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.