Add post:aditya-ramkumar-memoir.

_posts/2022-06-24-placement-analysis.md

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ Around 1500 students enter the famed premises of IIT Roorkee every year, to fina
 
 The placement season consists of two phases: The first phase starts from 1st December and continues till 15th December whereas the second phase commences from first week of February and extends till May end. The tests and resume submissions for companies start as early as 1st week of October and span over the next two and a half months.
 
-The placement process for the first phase starts when companies come to give presentations, followed by resume shortlisting, written or online tests and finally the interviews, which commence from December 1. The TPO organizes preparation tests and workshops in partnership with Career Launcher & pariksha.com. These workshops are week-long classes that give a general course on quantitative aptitude and provide tutorial sheets for practice. These are especially useful for students who are not very inclined towards specialized profiles. It also helps students figure out their relative standing among their peers.
+The placement process for the first phase starts when companies come to give presentations, followed by resume shortlisting, written or online tests and finally the interviews, which commence from December 1. The PIC organizes preparation tests and workshops in partnership with Career Launcher & pariksha.com. These workshops are week-long classes that give a general course on quantitative aptitude and provide tutorial sheets for practice. These are especially useful for students who are not very inclined towards specialized profiles. It also helps students figure out their relative standing among their peers.
 
 ## Numbers
 
@@ -96,11 +96,11 @@ Placements for the year 2021 were impressively on an upswing compared to the pas
 
 The campus culture helps students explore a wide range of career options and provide space to every individual to evolve in his own way. Apart from coding and software development, the enthusiasm for Finance, Consultancy, Operations, Data Science, Marketing, UX/UI Design, Product Management and Design profiles has increased significantly, considering the flourishing campus groups in these fields. But as the placement season approaches, the less number of companies in the desired sector and proper profiles and/or CTC’s lead to a major disappointment (See the Profile-Wise Companies Distribution Graph and Profile-Wise Students Placed Graph).
 
-On-campus placements definitely have an edge in comparison to off-campus placements due to a straightforward, transparent and simplified process. The tasks of emailing and approaching the company are done by the TPO, and most of the major firms recruit through campus placements. But students interested in other profiles, due to lack of offers, choose to dive into the chaotic rigmarole of off-campus placements by a variety of methods, approaching their alumni networks or through LinkedIn, among other methods. In these matters, the TPO needs to take concrete steps to accommodate the needs of the students. The TPO has the sole power and authority to approach the companies, talk to the HRs and negotiate the hiring date and offers. Big firms and reputed brands fight over earlier slots and provide fairly high enumeration only when given the slot of higher priority. Certain firms do not come for hiring even after taking the test and shortlisting the candidates. When given a lower priority, reputed firms either refuse from recruiting or reduce their pay packages. In the end, it is the student community that suffers.
+On-campus placements definitely have an edge in comparison to off-campus placements due to a straightforward, transparent and simplified process. The tasks of emailing and approaching the company are done by the PIC, and most of the major firms recruit through campus placements. But students interested in other profiles, due to lack of offers, choose to dive into the chaotic rigmarole of off-campus placements by a variety of methods, approaching their alumni networks or through LinkedIn, among other methods. In these matters, the PIC needs to take concrete steps to accommodate the needs of the students. The PIC has the sole power and authority to approach the companies, talk to the HRs and negotiate the hiring date and offers. Big firms and reputed brands fight over earlier slots and provide fairly high enumeration only when given the slot of higher priority. Certain firms do not come for hiring even after taking the test and shortlisting the candidates. When given a lower priority, reputed firms either refuse from recruiting or reduce their pay packages. In the end, it is the student community that suffers.
 
 Unquestionably the placements hold much importance in a student’s life, but it is vital to keep in mind that they are not the only metric for a ‘successful college life’. A lot many things can go not so well on the interview day, and it is easy to fumble up under an immense rush and peer pressure or standing up for your own expectations. The starting CTCs may not represent all your skills you have developed in this prestigious institution.
 
-There are many things the junta needs to know about the workings of the TPO, like the workings of the current system and the problems students face during placements and internships. WO! will continue to report on these issues.
+There are many things the junta needs to know about the workings of the PIC, like the workings of the current system and the problems students face during placements and internships. WO! will continue to report on these issues.
 
 We hope this serves as a helpful reference for the next batch of students heading towards the placement season.
 

