I worked for 11 months at Cognizant. And throughout this brief work experience, I picked up a lot of technical, psychological, and emotional knowledge after being selected for a position through the campus placement process on December 2, 2020. I still recall the day. On one random late afternoon, I walked down the stairs while checking my Whatsapp group messages after finishing lunch. And suddenly, I noticed congratulatory messages appearing on my screen. I stood there startled, seeing my name tagged before the common word I had posted for many of my friends before that day. Dozens of people congratulated me. I realised I was to now start experiencing a whole big expansive journey of the corporate environment.
You get numb to these thrills after having four final-round interviews denied. I checked the Lists section of the Placements Group to find the Cognizant Technology Solutions Pvt. Ltd. list. I started skimming the list like a little boy hunting for his favourite ice cream, quickly remembering the day of my interview. Several feelings are present at that time, including confusion, fear, and excitement. And there was my name; my good buddy Ashutosh Mathur phoned me shortly after it appeared. Congratulations to me, first and foremost. While we were still in the conversation, he told me to go inform my parents. I don't know if he still has the recording he claimed to have made of it.
It's always special for every engineer the day they get placed. It becomes even more unique when you see the smile on your father's face.
Thus life at Cognizant began with an Internship of 6 months starting the following January. Thrilled to begin the journey, completing the paperwork and the onboarding and induction process. I was assigned to a cohort of Advanced Java. INTADMAJ003, the cohort of 29 interns all ready to begin their journey with me. What I felt was unique to all was that they were all part of a group formed from students of different colleges and geographical locations, but our destination was the same. Cognizant Pune Office at Hinjewadi. Getting the opportunity to intern in web development was something I always wanted to do if I ever worked in the IT industry. And thus, with Rajini Sir, we began our daily sessions.
