What advice can you give your juniors who have just joined college?
Rather than 'advice', here are 10 guiding questions, and some common myths to avoid:Everybody knows "What I study is not what's important in real life". But do you know what is? Find it out. Be curious.Until then, do justice to whatever you take up. Studies, partying or otherwise. Commitment. Am I confusing 'being cool' with 'being lazy'? Lazy folks find excuses to avoid all work. Cool people do work that makes an impact on others. At 21, playing the guitar might make a bigger impact than scoring good marks. So be it! But then, work your ass off on learning the guitar. Maximize impact.Do not fall for the 'KTs are common in engineering' myth if you are in an Indian engineering college. Read Are KTs inevitable in Engineering? Learn from failure, don't justify itIt is not about "How much better my professors, college, system, university could be!" It is about "What are you doing to make the best out of them?" Care more about your life, not their's.Do not worry about 'What am I doing? Will it help my career?'. Just think 'Am I doing something productive?' This might vary from (genuinely) learning a favourite subject, or the guitar, organizing a festival, traveling to new places - take your pick. Have enriching fun.If you want to gauge your potential for "success" in the real world, don't ask "How many people like me?". Ask 'How many people reach out to me for help?" Learn to be useful. Picking up skills is easy. Building trust is not.Do not be ashamed of failing, as long as you were busy trying to succeed in something else(that mattered more to you) Fail proudly.Do stuff you have not done before. This is not about having a good experience. It is about overcoming the mind's habit to fear new experience. Friends usually do not judge you. Learn a new art, speak on stage, ask that person on a date. Practice stepping out of the comfort zone. Realize that everybody is as lost as you are. Majority is not always right. Do not take the easy way because "That's the way it works!" Think for yourself. If you still lose your way and end up doing nothing of the above, do not ask "Oh my God, how can I get back the years I wasted?". Just ask "Will I stop wasting my years now?"For career success related skills, read Vijayraj Kamat (विजयराज कामत)'s answer to What is lacking in Indian graduates in terms of skills, and what solution do you suggest?
When a potential employer calls your references, does that mean you are likely to get hired?
I would not say that you are hired, but in most cases this would not be happening unless we are at the last step of "Make An Offer". So it comes down to just how close you are between you and the other person. The person could be using this as the last step to vet who is the final choice.With the amount of time that this process takes this is a very good sign that you care being looked at with this much detail and that they are checking your references. I hate to sound skeptical but I just hate to put the cart before the horse and though you should be excited, nothing is a closed deal until the deal is signed.
How can I get into West Point with an average GPA around 2.0? If I can’t what are other options to be an officer in the United States Army or Marines?
You absolutely can get into West Point or any other service Academy despite your GPA, if that is your highest goal. I had very high SAT/ACT scores and a high gpa in high school, and I eventually made it to the US Naval Academy. I failed out 8 days before commissioning. I knew other midshipmen who did poorly in high school, and are now commissioned officers.With your high school gpa, the following ways are the best chance you have to get accepted into a service Academy:Enlist in the branch of the service Academy that you wish to attend. If you want West Point, enlist in the Army. Prior service personnel have a different pipeline than civilians. Every year, each service has about 50 slots for enlisted to attend their Academy. Most years, most of those slots are not filled because it isn’t common knowledge that enlisted can get accepted. I once heard that service Academy’s are the easiest commissioning programs for enlisted to get accepted into because no one knows the slots exist. That being said, this route isn’t guaranteed. While enlisted don’t need to be nominated by their congressman, they do need approval from their chain of command. If you are a dirt bag with no leadership potential, you won’t get that approval. If you do get approved, you will be sent to the year long prep school, and (assuming you do well) you will be accepted to the service Academy.The second route is to attend a community college, and take the same classes that one would take as a plebe. If you do well in this environment, you can get accepted. The only caveat is that you have to do 4 years at the Academy regardless of how much college you’ve already completed.My story has a happy ending. After failing out of the Naval Academy, the Navy allowed me to enlist in the army to pay back my time at the Academy (3 years enlisted). I am currently an NCO infantry paratrooper. I love my job, and I would highly recommend going the enlisted route to get to the Academy. Heck! You may realize that the enlisted side is far more rewarding
I have 14 backlogs in engineering. Should I give up my life?
