THE NORMAL JOB INTERVIEW

   It has been a long time since my last post and this post is long overdue. As you could have guessed, this is about my job interview. I have attended my job interviews, but I believe that this is the one that needs a special mention for reasons you will come to know soon. FYI, I attended this on Oct '14.

        It was a tuesday. I had been shortlisted for an interview at Ford. The venue was at their office because they couldn't conduct it in our college on the day they actually had in mind due to a political issue in my state. It's a pretty big one and I'm not going to go into it now rather I don't know the details very well. OK, I'm dwelling too much on the irrelevant interview process. I cleared the Group Discussion session and got kicked out in the next and final round. 

        By now, I was really disappointed. I wasn't handling the rejections very well. I had given up. I was so desperate that I was ready to sit in for the bulk recruitment process that started the next week. I mean no offense towards the people who were placed there. But, here in my college, it is not something to be proud of as it is the only area where students from my college can show that they are better than the students in other colleges by getting jobs in companies that don't recruit in bulk. I would like to make it clear that I'm not undermining anyone and just stating the facts as I know, which means I obviously could be wrong.

         Boy, I really have a tendency to go off topic. Here's the deal, I came back to my hostel room, dejected and disappointed. There was another pre-placement talk and aptitude test that afternoon. I wasn't sure if I wanted to attend that because the salary package wasn't that great and also because, as I mentioned earlier, I was feeling down. Anyway, I managed to drag myself to the talk, my only motivation being that this was the last company before the bulk recruitment drive. I was late and missed the talk. Missed may not be an apt word here. True, I went late but the presentation was still on for like another half-an-hour. But I wasn't looking forward to the talk so I just wandered off outside the hall for sometime going around the placement office. Nobody can question me as I was also the placement representative for my class which could always be used as an excuse.

       Anyway, after "missing" the presentation, I went for the aptitude test. I'm not sure if anything out of the ordinary happened while I was waiting for the aptitude round as I have attended about 30 or so of these tests. So I can't remember exactly what happened on the particular day as this was three months ago. 

       The test was conducted in two batches and I was in the first batch with most of my buddies, well all of my pals who attended the interview process except one. I don't think that the test was tough but I'm sure that I did not do well. I believed that it was a waste of time and came back to my room.

       I don't remember when I got the news, whether it was the same day or the day after that, but I was shortlisted for the second round. It was like everyone who had attended the test in the first batch was shortlisted and no one from second batch was selected. Yeah, my one buddy who attended the second batch wasn't selected.

       By now, I had cleared enough first rounds to ensure that I never got my hopes high. I wasn't excited even a little about this opportunity. I didn't bother about all the necessary documents that were needed as not all companies are keen on all the papers. But this wasn't all companies and damn, that morning was the worst. The placement office was closed in the morning. The people from the company made us fill forms. 

       After about 30 minutes or so(my memory isn't that great), the doors to the placement office opened and we were seated in the mini auditorium. Only now did I realize that these guys are dead serious about my mark sheets from 10th and 12th standards. I didn't have them or their copies on me. So, I called my dad back home, asked him to scan them and send it to me via mail, which I then asked a friend of mine to bring to the placement office. I wasn't really happy about bringing in this friend as he wasn't placed and he had not even attended the first round due to the poor salary. For some reason, it feels right to ask help on these matters with guys who are placed rather than the ones who aren't. The reason probably is that it feels like rubbing it on them. But I'm pretty sure he wouldn't take it that. Actually only the receiver of the help in these situations would feel horrible about these activities. I'm not sure if any of the things I said right now make any sense. Nevertheless, this round-about journey of the said papers ensured that my application went to the bottom-half of the bottom-half of the pile.

       As any normal interview, I waited a long time before I was called in for the second round. by "long",I mean really long. I had to wait till after lunch. I did have my lunch in between. I was asked questions from a wide range of topics, almost all the topics I presume. It was a technical interview and I'm not going to go into the details. I felt I had done it well although not as much as I had hoped. Only after being pointed out by the female placement representative and class representative from my class who were assisting with the placement process, did I know that I was in the technical interview for an hour and fifteen(again, poor memory) minutes.  