_posts/2022-06-25-aditya-ramkumar-memoir.md

@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: "Bye Roorkee"
+tags: [wona, column]
+category: memoirs
+image: aditya-ramkumar-cover.jpg
+author: "Aditya Ramkumar"
+excerpt: "I find the act of writing a memoir for a magazine that I once edited slightly weird and self-aggrandizing but meh, since this doesn’t have a rainbow or a Dean’s face on the cover I doubt anyone is getting worked up."
+---
+
+Quoting [Surya’s memoir](http://watchout.iitr.ac.in/2021/12/surya-memoir){: style="text-decoration:underline; color:blue"} “This is the last piece I will write for Watch Out!, I figured in for a penny, in for a pound. Proceed at your own peril.”
+
+I find the act of writing a memoir for a magazine that I once edited slightly weird and self-aggrandizing but meh, since this doesn’t have a rainbow or a Dean’s face on the cover I doubt anyone is getting worked up.
+
+College was fun, actually. Not all of it. But fun enough.
+
+In some ways, I only remember the first and last years of college. There is an obvious contributor to this (the disease) but the start & end are marked with a sense of freedom and excitement/anticipation for the future. The fact that things worked out for me probably has something to do with it as well. The middle is characterized by a ton of anxiety and in smaller amounts, labour. In hindsight, these seem unwarranted but it definitely didn’t feel that way back then.
+
+A lot has happened that I did not anticipate. I discovered music that I had only heard in my dreams (and managed to perform some of it), I got to go to Worlds (which in first year was something that happened to people from another planet), discovered I actually like my major (haha who would have thought) and ran a magazine (fun, would recommend). I met a lot of very cool people who have left an impact on me in ways they may not realise.
+
+I am not the same person that entered Roorkee in my first year. More accurately, I am finally starting to be an actual person (sort of). A lot of this is purely down to chance encounters and being in the right place at the right time. Some things have stayed the same but a lot has changed drastically. It's not like I do not regret any of my actions in the past 4 years but first-year me makes me want to vomit and that's a good thing. I think.
+
+It is strange and fascinating how we find ways to enjoy even the most depressing of circumstances and recalibrate our sense of what is normal. Despite all the rosy-rosy romanticism surrounding Roorkee, there are a _lot_ of not nice things here. You are a perpetual “child” that must beg for the bare minimum alongside a student base drunk on its ability to crack a 12th-grade science exam, whose every half-baked thought must be the cutting-edge of intellectualism because we are the chosen ones. The Cr*** of the Nation which leaves people with the fear of being hate-crimed.
+
+A little hypocritical but I guess I am allowed to use that phrase now that I am no longer a member of Watch Out!.
+
+All of this, of course, is in addition to the usual competitiveness and career stress and whatnot. If you have read this far, I would encourage you to find out more about the recent history of the campus (WO! Archives, newspapers, Channeli, even confession pages) & to stalk the SAC IITR Facebook Group. Particularly, read up more about the Pinjra Tod protests from half a decade ago. Paints a pretty interesting picture of the environment on campus.
+
+In terms of gyan I have nothing new to say but would recommend [Neil](http://watchout.iitr.ac.in/2019/05/memoir-indroneil){: style="text-decoration:underline; color:blue"} & [Mohan Agrawal’s](http://watchout.iitr.ac.in/2019/07/memoir-mohan){: style="text-decoration:underline; color:blue"} memoirs and applying your own judgement. The suggestions in [Utkarsh Ruhela’s memoir](http://watchout.iitr.ac.in/2019/07/memoir-ruhela){: style="text-decoration:underline; color:blue"} seem pretty cool. I would recommend trying Rustic’s Veg Kurkure (thank you, Vansh) and Sun-dried Pesto Pizza.
+
+I would also recommend a sunrise campus walk on a foggy winter morning. Bonus if you worked all night and are buzzing. I find that shoegaze/dreampop is the best soundtrack for the foggy darkness. ([Depression Cherry - Beach House](https://open.spotify.com/album/5tTmosmyV33wCiwniZc4Qs?si=A9llg5BXRDS4O6zt83pGtw){: style="text-decoration:underline; color:blue"}, [Heaven or Las Vegas - Cocteau Twins](https://open.spotify.com/album/5lEphbceIgaK1XxWeSrC9E?si=k411spb-TAWo_nel4PwaXQ){: style="text-decoration:underline; color:blue"})
+
+For what it is worth, I am satisfied with my time here and look forward to what is next. I carry with me the imprint of my time in Roorkee. In my clothes, my music, my speech and dreams. Best of Luck, Roorkee. Will we meet again?
+
+![pic](/images/posts/aditya-ramkumar-01.png){: style="width:80%;height:auto;"}