Nisha Saha’s Post

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Analyst @Deutsche Bank | IIT Delhi,EE'24 | UBER Intern'22| Harvard WeAmplify’23 | Accenture HackDiva'24 Finalist

As placement season begins at IIT, I’ve been flooded with messages from juniors asking for my experience and insights. Today, I want to share my experience—not as a success story, but as a tale of my initial failures and the lessons I learned. 🗓️December 1st—Day 1. Our lecture halls buzzed with anticipation, filled with students in their crisp black and white suits, eyes gleaming with hope but the door to lecture hall open for only those who were shortlisted on day1. Fortunately, I had made it to the shortlist of my dream companies: Google , Microsoft , and The D. E. Shaw Group As day 1 approached the excitement of getting shortlisted turned into anxiety, panic and fear of rejection. The night before, I lay in bed, mentally revising Kruskal’s algorithm instead of sleeping, and, unsurprisingly, I managed only 3 hours of sleep. When the interviews began, I felt the weight of my nerves. Waking up at 5 am and going to the interview at 6 am was definately the hardest thing I have done in my life. In some cases, I simply got unlucky; in others, self-doubt crept in, leading to rejections from all three prestigious firms after 6-7 rounds of strenuous interviews. I was crushed. Thoughts raced through my mind: “What if I had answered that question differently?” “Should have studied instead of attending Rendezvous”. Then unexpectedly NVIDIA had opened its waitlist and I was there, and I did not even felt a glimmer of hope. I was trapped in a loop of regret, even while the interview was going on, I was constantly relooping the past interview questions, delivering my poorest performance ever. I just went to the hostel with heavy heart and teary eyes, talked to my closest friends, realized how much my underconfidence had held me back. I decided to stop dwelling on what went wrong. I took a deep breath, got a solid night’s sleep, and woke up the next morning with a clearer mindset. 🗓️No longer panicking, I told myself: “Even if today doesn’t work out, I’ll find something else—at least off-campus.” With zero expectations, I walked into my next interviews, feeling surprisingly liberated. And then, against all odds, I was selected by both companies I interviewed with that day! What I want to convey is simple: When you let go of past regrets and future anxieties, success often follows. To everyone gearing up for placements this season, remember that setbacks are part of the journey. Embrace them, learn, and rise again. You’ve got this! Feel free to reach out if you want to discuss more about this experience! #IIT #Placements #CareerJourney #Resilience #failure #success

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Aaryan Darad

SWE Intern @ Atlassian '24 | CSE @ IIT GN | WorldQuant, Semusi, IIMA | General Secretary - PDC, Student Council IITGN

2mo

What an insightful post, thanks for sharing your experience. Will be really helpful for those who are feeling down due to past failures and future anxieties!

Soumik Dash

ECE Freshie @BIT Mesra | ML Enthusiast| Exploring Deep Learning | Coding and Electronics Enthusiast | Turning Complex Problems into Elegant Solutions.

2mo

Congratulations Nisha Saha Didi for your immense hardwork and gratitude payed to you for it👏👏

Tushar Gupta

L.E.K Consulting | Ex-Student Fellow @ Blue Planet | Climate Progressive Policies | University of Delhi | Enactus | TEDx | Avid storyteller

2mo

Thanks for sharing your experience! Best wishes to you for ahead Nisha Saha

Deependra Patel

Undergrad @ IIT Delhi || SWE Intern @ NVIDIA || Expert @ Codeforces

2mo

Inspiring 👏

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