Get It? v2.0

Last night's post was pretty shitty. I felt it while writing and later the comments reconfirmed the same. Day was pretty normal, nothing unusual or exciting, so let me just get straight to what I was trying to say.

It was end of 2004. CAT had bombed (not that I really expected anything out of it. got some lame 90 percentile or something). I was least interested in a MBA degree and really wanted to get into the Software Industry. 4 years of Electronics had proved that it was not the field for me. During those days, I had only heard of Infosys, Satyam, Patni and a few other companies. My dream job was at Infosys. I soon realized that getting an opportunity to prove myself wasn't that easy. I applied to a lot of places and I was jubilated when I got a call to attend the written test from Infosys. It wasn't really difficult but I was extremely panicky. I got a super high when I realized that I had got through the written test.

I was to attend the next round of interview. I heard from friends that the written test is the difficult one. Everyone breezes through the second one. That cooled me down a bit but seriously speaking, I was at the verge of a nervous breakdown. On the day of the interview, I tried to brain wash myself saying that, "It's just an interview, don't worry". Things were fine till I reached the hotel where the interview was scheduled. I didn't realize when it happened but instead of concentrating on how to get through the interview, I had started worrying about what would happen if I didn't get through. Self doubt crept in. I over looked the fact that I had made it that far and started worrying about how the other candidates might be better than me. My complete approach to the interview had changed. I started sweating, my heart was jumping out of my mouth and by the time I was called, I was like a zombie with no control over my thoughts or actions. I don't remember how much crap I gave there, but I do remember that they had given me an analytical problem based on the pendulum theory. Basically based upon the (1/2*pi)*square_root(L/g) formula. I gave such a shitty answer that I actually feel embarrassed thinking about it now. But, the answer didn't strike me then. I came out, confident that I was out of Infosys. I went out, caught a taxi, got in and the answer struck me.

I got into a depression after that but after a week of lamenting, I shook myself up and started applying again. Got a call from a gaming company called Paradox Studios. Went there, a little more experienced and little more chilled. But of course, the tech interview was a lot more difficult than Infy's. Luckily the guy who interviewed me, saw that it was just the nerves that was killing me, so he gave me a small project to do and gave me a week's time. I did it in 3 days and sent it over. I got the job. I realized this time that the thing I did right this time, was that I didn't worry about not getting in. I just went and did whatever I could with the limited knowledge I had.

Then I learnt the real lesson. I got an interview call from Reliance Infocomm. Was least bothered about it and somewhere deep inside, I actually didn't want to get through Reliance. I casually walked in, sat for God knows how long, drank some tea and then got interviewed. I was super confident, didn't matter whether I was giving right answers or wrong. Thing is, I really didn't care. My job there was to give the interview, I had nothing to lose, it wasn't a do or die situation, I already had an interesting job in hand. As a result I was in my natural state, absolutely chilled and relaxed. I got the job.

In all the 3 cases, nothing had changed as far as me or my knowledge was concerned. The only difference was my attitude and approach to it. The idea is to be relaxed and give your best shot with a positive attitude (though best shot without an attitude also works :P) I had just stopped thinking about what would happen if I didn't get the job. Instead, I just concentrated on the job at hand, ie the interview. I think this applies to a lot of things in life. At times, we are so afraid that we will not get something that we stop concentrating on how to get it and start panicking about the lack of it. We end up doing stupid things, which makes sure that whatever probability there was of success just goes down the drain. Like a final nail to the coffin.

The problem is, trying to convince your mind to be in a state of peace and positivity when it is a do or die situation. :)