How did HE get a CORE job right out of college?

“Luck is when preparation meets opportunity,” says Jatin Chotaliya, who joined a CORE company right out of college. 3 years into Ambetronics Engineers Pvt. Ltd., he quickly rose to the position of Project Manager and currently works on In-vehicle networking systems of India’s first indigenously designed sports car. What interests us is how did he start his career as an R&D engineer after his BE from Mumbai University.

Why did you not join IT services?

I got selected on campus by HCL technologies. But, I was not keen to do a desk job or write endless lines of code. Moreover, I chose to pursue engineering in electronics because I loved hardware electronics. I decided not join HCL.

How did you get your current job?

I realized in my second year that core companies hardly come for campus placements. I was determined that I will not join an IT services firm and waste my four years of engineering. So, I started talking to seniors and friends who worked for core industries. Many suggested internship was the way to go. I tried couple of companies, none entertained me. They all wanted to know if I have done any projects!

I decided to make a project. Since, I wanted to get into automotive industry, I built a datalogger. I took this project to the company that had refused to give me an internship. This time, they not just entertained me, they recruited me! That’s my story!

Three tips you would give for engineering students who aspire for a core job

1. Identify your favorite industry. It can be automotive or electronic products or manufacturing. Narrow down companies in that area. Thoroughly study the company website, their products and solutions, follow their blogs and media reports. Also, stay updated with current trends in that industry. Primarily, get to know the industry and the company as if you are already working!

2. Make a prototype or a proof of concept to improve an existing solution provided by that company. The improvement may be incremental. You do not need to innovate to a great extent to catch their eyeballs.  If you do manage a game changing innovation, world is at your feet. I insist again, make projects.

3. Lastly, as many of us assume, making projects is not expensive. With the open source revolution, almost every tool and software has an open source alternate. All you need to do is break the INERTIA.

All the Best!