Become only better and never anything lesser!

In conversation with Praveen Krishna, a student of Programming Pathshala who believed in the power of success after getting better at programming and never looked back. For him, he could only move forward from there and never stopped believing that he can be any less successful than he is today..

#100Stories is a series of transformational stories of courage and indomitable will to excel, picked from the lives of tech students, particularly in India. Initiative by Programming Pathshala.

Hi Praveen, Would you like to Introduce yourself?

Hey, my name is Praveen Krishna, I am currently in my Final year of engineering from TKM College of Engineering, Kerala. I am a full stack developer and would like to Thank Programming Pathshala for the same. I had offers from 3 organisations in my hand and chose to move forward with Oracle as I feel Oracle is one of the best organisations out there.

Oracle is definitely one of the best organisations out there and we are so happy for you Praveen, so tell me, how excited are you to join Oracle next year?

Hailing from a Tier-3 college, I have never really been very fond of Academics as the exposure that we get here is very less in comparison to what this Industry needs. What we actually learn in academics is not exactly what we use when entering this Industry and I am very excited for the kind of exposure that I am about to witness in Oracle as it will be very different from studying academics in my college haha, so yea I’m really excited as well as curious to join Oracle from next year.

Now that you’re already a part of Oracle’s team, I would like to know your experience with the Interview process of Oracle.

So mine was an On-Campus Interview where they had a few rounds and beginning was with the Aptitude round. Under the Aptitude round they had multiple rounds, multiple sections. I faced a few technical issues from my end during the aptitude round due to which I couldn’t attempt 2 sections and wasn’t hoping to get any response from them, but to my surprise my name was there in the list, and the next was Technical round for which I was confident enough to crack as I have been preparing from a long time with Programming Pathshala. There were 3 technical rounds after which was a HR round.

Everything went really smooth, it was definitely challenging but as I was prepared I didn’t have to worry much.

People who were getting selected in one round were sent to the next round which was a Zoom meet and there we were kept in a Waiting room and had to wait for our turn, then if you get selected, you will be sent to the next round. It was a very long process but Interesting at the same time, Interviewers were really nice and if any of my interviewers does watch/read this, Obviously Respect to them!

Amazing Praveen, so How did you get to know about Programming Pathshala?

Honestly, if it was today that I would’ve been searching for Programming Pathshala. It would’ve been easier for me to find than those earlier days of Programming Pathshala. Now it’s a well established company and you have people from all parts of the country. Back in the days when I joined, it was just a startup and as I am not from North India so it was difficult for me to get to know about the organisation. So one day I came across a LinkedIn post talking about some Misconceptions about studying DSL. They were talking about how companies hire and that post was really fascinating. After that I talked to a couple of people who are actually in the organisation and read a few good reviews. Later, I decided to join and that was the best decision I could make.

That’s so nice Praveen, so how has been your Problem solving skills before and after joining Programming Pathshala? Has there been any difference in the same?

Honestly, I wasn’t good at Problem solving at all. I joined Programming Pathshala from the Genesis Batch which isn’t available now. Back in those days, Vivek bhaiya used to take the Interview before we join the course and I didn’t do well in the Interview, due to which even Anoop bhaiya asked me to Stand out of the course as he felt that this wouldn’t fit in my pipeline. Finally, they decided to take me in but because the DSA that I learned in the college was very different from what they were teaching, I struggled with the course Initially as I joined late too but slowly started being better at it. The only one thought that I had in my head was it is my “Parent’s hard earned money”, which I’ve spent on this course, so no matter what, I had to get better at it. As the course proceeded I started being more consistent with it, and due to consistency I started seeing Progress, even if it was slow but I knew I was moving forward and decided to never look back. Earlier I even had to look at other people’s codes as well as I couldn’t solve many problems on my own but after 3–4 months of the course, I started solving problems on my own. It feels so amazing to realise from where I started and where I am now!

To see where you’re standing now, makes me feel so happy as well Praveen, Now tell me who has been your favourite at Programming Pathshala?

Umm Faculty wise, I will have to take the name of Vivek bhaiya. We got to see less of Bharat and more of Vivek but even so, the teaching skills that Vivek bhaiya has are incomparable, he is the best teacher I have seen so far in my life, not like Bharat is any less good but the fluency and everything about teaching comes very naturally to Vivek bhaiya. He doesn’t even have to remember anything but simply knows it all. So yes, Vivekananda bhaiya is the best!

He is one of the best teachers out there, Indeed! So Praveen, it has been a journey of many months together, is there any value that you’ve seen Programming Pathshala following and you’d like to take that ahead with you in life?

One thing that I like about here is “Culture”, You don’t get to see a culture so similar in colleges which are non-IIT’s or non-NIT’s. In colleges it’s mostly about completing syllabus, but when you’re put into a community of students, who have similar ideas, then you kind of tend to develop your knowledge. It’s like a sense of community, where you have similar objectives, and it can make a huge difference. That is something that I have learned from Programming Pathshala. Everyone is so approachable here, people like You, who we can talk casually to, so basically these are the cultural values that I will be taking forward with me from Programming Pathshala.

So what kept you motivated throughout the course, Praveen?

Doing DSA is some motivation by itself if I’m not wrong. When you start to get the questions accepted, when you’re trying out questions, you’ll get the results, right? When you’re actually solving the problem, that in itself is a satisfaction.

In the very beginning, like I said before, I was finding it really difficult to solve the problems and catch up with other people. So the only reason why I was motivated was my “parents money”, but after a certain point, when you start getting a little good at it, when you start seeing progress yourself, you will know that you can get better at this. That is a realisation from which you will never feel like going back and only moving forward. So I feel my progress towards the course is exactly what kept me motivated throughout the course and landed me with Oracle today.

Before you leave Praveen, any parting words for Programming Pathshala and our budding SDE’s?

A lot of people join Programming Pathshala for Placements or to get into a good company, so their end motive are Results, right! So what I have to say here that sure Results can be your driving force but that shall not be the only objective that you should work towards. Don’t think about the results when you’re working for it. Most important thing is to Love what you do, start loving what you’re working upon and you’ll start seeing results on it’s own. Understand that if it was Easy, everyone would’ve gotten it, everyone would’ve been able to ace it, but it isn’t so right. If you ever feel bad about yourself and your preparations, think about me, remember if you’re bad, I was worse but it was all in my willpower that made me stand where I am today, so just believe in yourself and not results so much.

Thank you so much for giving me your time Praveen, it has been amazing having a word with you and we wish you nothing but a very bright future ahead as a successful SDE at Oracle.

You can also start your journey with Programming Pathshala now. Logon to www.programmingpathshala.com and take a free trial today.

Have a doubt or suggestion? Reach out to us at info@programmingpathshala.com