Why I Skipped On-campus College Placements

Summary

The speaker shares their personal experience of skipping college placements, emphasizing the importance of having a backup plan and exploring off-campus opportunities. They discuss their college's lack of support, a toxic environment, and the absence of industry-standard placements as reasons for their decision. The speaker encourages leveraging open source contributions and learning in public to build a strong portfolio, which can lead to better job opportunities and even remote work, ultimately saving time and advancing one's career.

Takeaways

• 🎉 The speaker promotes events on 'classroom.org/events' where participants can win prizes like MacBooks and remote job opportunities.
• 📝 There are various challenges and events, including blogging, with specific themes like sharing university experiences, offering a chance to win a keyboard and other prizes.
• 💻 An 'Open Source Fest' is mentioned, which could lead to remote jobs, stipends, real-world experience, and mentorship.
• 🎓 The speaker advises students to have a backup plan with college placements, especially if the college has good opportunities.
• 🚫 The speaker shares personal reasons for not participating in college placements, including a lack of support and a toxic environment at their college.
• 📑 The speaker criticized the college's resume template and faced a defensive response from the placement coordinator, indicating a lack of constructive feedback.
• 🏫 The speaker felt their college did not value them and did not provide opportunities that met industry standards.
• 🔄 The speaker suggests 'going with the flow' in a toxic university environment, focusing on what co-workers and community members think of you instead.
• 🌐 The speaker emphasizes the importance of skills and representation, stating that with the right skills and presentation, finding a job should not be difficult.
• 🌟 The speaker highlights the benefits of contributing to open source projects, which can lead to good job offers, as they and their friends experienced.
• 📈 The speaker predicts a trend of people working in India for a couple of years before moving to other companies or outside India, building their portfolio along the way.
• 📚 The speaker saved time during their university years by getting job offers in their third year through open source contributions and public learning.

Q & A

What are the amazing events mentioned in the script where participants can win MacBooks and remote jobs?

The events are hosted on the website classroom.org/events, featuring various challenges such as blogging, where participants can win MacBooks, stipends, and other prizes.

What is the special topic event in the script where participants can share their university experience?

There is a special event where participants can share their university experience, which offers a chance to win a mechanical keyboard.

What are the prizes mentioned for the events on the website classroom.org/events?

The prizes include MacBooks, Mac Minis, mice, cash prizes, and remote job opportunities.

What is the Open Source Fest mentioned in the script and what does it offer?

The Open Source Fest is an event that offers remote jobs, MacBooks, stipends, real-world experience, and mentorship opportunities.

Why did the speaker choose not to participate in college placements?

The speaker chose not to participate in college placements because they felt their college was not supportive, had a toxic environment, and did not provide good on-campus opportunities according to industry standards.

What was the speaker's issue with the resume template provided by their college?

The speaker found the resume template provided by the college to be too long, suggesting that a one-page resume is more appropriate and that the provided template would likely be rejected.

How did the speaker handle the college's lack of support and toxic environment?

The speaker chose to cut off completely from the college environment, focusing on building their skills and opportunities outside of the college's influence.

What advice does the speaker give to students who are not getting respect or valued in their college?

The speaker advises students to 'go with the flow' and not waste energy arguing in a toxic environment, focusing instead on what the community and future co-workers think.

How did the speaker secure opportunities without participating in college placements?

The speaker secured opportunities by contributing to open source projects, learning in public, and building a strong portfolio, which led to offers during their third year of university.

What is the speaker's perspective on off-campus opportunities and remote work?

The speaker believes that with the right skills and representation, finding a job should not be an issue, especially with the increase in remote work opportunities.

What does the speaker suggest for students who are looking for job opportunities after graduation?

The speaker suggests that students should focus on building their skills, contribute to open source projects, and learn in public to secure good job opportunities.

Outlines

00:00

🎉 Monthly Events and Prizes

The speaker introduces a series of monthly events organized by the platform, where participants have the opportunity to win prizes such as MacBooks, remote job offers, and stipends exceeding one lakh. These events include blogging challenges and special topics for sharing university experiences, with the potential to win additional prizes like mechanical keyboards. The speaker encourages viewers to visit the events page on classroom.org for more information and to participate in the ongoing Open Source Fest and future hackathons, emphasizing the value of real-world experience, mentorship, and the availability of remote job opportunities.

05:01

🤔 Skipping College Placements

The speaker addresses the question of why they chose not to participate in college placements, explaining that it was not a recommendation for others to follow. They advocate for having a backup plan, especially if college placements are good. The speaker shares their personal experience of a lack of support from their college, including a poor resume template and unhelpful interactions with placement coordinators. They also mention the absence of good on-campus placement opportunities and a toxic environment as reasons for not participating. The speaker advises viewers to 'go with the flow' in such situations and not to waste energy arguing, focusing instead on what their future co-workers and community members think. They conclude by highlighting the importance of skills representation and the opportunities available in the remote work environment, suggesting that with the right skills, finding a job should not be an issue.

