Q. You started as an intern at JP Morgan, and now they are your employers. Give us some insight into your work experiences while interning and how they are different from that of an employee?

From JP Morgan's point of view, there isn't much difference between being an intern and a full-time employee because they don’t differentiate that much. They expect you to do the same role if you are an employee or an intern. The company expects us to work on a project and build things that will help the business analysts who are working for the department.

Q. Since you have contributed to many open-source projects, how do you think it is different from doing your exclusive projects?

Working on your projects is beneficial for learning. But I always encourage you to make an open-source contribution. In my experience, there is a big difference between working for yourself or creating something for others. In production and technicality, both are the same. But there are many challenges that you come across while contributing to an open-source project that is used by thousands of students. From these challenges, you gain experience that becomes very handy when you go into the industry.

Q. How did you manage your time between academics, co-curricular and your passion for coding in the limited time of your college life and how CGPA plays an important role in this journey?

Frankly, I was a bit weak on the academic front. I am still searching for the ideal way of managing studies and co-curriculars. The toppers advise that one should engage in activities of their interest during the semester and focus on studies as the exams approach but sadly it didn’t work out for me. From my experience, I would suggest everyone to focus on their CGPA right from the get-go. My seniors also guided me the same way, but I was too naïve at that time and ended up with a relatively lower CGPA which ultimately acted as a hurdle for me as I could not apply for a few of my dream companies. During placements, this is one of the most fundamental criteria a company follows. Therefore, I feel maintaining a balance between academics and extracurricular activities is necessary.

Q. Holding the position of General Secretary for CCS would have incremented your administration and management skills. In your opinion, how does joining a society aligned to the interests of a student impact them? What are the key takeaways from your tenure at college societies?

I was part of many societies but I wanted to continue with CCS as their work culture and environment aligned with my interests. I encourage everyone to become a part of any society that fits their interests. Being a part of a society helps to interact and learn with people that are motivated and have similar interests and goals. It all helps in shaping personality; one can polish their administrative, team playing and communication skills. The seniors pass on the knowledge they have gained to juniors and the cycle repeats each year. Being a part of CCS and administering a group of 100 people definitely helped me to overcome my shyness during the first year to now having a much more confident approach in life.

Q. You made a database management for publications at Nava nalanda library. Can you give some insights on this project and why we're you keen on working on it?

I started working on this project after completing my 1st year and it became an important pitching point for me in my interviews. This was the application being used by the teachers of the institute which had the database of all the research done by the college faculty and the administration. Initially this project was a simple white page with basic font, we decided to update and design it properly since we felt that research work of an institute is it's pride so why not present it beautifully.