My First Interview.

On the 10^th of December 2007 I got a call from Virtusa. They told me that my name has been recommended by our institute for the post if Placement Engineer at Virtusa. (They told it is kind of training) I was so surprised. And they wanted me to attend an interview on the 13^th of December 2007 at 10.00 am. From that moment I was anxiously waiting for that day.

Since this was my first interview I was bit tensed. I didn't know how to prepare. I asked my best friend and he gave me some tips, how to get prepared and what things to take with me. I arranged my certificates in a file and had a copy of CV also in that. Then arranged my dress. And went to sleep early since I have to get up early in the morning.

13^th was a Thursday. I got ready in the morning and wanted to start early so that I can be there on time. Unfortunately my father couldn’t drop me that day, because he had to attend his aunt’s funeral. So he arranged another vehicle. On the way I had to pick two of my friends too. After that I also wanted to get my character certificate from my school. Since it was getting late my best friend had collected. I started at 8.30 am from my house. I picked my friends and went to my best friend’s place. She was waiting in the door step expecting me. She wished me with a warm hug and gave the certificate to me. We started from there at 9 and were at Virtusa reception by 9.15. It seemed too early. We were the first people to go there. The receptionist over there took my identity card and gave me the visitor’s pas. He then directed me to the place where the interview was about to be held. That room was place where they have board meetings. After some time some more students from our institute came there. All were tensed and wondering what sort of an interview they are going to have. Around 10.15 three gentlemen and a lady walked in. They made us seated around the table. They told that we have been already chosen from the scholars list of SLIIT. So they didn’t want to test us technically. Instead they told that they are going to test our communication skills. I was bit happy with that statement. Because I always prefer that kind of interviews.

It was like a group discussion. First of all they gave each and every one of us different topics and wanted to do a short presentation on that. The question I got was, “How will I prepare to become the batch top in the institute”. Doing a presentation on that topic wasn’t a big difficult thing for me. Indeed I was very happy to do that because that is my dream too. I presented my ideas and thoughts. After every one presented they divided us into four groups and each group was taken separately to different places. In groups they gave us topics to argue for or against that topic. In our group we got three topics. One was “If there is a rule saying that the marriages will expire in 7 years and after that you have to renew it, will it be a good or bad thing?” The next topic was “Do you believe in love at first sight?” And the last topic was “DO you prefer arranged marriage or love marriage?”

It was quite a good discussion. We really came up with many points for and against the topics. Each of had different views on the topic. I strongly disagreed with the first two topics and I also preferred arranged marriages.

After all groups finished the discussion we were taken to the board room in which we were seated first and were served with refreshments. Then a lady from HR addressed us regarding the training program. At the end they told us that we will be informed the selections very soon. It was nearly 1 o’clock when they were winding up the session.

When I was returning home I had a small believe that there are possibilities for me to be selected because I felt that I did a good job there. I expressed my thoughts and ideas innovatively. Anyhow my first interview was an unforgettable experience for me. And also I enjoyed it a lot. It was really very cool than what I expected.

Note: After two weeks time I got a call from there saying that I have been selected as a placement Engineer.