Well. I had 37 backlogs in my B.Tech (Most of them I grabbed due to my low internal marks). A very few of my college mates (like me ) believed that I could pass. I had a good academic records till my Engineering. But from the 1st day it self during the course, I lacked the path. I don't want to blame my teachers alone for my internals because I had my own part in lowering it :). Many of my friends said me to give up and join any other diploma/course. Some of the papers I wrote more than 3 times and just fail. It was a turning point when my S7 results came. Most of the back benchers passed because it is going to be the end of the Course, but I got most number of backlogs in S7. Even in our farewell meeting teachers were busy asking our class toppers what's next, do this course like that. I sadly thought , “I don't know if I complete my course or not”Till that time I didn't reveal parents about my backlog history. My hall ticket has caught red handed by my Parents. They didn't scolded me, instead motivated by stories inside BIBLE as well as of other great personalities in the world. I really started my course then and with GODs grace and confidence I passed all papers as 37–21, 21–18, 18–2 and 2–0. I passed…….. magical moment for our family and I believed it is one among the best in my life.I was in a computer course by HCL at that time which changed me a lot in terms of personality and technical domain. I tried for many jobs and then I went for servicing PCs at home.At that time one of my friend said that there is some opening in Sutherland Cochin, Kerala, a bpo mnc. I went for an interview there and surprisingly I cleared all the rounds and got job as Technical Consultant.I stayed there for less that one year. After that I have done some certifications, got a job in another company, Admin-ahead. Then I moved to EY (it is hard for me to believe that I got job in Ernst and Young) and then after 4.5 years of experience, moved to IBM as a Technical specialist, stayed there for 2 years and now working with Eurofins, a product based company with decent package and good profileI worked in four MNC, learned many technologies and taken certifications, Earned many best performer awards and created multiple innovative tool sets which is now being used in EY and IBM around the globe.So go forward trusting in GOD (I believe there is only ONE which has no religion), confidence and try, try and try. You will definitely succeed.No one is stopping you from doing things
Why is it that veterans might have trouble getting jobs?
This answer is based on my personal experiences of being thrusted back into the civilian world as well as my experiences of hiring vets to work at my privately owned company.I was thrusted back into the civilian world due me having bit the bullet over in Afghanistan on my last tour. Although my rate/job in the navy had direct applications in the civilian world, which was a deliberate on my end when I enlisted, due to the physical/mental injuries sustained, I ended up being disqualified to work within the civilian sector per physical/medical requirements to translate my job experiences gained in the Navy into the civilian sector.The Navy really spoiled me when it came to my rate/qualifications, the constant being kept on one’s toes when it comes to problem solving, challenges, ect.. something that is really hard to replicate in the civilian sector. That’s one major factor of me having had the difficulty of transition and trying to find myself. The other factor is that in whatever branch you serve in you serve amongst those with the same cause, the same commitment and dedication, sprinkle in that “brotherhood/sisterhood” ingredient, “always will have your back” attitudes ingredient and for those who transition into the civilian sector will be unable to find that combo. That’s one reason why many vets tend to end up in law enforcement due to that “same cause” mentality.For me personally, not only did it take me several years of undergoing physical therapy/ect .. but also a few more years to figure out that in order to find that challenge that I was so used to and been given by the Navy, I had to become to challenge to myself. That challenge ended up with me launching my company. Everyone who is self employed can tell you that you need to have a certain pain threshold when you work for yourself and that’s where the challenge is for me. Problem solving in growth, expansions, mergers and acquisitions, be responsible and pay it forward towards your team of employees, and many more challenges that for me personally, simulate the same effect of being constantly challenged while in the Navy. And yes I am always looking to hire another vet to my team of pros because once “brother/sisterhood” always “brother/sisterhood”