       I went back into the mini-audi and sat back waiting for the results. By this time, one of my buddy had completed the final round and left for home as holidays were approaching and another one had gone for the final round. So, I was sitting all alone by myself because I din't know any of the other guys there and the rest of my class mates were girls. There was only the occasional chit-chat, that too only if it was necessary.

       After some time, a guy came and started reading out names saying that they may leave the place. He wasn't as cold as I make him sound. I was really casual leaning back in my chair, relaxing, as I was actually confident that I would go through to next round. Now I know that I shouldn't have been that confident. The guy called out my name and it tool me a couple of seconds to hit. I was about to stand up and leave when he said that I may stay and that I have been shortlisted for the next round. I was really relieved and so were the girls from my class helping with the process.

       Now, I had to wait until night for the final round with the human resources. By now, everyone I knew were either done with the process or had been eliminated. So, I was alone waiting with a bunch of strangers for the final round. There were only two personnel from the HR, so, a senior officer from the company also started interviewing candidates for the final round. 

       To make things worse, I was the last guy to be interviewed. I was really tired and running out of juice as I hadn't had my dinner yet. I was interviewed by the senior personnel. The questions were routine-"Tell me about yourself", "Why do you want to work for us?",..etc. One thing of notice here is that I asked the guy if there was any possibility of a negotiation on the salary to which he replied that it had to be consulted with the HR personnel. The final round also went well.

       Just when I thought it was over, the guy asked me to wait and I was sat down for another HR interview with one of the HR guys. It is really ironic that the last guy to be interviewed should have two final rounds. I think it was because of my inquiry on the negotiation of salary. This guy was looking for me to ask a lot of questions. I tried my best, but, I just couldn't ask about what exactly he was looking for. Then I told him that I hadn't attended the presentation, because of the ford process. So he started talking about his company in full detail, about what they do, their products, ..etc. The interview concluded with a few more questions from my part. I have come up with a killer question in the subsequent days, albeit a bit late. 

       So, that's how the interview went and it was as normal as one could expect with the waiting time and the interview rounds. What makes this interview special is that I got the job along with my buddies just as I had prayed while waiting for the result. So the company's name is 'Aricent' and I'm hoping that I could ask the one question that I newly came up with after I join the company. It is weird, I'm typing this last paragraph thinking what if someone from the company stumbles across this blog and they read it;I must careful with the choice of words least should I give them an impression that I don't want the job. 

       My head really got messed up during the previous paragraph. I'm not sure if deleting it is right or wrong. I wish I could just be a realist and acknowledge that no body is following my blog.

       That's it! Just another normal interview except that I got the job. 

THE NORMAL SUNDAY

             I 'm not feeling particularly well today,mentally. I hate it when I 'm like this. It's completely nuts.
             Here's the thing. Despite my wish and poor will, I always wake late on a sunday morning and I hate myself for that because I really wish I could get up early. I have enrolled in this GATE coaching class and the classes are held on sundays. But the lazy me always gets the better of me and I don't go to the classes much.
             I have attended the classes only a handful of times. I despise myself when I think about it. The worst thing is that I paid the fee in full amount last year itself because I hoped that it would motivate me to go to the classes regularly. But that didn't happen. I feel like I just took twenty thousand of my pop's money and flushed it down the drain.
             I 'm not preparing for the gate exams as well. Now that I think about it, I think I just joined GATE classes to make myself feel better, so that I wouldn't feel like I 'm wasting my time when others were preparing for some stuff like MS, CAT, Group 1, etc. I wasn't very clear of my goals.
             It is actually good that I registered for GATE. But me not preparing for it makes me go mad. It's boiling inside me. I was fine before I started typing this. I was keeping myself busy with games and movies that I was able to overlook the guilt. Right now, I 'm super guilty since I started typing this and explaining it. I don't know what would make me calm myself other thatn preparing for the exams,
             I 'm just not able to do that. I 'm feeling very lazy to even think about it. I keep procrastinating. I 'm beginning to think that I may never really prepare for GATE.
             I have just made my decision, I 'm gonna have to make a time table( although I won't do it because I would barely stick to it and hence I waste of time). But tonight, I definitely have to start learning something.
             I think m writing is beginning to be sloppy and also I 'm babbling out a lot. I 'm going to stop this.
             For the rest of the day, I shall be going to the church in the evening and hopefully study in the night. That about sums up my plans for today.
              Just the same normal guilt driven sunday with many decisions that I never follow. 

