Placement blues

The boat has started to rock. Suddenly its placement season. Some of the international banking and IT companies are already here and we are busy squeezing time for resumes and EOIs. I got all my electives and academics is cruising. We already had around 3 PPTs and 4 to 5 psuedo PPTs from the consulting biggies. Last thursday was the PPTs were kicked off with a large international IT biggie looking for some strategic roles. Planning to apply. There is also the stark realisation that how quickly time has passed. Day zero would come calling and we wont even know. Gotta be prepared and organise and prioritise things.

Diwali was well spent on campus. After a long hiatus a wonderful party was organised with great music and the usual suspects: drinks and food. There were also great display of fireworks and the campus spotted some new faces from Italy, Pakistan, China etc. here on exchange. Our people will start to go out on exchange by next term I guess. Some of them will have to miss the placement season but it shouldnt matter much. The different school experience from Wharton, Kellog, Darden etc should really do them good and build a great perspective.

Surprise Surprise

OWWWW Crap, she again gave me the ditch. Just when I was starting to believe in the goodness of things, I get dunked(not in the sense this word is used in ISB, but more figuratively as in fooled, taken for a ride etc.). You are wondering what this is all about? Well I am talking about my electives for term 5. i only managed to get 2 out of the four I bid for. Unfortunately there are many other vying for attention in these specific areas more than me, who are ready to pay more price than me and 'she' chose not to include me (as of now). But I still believe in the goodness of things, I know rationality will prevail, I know I ll get what I want, its just a matter of time.

The campus wears a deserted and sleepy look. Some of my friends who had come to attend an executive program were commenting on the lack of activity and lethargy in the campus. I clarified that this is just the exam and the term break season. It is more like the silence before/after the storm. Just wait till the storm begins.

This period actually brings an end to a phase in ISB. This is the point where we enter the part where theres some uncertainty and turbulence. The placement preparations and other realted stuff is also going to take off in the next few weeks and there is a lot of earnestness and enthusiasm around. The alums also warn that the same earnestness and enthusiasm can turn into frustrations and tantrums. Everybody need to keep their cool. No need to get excited.

Speaking of alums, my study group got to interact with a bunch of them at the phenomenal party that we had at our Aikya family SL residence. We had a wonderful evening and the alums and 'spouse alums' really made us feel at ease and asked us to enjoy the experience and not to get too much worked up about the events that are going to unfold in the future. We realised what a great big beautiful and buoyant family we were actually a part of!

Half Way Thru

Friday will be the last day of the fourth term and we will be half way thru. It was a very busy and high intensity 6 months, but also a structured and well planned one. The past 4 terms had core courses and there was no worry about what you wanted to study and where you wanted to specialise. The story will completely change come mid October, as the forthcoming 4 terms contain only elective course and you gotta choose what you want to study and the area you want to concentrate on. Not only that you need to manage your time table and see that there are no clashes. (After all yo ucant be at 2 places at the same time). Also it is not necessary that you will get what you choose. The elective bidding process claims to accomodate everybody's requests as far as possible. Anyway that remains to be seen. The bidding process is highly sophisticated and involved. Hope I get the courses I bid for.

The exams start today. Gotta get back to study. Anyway am not in much mood to study after the bloodbath yesterday...