Dangerous Curves ...
2006 Feb: St. Francis' Cathedral, Goa
Long Time No See
Its been long since I posted something on my BLOG. Last time I talked about placements at MDI Gurgaon and it seems like ages since I wrote something.
Just to break the jinx, here is a post, titled Long Time No See ...
There are reasons why I havent been posting stuff.
1. Very busy with placements and placement aftermaths.
2. Trip to Goa.
3. Lack of internet connection at home.
Just to break the jinx, here is a post, titled Long Time No See ...
There are reasons why I havent been posting stuff.
1. Very busy with placements and placement aftermaths.
2. Trip to Goa.
3. Lack of internet connection at home.
Placements and Mental Models
I can think of a few situations that really make placements – placements.
One, Social Proof – if the other guy is applying to 10 companies, I should also apply to atleast 10. If the other guy is getting x amount as salary, I would not settle for anything less than 2 times x.
Two Excessive Self Regard - if the other person does not get this job, may be he wasnt upto the mark, may be I am a better student, may be I shall apply.
Three Availability Bias - this company is offering a better profile, this company is a better recruiter, the package is good here, so on and so forth.
Four Envy/Jealousy - Even if I dont get this job, I shall spoil the chances of the other person getting it. Its either me or no one. I shall not let him get it, I hate him, he wasnt good to me !
One, Social Proof – if the other guy is applying to 10 companies, I should also apply to atleast 10. If the other guy is getting x amount as salary, I would not settle for anything less than 2 times x.
Two Excessive Self Regard - if the other person does not get this job, may be he wasnt upto the mark, may be I am a better student, may be I shall apply.
Three Availability Bias - this company is offering a better profile, this company is a better recruiter, the package is good here, so on and so forth.
Four Envy/Jealousy - Even if I dont get this job, I shall spoil the chances of the other person getting it. Its either me or no one. I shall not let him get it, I hate him, he wasnt good to me !
The Placement Season
Here at MDI, placement season is in. For some people (including me) this is the reason why they joined a business school and why they slogged their behinds for two years. I can see tensed people running around with CVs, books, reading material etc. clenched as if they were the last cigarettes of a person in prison.
People with work experience have already been placed. I cannot divulge the exact number, as this information is classified ;). It feels great to be a part of something classified. I can now understand the excitement in the dull lives of spies.
For the past 5 hours, I have been sitting in the computer center and filling up forms and answering questions on my weaknesses, strengths, creativity, social responsibility, my hobbies, my criminal record and dunno what else. About 5 minutes ago I yelled if someone can tell me my biggest achievement till date. And someone told me a magic answer that would work for just anyone.
Some questions are appropriate - my educational background, projects etc. But most of the questions are totally, utterly obnoxious and could be avoided. A question wants me to talk about my creativity. I want to somehow explain to them that creativity is something that can not be put into words. I want to post some of the actual questions but as I have already told, it’s classified.
I don’t understand why these companies want us to fill 5-page, 6-page forms to evaluate our application? In the end experience tells us that the company with the longest form would use *JUST* our CGPA to shortlist and select people. They would not even read the CVs.
I sometimes think that this is some kind of race between the companies to have the biggest and longest and toughest form. Some companies for the very purpose of making a form complex would put in* INTERESTING* questions. They think that we (applicants) judge a company on the basis of length of the form they get filled from us.
Few questions do indeed come to my mind right now.
Confused, tired and form-ed !
Just when I was packing up this text I realized I have to talk about the great enemies that would surely spring up in placement season. People would give anything to strip you out of your jobs, interviews and discussions even if they don’t want it themselves at all. Experience tells that placements make the best of friends into worst of enemies. Everyone is so incentivized to cheat, stab in the back that no antidote would ever work. Placement offers an interesting study into behavioral decision making.
More on this later ...
People with work experience have already been placed. I cannot divulge the exact number, as this information is classified ;). It feels great to be a part of something classified. I can now understand the excitement in the dull lives of spies.
For the past 5 hours, I have been sitting in the computer center and filling up forms and answering questions on my weaknesses, strengths, creativity, social responsibility, my hobbies, my criminal record and dunno what else. About 5 minutes ago I yelled if someone can tell me my biggest achievement till date. And someone told me a magic answer that would work for just anyone.
Some questions are appropriate - my educational background, projects etc. But most of the questions are totally, utterly obnoxious and could be avoided. A question wants me to talk about my creativity. I want to somehow explain to them that creativity is something that can not be put into words. I want to post some of the actual questions but as I have already told, it’s classified.
I don’t understand why these companies want us to fill 5-page, 6-page forms to evaluate our application? In the end experience tells us that the company with the longest form would use *JUST* our CGPA to shortlist and select people. They would not even read the CVs.
I sometimes think that this is some kind of race between the companies to have the biggest and longest and toughest form. Some companies for the very purpose of making a form complex would put in* INTERESTING* questions. They think that we (applicants) judge a company on the basis of length of the form they get filled from us.
Few questions do indeed come to my mind right now.
1. If you are a company, shouldn’t the selection be based on more than just your CGPA, or your resume or your form for that matter? You aren’t buying a computer according to the specifications but you are trying to select a guy to work with you and each guy HAS to be different. A form does not do any justice at all. What is the guarantee that the chap with the maximum CGPA would be the smartest? I can see that a lot of people with higher CGPA are not exactly the brightest.
2. I see everyone running after the biggest salary. Shouldn’t your first criteria be the kind of work you do rather than how much money you would make? Isn’t this similar to some of the things that you would openly cry out against (something like bar-girl-ing) where you are forced to work against your wishes to make some money?