THE NORMAL GHOST MOVIE

       Today, I went to the movie 'Annabelle' with some friends of mine. I woke up late, very late actually, just ten minutes before the time we had agreed to meet each other.Fortunately, I was the one who had decided the time and I had said everyone to come earlier my half hour so that we could start at the right time. So I got ready at my own leisure when my phone rang just as I washed my face.
        It was my friend. He was going to the rendezvous point when he called to check me up. I told him I woke up late and had to take lunch before joining them. He just told be to hurry and hung up.
        So I had my lunch. I couldn't really eat much as I had eaten a lot the day before at the treat(it was my treat and I have already written a post on it, nothing fancy-just normal). So I met with the others and after some last minute change of plans to accommodate some people and to leave out some people we started late for the movie.
        When we arrived there, the movie had already begun. I wasn't expecting much from the movie as one of the guys with us had actually watched it yesterday and said it was no good.
         The movie was literally normal for a ghost movie. There wasn't much excitement. But I getting really worked up with my friends and the other audience as they cracked jokes about the ghost and the movie. I really hate watching scary movies like that.
         This is what I figured from their jokes. These people are using humor as a mechanism to hide their fears supposedly. Many of the guys had come with girls. So I guess they apprently didn't want to show any fears.
         But, despite a hateful first half, the second half was better. There weren't a lot of jokes being cracked and the movie got better too. There were many scary scenes. But for some reason, there weren't scary enough to make me shout, which I usually do while watching these sort of movies. May be the same theory that I stated above was the reason. I was also excited about the scary scenes that I was smiling during the run-up to the scary scenes. It was excitement laughter. Although I did not smile I had quite a lot jerks. There was also another problem with the first half. One of the scenes were supposed to be wet-your-pants scary. But I had already watched the scene on a video in fb that showed the reactions of audience while watching the movie. On the bright side, I had forgotten all the other scenes from the video and remembered only after watching the scene on the theater.
         It was also a bad idea to have watched the trailer already for the same reason stated above. Well, in the end, second half is what usually matters in movie because you tend to forget the first half in comparison to the second half.
        Due to the better second half, I actually ended up liking the movie and I also liked that how they had connected the movie to the movie 'Conjuring'. Despite the easy climax, it was overall a good movie and I liked it.
        Later after the movie, I went to Elliot's beach with my friends and ate like a ton of food, although I don't like the impression 'ton of food'. I just ate plenty of food in the evening enough to keep me filled for the night and I satisfied myself with a banana milkshake for the night that I had asked a couple of friends to get me take away from a juice shop. I kind of feel like I'm going too much into the unnecessary details. But then, this is blog, so who cares?
        That's about it. Despite the poor first half it was an above normal ghost movie and I like to be scared in a movie like that.

