Ankush Chowdhury(16/EC/05),placed in Cosmic Circuits-one of the best Electronics core company talks about his experience of placements.............
"Recollecting the memories of the placement season..
The placement season was to start in July. Am yet till the mid of the may, I did not have a single good project on my resume. The percentage at 77.2 showed some decency. Also my seniors suggested to keep it above 70 (which I will suggest my juniors too), but I was not that worried because I was lazy enough to look out for internships. Its not that in the past I never tried, but, somehow I never completed the projects. Fortunately, I landed on a good project in summers (June) and a great work environment. By the start of July, I started reading Microelectronic Circuits by Sedra and Smith from the very first chapter. Its not that it is needed for the placement, but, just to clear up my very fundamentals of electronics. By the mid of july I was able to complete the book (including the appendices) and started with the Digital Design by Morris Mano and the notes by Dr. Raj Senani and Dr. Parul Garg alongwith some ppt referred by the seniors.
The placement season started on July, 20th with the first company TCS. I wasn't sure whether I wanted to sit for the company because I hated the at race. On the eve of the visit, I and some of my friends mugged up some english words. But, I sat down and got eliminated in the very first computer aptitude test (I was happy to get eliminated. Moreover, MBA/GRE preparations help you in this but, I did not want to go for MBA and was too lazy to give GRE). They had multiple rounds after that with two days of interview. I really felt happy after seeing the disgusted looks on the students having suffered those rounds.
The next was Aricent. We had group discussion and technical interview as their very first and last rounds. All those who were eligible (people having % 65% and above) were to go through these rounds. The group discussion was very simple. The team was divided in for and against groups and given a sheet containing info about republic day celebrations. Both the for and against points were nicely explained on the sheet. One just had to defend his team. Don't try to dominate over your team-mate and don't keep shut during the entire process. Just keep the presence of mind and you will be able to say something meaningful. In the other round we had technical interview. The interviewer asked me whether I knew algos and bla bla bla. I clearly stated that I was a student of Electronics and Communications and did not have such advanced courses. He asked me to write a simple C program and said it was okay as my logic was as wanted but I made some mistakes in the syntax. Then he asked me to design xor gate using nand gates. I did. Just after the PPT we were given a form with all type of nonsence questions regarding yourself and your experiences (I cannot suggest you anything on this). I was questioned on my answers which I defended. I got selected.
Then, I sat down for ST Microelectronics. The questions consisted of aptitude test and electronics (mostly digital). I did not get through the preliminary test, as I think I did not do good in both of them. I got totally confused in the middle of the test. I don't remember much of the questions. Abhirup, Abhimanyu, Meenakshi and Saaed made through. In case you want their contact no. maybe I can help you.
Then, came TI (my so-called dream company at that time and no more now). I was dejected when I heard that they were offering only for the digital post and software engineers. The test constituted of two parts, aptitude and electronics (20 questions each) both objective. I don't remember the questions they asked, one questions used diode as a clipper. MOS inveter, setup and hold times no doubt were also there. Moreover, the finite state machine was also asked. Anjana got selected.
The Freescale was to appear next. But, due to their hiring freeze Cosmic Circuits came first. The test consisted of 10 subjective questions testing the very basic analog electronics. I enjoyed solving the questions. One question was based on MOS inverter, one on RC circuits, one on noise analysis and the others I don't remember. I was called for the interview. In the interview, the interviewer asked for my resume and asked about the very project I did in my summers based on current source. Maybe he just wanted to see whether I had really done that project. Then he took my answer sheet and pointed out the questions where I did mistake. He started by giving some hints until I reached the solution of the questions. The question based on noise analysis I couldn't solve and spoke to him clearly that I did not remember much of the probability theory. I was selected. I was pretty happy on that day. But, I am more happy today after joining the company because it is just as I always wanted.
About what to read, all I can suggest and as also suggested by our seniors,
1. Digital CMOS Logic - Sedra Smith Chapter 10 – Lay more stress on MOS inverters.
2. Filters and Tuned Amplifiers – Sedra and Smith Chapter 11
3. Timing Analysis ppt – The present fourth yr guys shud have it or contact me for the same – its is important.
4. Finite State Machines - Sequence Detector - This is given in a book by
Kvi Zohavi. You can even buy it as it wud also be used in DCS 2 in 7th sem.
5. Combinational & Sequential Logic - Digital Design, Morris Mano (Black Cover – Available in the library)
6. Definitions and a bit of glitch and hazards – Again Digital Design, Morris Mano
7. Previous yrs papers - They can be easily obtained
from sites like freshersworld.com You can contact me for the same.
8. Sedra Smith Ch. 3, 4, 11 (no details reqd. just basic concepts)
9. Some abstract topics like capacitor charging and discharging (Appendix D-1 Sedra Smith) . It is also important.
Some information about core companies of Electronics:-
1.Cosmic Circuits:-65% and above and branches allowed are ECE and ICE.
2.Texas Instruments:-70% and above and branches allowed are ECE,ICE,COE and IT,no backlogs allowed.
3.STM:-70% and above,ECE/ICE allowed.
4.Freescale:-63% and above at my time,ECE/ICE/IT/COE are allowed,no backlogs.
5.Apart from these BHEL and CDOT offer jobs to lot of electronics students.
No doubt, the recession has hit the market. But, don't panic. There will be companies coming to the college. The competition will be tougher for you guys. All my classmates were brilliant enough and are presently in good companies doing excellent work and so will you too. As per my opinion, hard work always pay you back and one should always have the inclination to learn new things.
Am very proud being an NSITian. Apart from academics there were many things one can do. There are many societies (neighbourhood project, IEEE, etc.) one can take part in. The fest (reso, inno, moksha) culture is unique. It always lead to all-round development. The best thing about the college is the freedom to do anything. No one stops you from doing anything. The kind of environment I got in NSIT was the best thing one could expect. Those were the best days of my life.
In case of any help/suggestions, you can always contact me.
Regards and best of luck,
Ankush Chowdhury,
Design Engineer,
Cosmic Circuits Pvt. Ltd.
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