How IIIT-B student turned 'learning opportunity' to Rs. 1.2cr Google-package!
What's the story
For 22-year-old Mumbaikar Aditya Paliwal, what began as a learning opportunity resulted in a job offer from Google's prestigious New York-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) team, at a bumper package of Rs. 1.2cr! The Integrated M.Tech (Computer Science) student at the International Institute of Information Technology-Bangalore (IIIT-B) is attending his convocation today, and will join Google within 10 days. Here's his inspirational story.
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College converted his "passive interest" to an "active" one
Aditya started coding sometime around Class 8, he told TNM, but at that time, it was more of a passive interest. It was only when he entered IIIT-B that "the curriculum and the environment made the passive interest grow into an active interest."
Beginning
Entering ACM marked the beginning of something unexpected
Aditya's (unplanned) journey into Google began when he applied for the prestigious ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest. "It's open to all students across the world. You apply with your resume along with a Statement of Purpose and a recommendation letter. Based on this, they shortlist you, and there are subsequent rounds of interviews. At the end of it, you get the job."
Progress
Aditya beat 50,000 people from world over to emerge finalist
This time, the ACM, which ended in April, saw some 50,000 participants from a total of 111 counties and 3,098 universities. After beating 6,000 others who cleared the preliminary round, he was one of the 50 finalists along with teammates Simran Dojania and Shyam KB. Of the 50 who landed a job at Google's AI Research wing, five are from India, TNM says.
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Focus was always on learning, meeting people, not job: Aditya
Aditya told TNM his focus was always on learning, and not a job. "I knew I'd have one year at the end of the course to refocus on employment tests, so the focus was mostly on learning (new) things and meeting interesting people and ideas."
Plans
Aditya loves spending time driving, playing cricket or football
Now that he's landed the offer, he admits it was kind of a "big deal." He will now work with AI Google Residency Program for a year, which can turn into full-time placement afterwards, FE reports. Aditya's parents own and operate a family business. His younger brother is studying Commerce. Apart from programming, Paliwal is passionate about driving, cricket and football.