The very famed IIT placement is at its peak, many many congratulations to those who got their dream job and those who believe that they did not get what they deserved truly, I would just say this was just a start or maybe not even a start, there is no force in this world which can stop you from getting what you truly deserve. I would requote what Harsha Bhogle said during one of his speech at IIMA “People don’t come to IIMA for starting salaries. They come here to build careers. Excellence is chasing the performance goals and letting the results to take care of itself. You perfect the process of performance and don’t allow the pressure of the result to choke your performance”. I think this fact holds equally true for IIT Kharagpur as well, we are worth much more than our starting salaries, so take a step back and understand what would keep you going and just be truly passionate for the same, I think that’s what world needs right now, more and more passionate people.
For the first time after JEE preparation I had seen myself and my batchmates working their ass off for such a long period, I believe that was the case for most of us here, we tend to be more focused when we are given a certain goal especially the ones that give us a high level of satisfaction or happiness for a short interval of time, a classic example of irrationality. We are so engrossed to cash out the short-term benefits that we forget to look at the bigger picture. One of my seniors with whom I had an opportunity to speak with had to say the following “Today, X lakhs got deposited in my account but if you ask me whether I am happy? The answer would be a straight no! Back then I was interested in xyz, but got tempted by those 6 digits figure”. The point here I am trying to make is we are too irrational when it comes to decision making and as a 22 year old kid we are more driven by factors like peer pressure, six-digit salary statement and in turn, fail to look out at the bigger picture of what we really want.
Law of comparative advantage states that one should try to do things in which one has a comparative edge over others. I must admit that I have met the most talented set of people during my stay here on campus, take anything there are people who are religiously pursuing it. However, I was deeply shocked by the fact how people started to race for learning algorithms, or Machine learning during the placement semester, I totally understand that these things are the hottest thing in the market and learning them would definitely prove fruitful, but is our worth only restricted to a couple of videos on algorithms or machine learning? The answer is a big NO!
My only piece of advice to the junta who are disappointed by the fact that certain noise factors (which I believe should be better left unsaid) did not allow them to get what they wanted would be to disregard those factors and move ahead, it’s more important to realise your own self worth rather than looking backwards to get even more disappointed. Take it as a lesson or a reality check because sooner or later the party is ultimately going to end and life would surround us with more difficult challenges and we ought to keep ourselves strong with our head held high. So, rather than wasting your time, energy and money on bottles of beer utilise it for good and move ahead.
Success is the culmination of a series of small victories in a long and tiring journey and it surely does not come from chasing money or following your peers. If you have the deep desire to succeed, some opportunities from these smaller wins will definitely come your way you just need to continuously look out for them. To end with I would again quote Bhogle “ We are here to build careers, and I know of no human being in this world who has built a great career for himself and has thought where my next cheque is coming from”.