, and most importantly have fun because, at the end of the day, that’s what all of us are here for.
Question: That was really great advice Akash. Anything that you would like to say to conclude this interview?
I would really emphasise on the part of having fun at IIT KGP. Regardless of where you are, that is what should start in your first year and not end till the day you graduate from here. And keep in mind that, at IIT Kharagpur, the best of learning doesn’t just come from academics, it doesn’t come from books, professional experiences, internships, competitions, etc. The best of learnings and experiences actually come from the people around you, that is what we are at IIT for. That is what actually differentiates IITs and particularly IIT Kharagpur. The peer group is what we really have. So interact with people around you, and not just batchmates, it could be your seniors, your juniors. You could also learn from your juniors. Assimilate whatever you can from the people that are around you. Make good friends and at the end of the day have fun!