Keywords

💡Events

Events in this context refer to organized activities or contests that the speaker mentions are being hosted on a monthly basis. They are designed to engage the audience and offer opportunities to win prizes such as MacBooks and remote job stipends. The script mentions that participants can check out the events page on 'classroom.org' for details and to see the variety of events available, such as blogging challenges.

💡MacBooks

MacBooks are high-end laptops produced by Apple Inc. In the script, they are used as a prize for participants in the events organized by the speaker. This serves as an incentive for people to engage in the events and showcases the value and rewards associated with participation.

💡Remote Jobs

Remote jobs are employment opportunities where individuals can work from a distance, typically from home, without needing to be physically present at an office. The script mentions remote jobs as one of the prizes or opportunities available through the events, indicating a modern and flexible approach to work.

💡Stipend

A stipend is a fixed, regular payment, often made to students or trainees to help with living expenses while they are studying or training. In the video script, stipends are mentioned as part of the rewards for participating in the events, highlighting the financial support provided to the winners.

💡Blogging Challenges

Blogging challenges are contests that encourage participants to write and publish blog posts on specific topics or themes. The script mentions a hashtag blogging challenge where participants can win MacBooks, indicating that the event is designed to foster creativity and writing skills.

💡University Experience

The term 'university experience' refers to the personal and academic journey one goes through while attending a university. In the script, there is a special topic event where participants can share their university experiences, suggesting an opportunity for reflection and storytelling.

💡Open Source Fest

An Open Source Fest is an event that celebrates and promotes open-source software and culture. The script mentions that the speaker is running such an event, which includes opportunities for remote jobs, stipends, and mentorship, emphasizing the importance of community and collaboration in the tech industry.

💡Hackathons

Hackathons are events where programmers and other tech enthusiasts come together to create a software project within a short, fixed period. The script mentions future hackathons, indicating a focus on innovation and problem-solving in a competitive and collaborative environment.

💡Mentorship

Mentorship refers to a relationship in which a more experienced or knowledgeable individual guides and supports the development of a less experienced one. The script mentions mentorship as one of the benefits of participating in the Open Source Fest, highlighting the value of learning from experts in the field.

💡College Placements

College placements refer to the process by which universities or colleges assist their students in securing jobs or internships. The speaker discusses their personal decision not to participate in college placements, which is a central theme of the video as they share their reasons and experiences.

💡Off-Campus Opportunities

Off-campus opportunities are job or internship positions that are not offered directly through the college or university but are found independently by the students. The script mentions the abundance of off-campus opportunities as a reason why the speaker did not participate in college placements, suggesting a broader job market beyond institutional connections.

💡Toxic Environment

A toxic environment is one that is harmful or detrimental to one's well-being, often characterized by negativity, lack of support, or poor communication. The speaker describes their college environment as toxic, which influenced their decision not to participate in college placements and instead seek opportunities elsewhere.

💡Constructive Criticism

Constructive criticism is feedback that is intended to help someone improve by pointing out potential areas for development. The script mentions an instance where the speaker offered such criticism on a resume template, but it was not well-received, illustrating a lack of openness to improvement within the college.

💡Portfolio

A portfolio is a collection of an individual's work that showcases their skills, experiences, and accomplishments. The script mentions building a portfolio as a way to secure opportunities, emphasizing the importance of demonstrating one's abilities and experiences to potential employers.

💡Remote Work

Remote work, as mentioned earlier, refers to the ability to work from anywhere outside of a traditional office setting. The script discusses the increase in remote work opportunities, which has opened up a wider range of job prospects for individuals, regardless of their location.

Highlights

Amazing events are being organized with opportunities to win MacBooks, remote jobs, and stipends.

Events are held monthly and can be found at classroom.org/events.

Participants can engage in blogging challenges with rewards like MacBooks and other prizes.

There's a special topic event for sharing university experiences with a chance to win a keyboard.

Prizes include Mac Minis, mice, cash, and mentorship opportunities.

The speaker skipped college placements due to personal reasons and lack of good on-campus opportunities.

The speaker advises having a backup plan and not to solely rely on off-campus opportunities.

College activities were below average compared to opportunities provided, but some friends benefited.

The speaker's college was not supportive, with a lack of constructive feedback on resume templates.

A toxic environment and lack of respect can lead to cutting off ties with the college.

The speaker predicts a lack of good on-campus opportunities and sought industry-standard experiences.

Recommendation to go with the flow in a toxic university environment without arguing.

The importance of what co-workers and community members think rather than college opinions.

The speaker saved initial years of university by getting offers in the third year through open source contributions.

Many people, including the speaker's friends, got good offers by contributing to open source.

Skills representation is crucial for finding a job without difficulty in the remote work environment.

The speaker encourages viewers to engage with the events and share their questions in the comments.