3. Why do we (applicants) start reading books, articles, newspapers just before the placement season? I can see everyone trying to cram every last word written by the God or Marketing, Mr. Kotler. If they think that knowing what Kotler knows would help them get that dream job, they are in a big trouble. Can’t they think that there would be millions of others would read even better than them? And don’t they realize that Mr.God would not be there in their workplace to help them out? And what’s up with newspapers? Knowing the news for a week would definitely not help anyone. Interviewers are smart enough to realize that people read only a week before the interview. Didn’t we join a business school to *LEARN* rather than *PREPARE*?
Confused, tired and form-ed !
Just when I was packing up this text I realized I have to talk about the great enemies that would surely spring up in placement season. People would give anything to strip you out of your jobs, interviews and discussions even if they don’t want it themselves at all. Experience tells that placements make the best of friends into worst of enemies. Everyone is so incentivized to cheat, stab in the back that no antidote would ever work. Placement offers an interesting study into behavioral decision making.
More on this later ...
The SaurabhGarg weBLOG ! on Movable Type
The SaurabhGarg weBLOG ! goes on Movable Type.
I finally got hold of MT and uplaoded it on my webserver. Thanks to kAgE for uploading the MT setup.
I cant use FTP from my hostel. It sucks but with friends like kAgE, its never an issue. I now have something new to do !!! :D
I finally got hold of MT and uplaoded it on my webserver. Thanks to kAgE for uploading the MT setup.
I cant use FTP from my hostel. It sucks but with friends like kAgE, its never an issue. I now have something new to do !!! :D
Let There Be Light !
Floating candle at a restaurant
2006 January: Sugandha's and Satyajeet's Naukri Party, Gurgaon
The place is called Park Bulachi and they would light a floating candle on the dinner table.
I took about 4 pics and here are the rest of the three...
SaurabhGarg.com > OneHelluva Page
SaurabhGarg.com > OneHelluva Page is my new project. I talk about people who have been struck by lightening and zapped me ... !
Ponder This !
Got these in an email ...
Life is sexually transmitted.
Health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.
Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.
Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, "I think I'll squeeze these dangly things here, and drink whatever comes out?"
Who was the first person to say, "See that chicken there? I'm gonna eat the next thing that comes outta its butt."
Why is there a light in the fridge and not in the freezer?
Why do people point to their wrist when asking for the time, but don't point to their crotch when they ask where the bathroom is?
Why does Goofy stand erect while Pluto remains on all fours? They're both dogs!
If Wile E. Coyote had enough money to buy all that Acme crap, why didn't he just buy dinner?
Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you, but when you take him on a car ride, he sticks his head out the window?
Does pushing the elevator button more than once make it arrive faster?
Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?
Alt + Tab Replacement
When you press Alt + Tab on a computer running Windows Xp operating syste, you get a list of all the programs running on the computer.
If the number of programs running is large, using Alt + Tab could be cubersome and hard. I recently came across a tool called PowerToys for Windows Xp released by Microsoft that makes the lives pretty cool and esay.
With PowerToys Alt Tabreplacement tool, the Alt + Tab becomes something like this...
The text on the website says...
If the number of programs running is large, using Alt + Tab could be cubersome and hard. I recently came across a tool called PowerToys for Windows Xp released by Microsoft that makes the lives pretty cool and esay.
With PowerToys Alt Tabreplacement tool, the Alt + Tab becomes something like this...
The text on the website says...
Alt-Tab ReplacementPowerToys Alt + Tab Replacement Tool can be downloaded from this link. I have been using this for about a month now and I face no problems at all of any sort.
With this PowerToy, in addition to seeing the icon of the application window you are switching to, you will also see a preview of the page. This helps particularly when multiple sessions of an application are open.
To Design or Not To Design
To design or not to design is the BIG question in front of me right now. I bought saurabhgarg.com about three months ago and I haven’t really made a website.
I have a couple of choices in front of me right now. I can design it from scratch; display all my creativity to the entire world and boast of the excellent design. On the other hand I can use some ready made template, customize it and save on a lot of time.
I would now proceed to do a decision tree analysis. Assuming that I design it myself, following things are bound to happen...
If I decide upon a template, following things would happen
So the decision has been reached, I would create my own design, go the hard way and hopefully try to complete the website soon.
AND BY THE WAY THIS IS MY 150th POST !!!!
I have a couple of choices in front of me right now. I can design it from scratch; display all my creativity to the entire world and boast of the excellent design. On the other hand I can use some ready made template, customize it and save on a lot of time.
I would now proceed to do a decision tree analysis. Assuming that I design it myself, following things are bound to happen...
1. No CMS. I would have lots of static web pages. Updating each of them would be a huge task. But again even if I go for a template, I still don’t have the expertise to make even a simple CMS. The template thing would also have static pages.
2. Time. I right now have nothing to do at all. And with all the travel coming up in the later half of February, I would not get time to design and update it.
3. Effort. I hate to work! and I can’t even imagine putting that much thought into the work. Although working is fun for me, I still hate doing small things such as editing HTML etc. I enjoy working on Photoshop and other editing software but I believe that they lack the power to keep me busy.
If I decide upon a template, following things would happen
1. Plagiarism. Even though I would have a nice, good looking website, it would be work of someone else and I would certainly be using it without giving credits or royalty. I do not want to do this. I guess this reason alone is more than enough punishment to not to use a template.
So the decision has been reached, I would create my own design, go the hard way and hopefully try to complete the website soon.
AND BY THE WAY THIS IS MY 150th POST !!!!
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