CDC Internship Diary — KPIT Technologies Ltd.

My background and experience

Internship process — Applications, tests, shortlists, and interviews

  1. ITC
    Apart from applying on the CDC portal, I was supposed to fill a form which comprised of sections like my projects/internship experience, Positions of Responsibilities and Extra-curricular activities and questions like my career goals, how would this internship benefit me, etc. The next round was GD but unfortunately, I wasn’t shortlisted.
    To be honest, I didn’t want to go for ITC because it had nothing to do with the automotive sector.
    For those who are interested, be descriptive (within word limits) in your answers to the above-mentioned questions.
  2. Bajaj Auto Ltd.
    Round — 1 (test):-
    The test comprised of these sections — analytical reasoning, Quantitative, English, Technical.
    The aptitude section of the test was very trivial and someone with even a rudimentary idea of mathematics, logical reasoning, etc can easily score the maximum in this section. The section dedicated to English was similar in nature but a good grasp of vocabulary will help you ace in this section.
    As expected, the technical section was the most complicated one. IC engines, failure theories, fasteners, solid mechanics, and some materials fundamentals were the concepts that the section consisted of. They focus a lot on IC engines — not just basic thermodynamic cycles, but also the knowledge about the effects of variations in A/F ratio, performance characteristics, gasoline and diesel engines, etc.
    Finally, I was shortlisted for the interview round.

    Round — 2 (interview):-
    Technical round:
    My panelist was focusing a lot on my CV instead of conceptual questions directly. Surprisingly, these guys, being a core company, were curious about my understanding of ML. Since it’s been quite a long time, I have faded impressions of the questions asked during the interview, in my memory. However, I have tried my best to recollect as much as possible.

    After a brief introduction from my side, I was asked the following questions.
    Q1. What do you know about Deep Learning and explain in detail about the working of CNN and the different layers associated with it?
    Q2. (I mentioned the project, “Traffic Sign Classification using CNN” in my CV.) What exactly did you do in this project? why did you use a “Dropout”? What issues would you face if the Dropout is removed?
    Q3. About the li-ion batteries project, what is the key idea behind this? Why did you go for Silicon?
    Q4. You have mentioned that you are working on a reactive muffler’s design. How did you go ahead with the design and calculation for this? Mention in brief the workflow that you have followed.
    Q5. Since you are associated with the powertrain team, you must have incorporated the design of the gearbox in general. So, how do you proceed with the design, material selection, and after performing a steady-state analysis, what is the next task to be done?
    Q6. You have designed the intake manifold for your car. What were the key steps that you followed during this? Which material did you select for fabricating it?
    Q7. You said that you have got your intake manifold manufactured by 3D printing. Which technique (SLS or FDM) did you choose and why? Can you explain these processes?
    Q8. You have worked on the self-driving cars project in your internship at IITB. What were your technical responsibilities in this project?

    Until this stage, I answered all the questions correctly and the interviewer seemed happy, as per his facial expression.
    Q9. Can powertrain components fail due to creep?
    I wasn’t completely sure about this question. I gave the answer and mentioned my uncertainty.

    The technical round lasted for about 20–25 minutes and then I was asked to wait for the HR round.
    Based on this round, I was almost sure that I was going to be selected. But, let’s hold on for some time ;)

    HR Round:
    The HR guy seemed to be more excited than I was after I joined the Teams meeting. After the introduction, came the questionnaire.
    Q1. Choose one of your projects and explain your contributions, the future prospects associated with it, and how would it benefit the technical society.
    After I was done with my answer, he came up with the set of questions on the project — technical and generalized.
    Q2. Why do you think Bajaj Auto would be beneficial for you?
    Q3. What do you know about our patent — DTSi technology?
    Q4. Do you have some questions for me?
    I had read about Bajaj’s most recent project, “Chetak”. So, I asked him about this. Also, I asked about Bajaj’s future plan to keep up with the industry.
    Q5. What are career goals and how do you plan to achieve them?

Advice from my side

  1. The entire duration from Day-1 to the moment you get selected is extremely frustrating and cumbersome. You’ll see your friends getting selected as time progresses, academics, preparation, etc. #summers_sorted, #machaya, #company_name, #andha_paisa start trending on your FB timeline and on the other hand, you have nothing on your plate.
    Just try to be calm and go ahead. If required, talk to someone about your frustration.
  2. If you are someone who wants to have an internship in the core sector, then patience is something that you require the most. Its a fact that some of your friends with little or no experience in their CVs will get selected in non-core profiles earlier than you do. But you’ll have to deal with it coz there’s no other option.
    Keep in mind that it is your interest that matters in the long run and not just an internship on Day-1 or Day-2.
    Also, it is recommended that you should be familiar with at least 2 out of these programming languages — Python, C/C++, MATLAB.
  3. Time management is vital during the CDC internship season. Your inability to do so might affect your preparation and/or academics, which will ultimately add to your frustration.
  4. (**)Never ever mention in the interviews/forms that you are interested in higher studies and/or research internships. You might not observe that change like I did, but I can assure you that you won’t be selected, no matter how qualified you are. This is true for placements as well.
    I understand that this is unethical but this is how it works. Companies won’t select you since they generally tend to offer PPOs based on your performance during the internship. Because you’re interested in higher studies, you are most likely to reject their offer. And this isn’t something that they want.
  5. Honestly, based on my experience of this season, if you have a CGPA > 7.5 or 8, you are good to go. I am not sure whether this is completely true or not, but higher CGPAs (≥9.4) tend to impart this idea to the companies that you might be interested in research interns and you might reject their offer. However, this is also a function of your resume. Hence I cannot generalize it and nor should you be concerned with this.
  6. Lastly, the entire procedure of the CDC internship is unpredictable, in my opinion. You may not know the reason why someone’s selected over you or why your interviewer is strict or tough to deal with and your friend’s interviewer is chill, why do companies prefer some departments over the others or CGPA as well. Just hold on, there’s some exciting opportunity waiting for you :)

Thank you for reading!
Hope this helps.
Good Luck!!

--

--

I’m here to resolve the “why’s” and “how’s” for myself and others, once and for all. | Website: keshavbagri.in

Get the Medium app

A button that says 'Download on the App Store', and if clicked it will lead you to the iOS App store
A button that says 'Get it on, Google Play', and if clicked it will lead you to the Google Play store
Keshav Bagri

I’m here to resolve the “why’s” and “how’s” for myself and others, once and for all. | Website: keshavbagri.in