IITs are unquestionably the most
reputed Engineering Institutes in the country. It is well respected outside the
country too. I remember watching a documentary on IITs on the BBC regarding the
impact that IITs had made globally.
In this blog, Dorjee K Thungon
discusses in brief the IIT-JEE and life in the IITs, why is it worthwhile to
aspire for the IITs. After passing out of Ramakrishna Mission School Narottam
Nagar, he joined IIT-Guwahati. He is currently based out of Chennai working as
a software Engineer. It was very kind of him to have responded to the blog.
Q. When
did you pass out of IIT Guwahati?
Dorjee: I am class of 2005, which tells the year I
actually passed out of IIT.
Q. Which
stream did you chose?
Dorjee:
I did my B-Tech in Electronics and Communication Engineering
Q. How
was your overall experience in IIT Guwahati?
Dorjee:
The overall experience in IIT was fulfilling. It was indeed a well packaged
experience with all the ingredients that you can expect from an institute. From
grilling exams, lab sessions, surprise tests, organising technical festivals,
cultural festivals, Inter IIT meets etc. Study
of-course was the main focus but at the same time one could delve into many
other co-curricular activities which makes experience in IITs a really good
one. I had lots of fun.
Q. Which
company are you working for now?
Dorjee:
Currently I am working for Standard Microsystem (http://www.smsc.com/) at Chennai office as Software Engineer. It is a
semiconductor company with Corporate Headquarters at New York. My area of work involves
development of firmware for the chipset that we are developing, so it involves
pre-silicon to post silicon work.
Q. Sounds interesting.
Dorjee: Yeah....it
is exciting.
Q. Would you agree if I said that
going to a place like IIT gave you an exposure which is more than just studies?
Dorjee:
Absolutely, we all are aware that these are the best institutes. IITs not only give focus on the studies but for
all round development. The good thing about the IIT is the facility, you the
access to chase your dreams. You get the best of the infrastructure, you have
erudite professors and very talented bunch of friends. All of these together
gives you such an exposure which is really worthwhile.
Q. Do you feel that you have an
edge over your co-workers because of your IIT tag?
Dorjee:
The brand value can work for you during the initial phase of job hunt. Yes it
is true it helps you in getting noticed. But then you have to work and prove
yourself.
Q. Please
lay out some tips for current students on preparations for IIT.
Dorjee:
Strategy to crack any competitive exam remains same - HARDWORK, there is no
substitute to. But then awareness of supporting resources places a major role
in success. The students first need to understand the pattern of IIT-JEE. The
level of questions they might have to face etc. The question papers are easily
available in public domain.
Then
comes the real part to study hard. Your preparation will never go waste as it
will also help you to crack other entrance examination. I know, I have given
nothing new mantra here but the fact remains same so as the mantra.
Q. Also lay out some tips for
current students for preparations for life in IITs as getting into an IIT could
be a different thing and surviving through it could be different
Dorjee:
competition doesn’t stop with the clearing of IIT-JEE. IITs follow relative
grading process. So your marks in the subject always depend on how others have
performed. Best situation could be when everybody performs the same, all gets
the same high grades but this can never happen. You could have some fellow
students studying very hard. IITs follow semester system, each semester lasting
for approximately four months. Within this span you will have to cover 5-6
theories and 3-4 lab courses. So basically there is no stop from start to end.
So that sums up the life after IIT-JEE.