Transcripts

now before we get started i wanna just

make sure that you know that we are

running some amazing events where you

can win macbooks remote jobs uh more

than one lakhs of like stipend and stuff

and uh we do these every month so you

can check out uh the events page com

with the double m classroom.org

events and you can scroll down you can

see that we are running so many nice

nice nice events hashtag blogging

challenges we're giving our macbooks and

stuff so you can write a blog if you're

watching it in august so you can check

out that there's uh there are some

tracks there's also a special topic

where you can share your university

experience and even a key chron uh

keyboard so you can see we give you some

mac mini some mouses cash prizes as well

so if you're watching it in some other

month this would be updated and you can

check out for the latest prizes but uh

we're running some pretty amazing events

so make sure you check it out also

running let's say an open source fest

so all these things you can find you

know in the events page right now we're

running the open source fest we'll be

running some hackathons in the future if

you're watching this video in the future

so open source first you can get remote

jobs you know macbooks stipend and real

world experience and mentorship and all

these other things okay mentorship

events are here available here as well

so check out com

the classroom.events node as well so

looking forward to seeing your blogs and

giving you some nice prizes and swag

hey everyone welcome back to another

video and in this video i'm gonna answer

a question that i get asked a lot now

that i've graduated

so student asked me now why did you skip

college placements why did you not you

know sit for your college placements or

whatever so i'm in a way saying that if

i skipped it you should too

don't do it it's actually the opposite

you should have a backup plan always and

if your college has good placements or

decent placements uh definitely have a

backup plan in case you're not getting

off-campus opportunities right but there

are plenty of off-campus opportunities

so i would not want you to worry about

that you can check out my previous

videos around it but this video is

focused around why i me specifically did

not sit for college placements so the

the thing questions you know the

questions people ask is canal that you

didn't send for college placements so

um

did you not get like scared that or if

you don't get a job off campus or or

whatever

and

you know it's um

it's interesting because

you know it's not just about like

college placements most of my college

activities were pretty below average

as compared to the opportunity the

college provides to students

having said that there are some nice

opportunities that my college to provide

to a lot of people including my friends

also right um and that is the reason i

mentioned in the pre in the beginning of

this video that okay do sit for college

placements

but

in my case the the the real reason the

answer is that the college is not very

supportive my my college it was not very

supportive um i still realize i still

remember on the college mailing list

they sent a resume template the

placement coordinators or whatever and

they were like this is the resume

template it was like three four pages or

something and i replied that um

excuse me sir this is not a good

template resume should be one page and

this is if students follow this template

it would be rejected

so that those the person told me okay

when you get a job then you tell me you

know let me do my work or whatever so

defensive you know rather than taking

constructive criticism other than that

the professors and most of the teachers

um

you know not not very supportive

it's it's just um

it's not very good you know so wherever

i feel like

you know you're not being valued be that

your college or university or whatever

it does not matter where the place is if

you're not being treated with respect

i cut off completely

um another reason why i did not sign up

for college placements is

my college is like i don't know they

sent one single form like 100 times

fill this form we will not let you sit

in exams fill this form i sent them

information 100 times you know placement

information or whatever so many times

like they were asking for it

the the major reason for why i did not

sit uh the major reason the obvious one

is there are no good on campus

placements in my college um

i wanted something

you know very

like

according to the industry standard

around the world uh my college

definitely does not provide something

like that

um

that's basically about it if you have a

toxic environment in your university

i'll just recommend

go with the flow don't argue

just just go with the flow it's four

years of college life

whatever they say does not mean anything

because what your co-workers think about

you what the community members think

about you that matters quite a lot

so wherever you're not getting respect

don't uh waste your energy over there in

hindi if i say

yes sir okay sir

that bilkul bill cool cool

something like that

um say i don't waste much energy to

prove them anything you don't need to

prove anyone anything

um

it's basically about why i did not sign

up for college placements bad

environment bad culture

not taking criticism

lack of growth not lack of good on

campus opportunities i think i think i

predict pretty decent off campus

um moving to uk after right after

graduation uh i don't see that much

often on linkedin most of the time

people who get these like great

opportunities they work at fang in india

or some other companies for two one year

one and a half year then they skip to

other companies in india then some other

company in india then some other company

in india and then they move outside

after building their portfolio i saved

these initial three four years of my

university by directly getting offers in

my third year how i did it um open

source

just learning in public and not just me

it's not just i who did it there's so

many people my friends everyone

who contributed open source and got nice

offers so i think

you know if you if you have the skills

if you

represent your skills um in a nice way

you would not have

difficulty in

you know

finding a job that's not going to be an

issue um because the remote work

environment now a lot of opportunities

have opened up for you so get on it

and uh if you have any questions let me

know in the comment section below but

that was the answer to my to the

question that i get quite a lot where i

skipped off on campus placements um

yeah hopefully you know i mean like uh

thankfully college life is over now so

exciting times ahead but uh yeah make

sure you like share and subscribe and

i'll see you in the next one check out

the links in description below and

comment if you have any questions

and yeah

[Music]