THE NORMAL TREAT

So today(technically yesterday), I took my friends for the treat that was due earlier. The purpose of the treat was dual- for my birthday and also for getting placed. But my buddies were expecting me to give two treats. Like there is any possibility for that. I had also combined the treat with two other guys who had gotten jobs.
        There really weren't any high points about the treat except the above paragraph. As a matter of fact the treat did not go well. No, it was because we had any fight or something. It was because of the food.
        We used to go to the restaurant regularly. Although I was never very happy with the food there, my friends always seemed to like it there. All that changed today.
        We had decided that we will have lot of starters today. We ordered many too(actually not that many, just a tad above the usual). It all started with the Thai fried rice that a pal of mine ordered. I had ordered Thai noodles. Both the dishes were a disaster. I couldn't get my hands on many starters as well since I did not want anybody to have less.
        The fried rice came before my noodles. It tasted horrible. My friend couldn't eat much. He just ate it for the sake of having ordered it. I began to think that my noodles wouldn't be any better either and I was right. In fact, the noodles was worse than the rice. I couldn't eat mush really. Actually I would have eaten only four handfuls(and by handful, I mean a very little amount). I thought about returning the food. But a friend of mine advised against. So, I just left it. We decided that we will take them(thai rice and noodles) back to the hostel for someone else to eat.
        When we thought that only our dishes were a disaster, we were proved wrong. We had ordered for dragon chicken and chicken manchurian after that. I was like, how could a hotel mess up chicken!! I mean they were worse. But the only good thing was that some of the food ordered on the other side of the table was better than ours. I ate some fried rice from my friends'. Finally I had ordered a couple of naans and ate them with a chicken gravy which my friend had actually ordered to be dry dish. But since they did not have it to due to some sort of mix-up,we settled for the gravy. It tasted pretty good with the naan.
        Despite me not being able to eat most of the dishes, I was surprisingly full. I finally ordered strawberry milkshake with ice cream. When I thought things couldn't get any worse, they did. I did not like the milkshake either. May be something was wrong with my tastebuds because one of my friends said it tasted good and another said it was worse like it had rotten or something. Well, I thought it was normal and not to my liking because I had actually expected to be better than normal.
        So that about wraps it up,a normal treat that had gone worse than normal. Oh and one more thing we decided not to tip the waiter. Who would? 

THE NORMAL BIRTHDAY

       That's right!!! Today was my birthday(Actually it was yesterday, but I haven't slept yet. So what the heck?). But I gotta admit. I 've had better birthdays. This was kind of the worst one so far out of the four years of my college(although I don't remember the one I had in my first year).

        Don't worry. It is not as bad as might think. It is not anyone's fault except mine because it has got to be someone's fault. This year, my pals even cut a cake for me at 00:00. Last year, they didn't even cut a cake for me. I'm not whining. It is just that I didn't even think that they might not find the time to buy me a cake. So I was disappointed at that front. Still I kept myself busy last year with the classes and then a visit to my uncle's.

         But this year, everybody was busy with placements and all the classes were cancelled. So I had hang out at the hostel all day. I didn't feel like moving out. So I spent the entire day with my laptop watching movies and series.

         In the evening, I did have a chance to take my friends for dinner but couldn't because I didn't have any money on me. So those plans had to be postponed. They would have had pretty disappointed as they were looking forward to it discussing it for about, I don't know, an hour.

        So, all in all, I had a calm birthday and nothing was extraordinary. Everything was just normal.

NORMAL POST 1

The Normal Post 1
                 Hello there! I 'm just a normal guy who couldn't find a better way to kill time other than the movies, series and the books.
                 Who am I? I 'm not a guy who stands out in the crowd and I say this in neither a good way nor a bad way. I'm literally normal. I 'm not a badass, I 'm not a gang leader or any leader, for that matter, I'm not the guy everyone wants to hang out with, I'm not a geek, I'm not a nerd and I'm not your friendly neighbour Spiderman. I'm just one among the group of people who get no attention,good or bad. People rarely recognize our kind because of the sheer number. We are everywhere. Not even the movies want to portray us much.
                 So, what I'm going to be doing is walk you guys through my activities, not the everyday ones, just the ones that I find interesting from a normal guys perspective. If you are one of the "cool" dudes you may not be a big fan of the things that I post. I don't blame you mostly because I don't care.
                 Having said all that, welcome to the life of a normal guy.