UPES engineering grads bag lucrative job offers, give insights on cracking interviews

B.Tech. Computer Science Engineering students Madhur Rakheja, Karan Bhandari and Muskan Handa, specialising in Oil & Gas Informatics, Cybersecurity & Forensics and Big Data respectively, say they are grateful to UPES for the exceptional learning environment and the plethora of opportunities the university provides

Madhur Rakheja, a B.Tech. CSE student at UPES, developed interest in coding from a young age.

Little did he know that his exceptional skills in coding would land him an INR 50 LPA offer from tech giant Microsoft during the university placements.

The hard-working youngster is elated at his achievement.

“I am extremely happy about receiving the offer from Microsoft, especially because it is a profile that interests me,” he says.

For the interviews, Madhur prepared by reading about others’ interview experiences online.

“The interview process was exactly what I had prepared myself for. There were three rounds. The focus of each round was to test the problem-solving skills and the subject matter knowledge of the candidate.”

The coding whiz says that he demonstrated his skills by “walking the interviewers through the projects” he had made.

Madhur says his consistency and hard work paid off in the end.

He didn’t stop practising solving coding problems even though he secured job offers from companies such as Cognizant, Optum UHG, and Amazon.

“I reduced the number of questions I used to solve each day, but I didn’t stop my preparation. When Microsoft came to our college for recruitments, the decision to keep practising helped me,” he adds.

Madhur says he is grateful for the opportunities provided by UPES. “There were so many opportunities this placement season that I didn’t feel the need to apply off-campus,” he adds.

In his own words, Karan Bhandari has been “India’s youngest ethical hacker at one point in time”.

Hooked to the dark web at the age of 13, Karan, who studied B.Tech. CSE in Cybersecurity and Forensics at UPES, says it was his father who redirected his enthusiasm for wi-fi hacking towards more ethical practices such as bug bounty, security consulting, and ethical hacking.

The tech wizard says that he always wanted to make an impact in the cybersecurity industry and prepared for it from his teenage years by studying for several professional cybersecurity programs such as the Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) certification.

Following that, he got involved in multiple projects and internships which gave him hands-on experience in various verticals of cybersecurity such as security operations, offensive, defensive, and compliance.

“This gave me a broader view on the subject, and I was able to think and envision from different interlinked domain perspectives,” he says.

The INR 50 LPA package, he says, has come as no surprise to him.

“I am yet to comprehend this completely, but I wouldn’t say any of this has been surprising,” he says. “I always wanted to make an impact in the cybersecurity industry, and thanks to this opportunity, I am a step closer today,” he adds.

He was confident of acing the interview, given his certifications and strong industry experience.

“There was nothing specific I read, learned, or studied for the interview. I just took a deep breath and put a smile on my face,” he says.

Karan says he is grateful to UPES for the exceptional learning environment and the plethora of opportunities it provides to its students.

“I am incredibly grateful for the environment UPES provided which was geared towards understanding and resolving the industry’s pain points,” he says. “Also, it helps when all your batchmates speak the same domain language as you. It is extremely impactful in your learning journey,” he signs off.

Muskan Handa, another B.Tech. CSE student, impressed her interviewers so much that they asked her to appear in the final round right after her first round of interview.

“I performed well in the first round. So, they asked me to appear straight for the final round. Within 24 hours of the final interview, I got a mail saying that I was selected as SDE-FTE (Full-time Software Development Engineer) in Microsoft,” Muskan says.

Muskan says she prepared for the interview by focusing on improving a few skills at a time that would benefit her over time. She wouldn’t let her motivation levels affect her either.

“I don’t believe in motivation personally, because motivation is not constant,” she says. “Sometimes, you are motivated and sometimes you are not. But if you have the discipline to perform certain tasks daily, you will do it without any motivation. So, discipline is greater than motivation,” she adds.

Muskan’s biggest life lesson has been to realise that in order to succeed, she needed to compete, not with others, but with herself. “I was competing with people who were better than me. But slowly I realized that my competition shouldn’t be with someone else but myself,” she says.

Muskan credits her mentors at UPES for this huge achievement.

“My sincere appreciation and gratitude to the Training and Placement Department and all the staff of UPES for their efforts in imparting quality technical and aptitude training. I am very grateful to them for helping me make the most of the opportunities that came my way. So far, it has been an immense pleasure for me to be a part of this prestigious university. I have learnt great things here under the stewardship of excellent teachers,” she says.