Mechanical Engineering – Core Opportunities – Career Series

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Name: Mukul Kumar Jangid

Major degree: B-Tech (Mech’17)

Current Designation:  Associate Manager at Ather Energy

Your Personal experience:

Out of the campus, I joined Vedanta which is a massive natural resources company producing Alumnium, Zinc, Silver, Copper, Lead, Glass Fibres, Power, Iron ore, Steel, list goes on. Every metal here is a huge plant in itself (smallest of them atleast four times our insti). The grand scale of things was the driving force for me. I always wanted to work at a place which delivers physcal, fundamental and direct value to society like natural resources, power, automobiles, etc. So Vedanta was a good match for me in that regard. They were super generous to us and made us visit several plants to gain exposure of different industries and we did 2-3 months of stints everywhere (that included one CSR stint also ♡). At our base locations we went through rigorous exposure of how industries work. The technical side of it was super fascinating as the assets were very intricately integrated owing to the rich history of all these plant designs. For a technical explorer like me, this was brilliant. 

Another facet to this was getting introduced to the business part of it, understanding what all factors are important to run operations and make profits, how projects are taken at industrial scale and delivered in super-reliable fashion. All in all, this was a great all round experience for the time I spent there.

After that, I moved to Ather Engineering in search of something new and state of the art, wherein I work at the Factory making processes sustainable using systems.  

•  What were the various options available to you while choosing a career path? For ex: Higher studies in foreign institute, MBA or launching a startup?

I was involved in Formula Student for 3 years, so with that practical exposure, I really wanted to join an organization and apply those concepts of engineering/management at a bigger scale. So I was only focussed on core sectors as my priority. Had a couple of options to join startups but was a bit risk-averse at that time, hence chose to go with some stable stuff atleast to start with.

• What was the placement process involved in your company during your placements and necessary preparations required to crack it?

For most of the core companies, it was a very straight-forward process usually comprising of a test (basic aptitude + basic concepts of engineering which if you like engineering you tend to remember), then there would be a GD on current affairs usually, followed by a PI. Quant preparations are useful to give you the confidence for those kinds of assessments. 

I ofcourse prepared a cheat sheet for “tell me about yourself” kinda questions and I dont remember how much it helped me, but it was anyway fun writing/exploring answers to those questions. DM me for the “Top 10 questions you must prepare to crack HR peeps”, alternatively you will find some good stuff on DC++ also.

• What are your future plans? A startup, higher studies or you want to stay with the company?

I had no answer to this question 2 years back when I graduated, 6 years back when I stepped into college, somehow I feel I wont find an answer if I actively look for one also :P. So I am living the present which is nice and exciting, let’s see what time has in store. 

Higher studies relating to sustainable energy infrastructure, policy and strategy is something which can pull me out of any job today.

Philosophically, I find it very attractive to run a startup, solve a problem, generate employment and all of that, maybe I will wait for some more experiences & the higher studies bit (some money minting after that of course) before venturing in this highly seemingly-satisfying way of giving back.

• Could you tell us your experience of dealing with depression during your placement days due to reasons like placements in later stages or any other reason?

Placements can be very stressful at times. I remember myself being very sad on the day I couldn’t crack one of the companies I was aiming for ; first priority company for god knows what reason 🙁 

But I had my solution worked out, a straight conversation with my Dad & roommate (two most important people in life) just took off all the pressure. If you don’t know how to move on in life (maybe a bad breakup), placements might teach you a trick. Hopefully, you get what you are looking for but just in case 😛

Sometimes placements has a good amount of luck factor also playing its role, so you might end up not getting selected for those “Dream” company of yours, but its super important to not loose hope and get yourself sold out to some mediocre job/company just to get the monkey off, keep believing in yourself. In my experience its much better to have a job that interests you in an environment that values you rather than a day 1/2 company just because of its 1/2. Keep calm and be aware that its a long road ahead and this is just the first step.

One bonus meme to sum it up