Skills That Helped PW IOI Student Get Placed in Top Companies

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Self-Learning Skills Helped Build a Technical Foundation

One of the earliest lessons from Sanket’s journey was learning independently. His programming exposure began in Class 11 when Python became part of the CBSE curriculum around 2013. At that time, learning resources and teaching support were comparatively limited. This pushed him to develop self-learning habits early.

Key learning experiences:

• Learning programming concepts beyond classroom teaching

• Finding study resources independently

• Experimenting with coding projects

• Adapting when technologies evolved over time

A major takeaway was that technology changes quickly, making independent learning an essential long-term career skill.

Consistent Coding Practice Improved Problem-Solving Ability

Starting with simple coding exercises helped build confidence, but consistency became more important than complexity. Like many students balancing academics and competitive exam preparation, Sanket found it difficult to stay connected with programming during school years. However, returning to regular coding practice later strengthened analytical thinking and technical confidence.

Skills developed through coding:

• Logical thinking

• Breaking large problems into smaller steps

• Writing structured solutions

• Building patience during debugging

Regular coding eventually became less about syntax and more about solving problems efficiently.

Learning Beyond College Curriculum Built Industry Readiness

During engineering at Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology (MAIT), Sanket realised that classroom learning alone may not fully prepare students for industry expectations. This experience encouraged him to actively build skills outside academics.

Key areas of self-development:

• Exploring practical technologies independently

• Learning from online resources

• Focusing on current industry tools

• Building projects alongside coursework

This shift helped create a stronger connection between theoretical knowledge and practical application.

Internship Experience Developed Real-World Technical Skills

Internships became one of the biggest contributors to career growth.

1. First Internship: Frontend Engineering Exposure

Sanket worked as a Frontend Engineering Intern using Angular at a startup. This experience strengthened:

• Frontend development fundamentals

• Product-building mindset

• Team collaboration

• Working under deadlines

Teaching Assistant Experience Strengthened Debugging Skills

Another valuable experience came from working as a Teaching Assistant and helping students debug C programs.

Skills gained:

• Debugging large volumes of code

• Understanding multiple approaches to solving problems

• Identifying issues efficiently

• Communicating technical solutions clearly

This experience reinforced an important industry lesson: software development involves much more than writing code.

Second Internship: Building Real Products

At another startup project, Sanket worked on building a fashion recommendation application using Ruby on Rails and MySQL.

Key learning outcomes:

• Backend development

• Data handling

• Product thinking

• Building solutions based on available constraints rather than ideal conditions

This project demonstrated how practical implementation differs from classroom assignments.

Hackathons Improved Collaboration and Real-World Problem Solving

Hackathons played an important role in converting technical knowledge into applied skills.

1. Smart India Hackathon Experience

Working on practical challenges exposed the team to problem-solving under constraints,  team coordination, machine learning workflows,  backend and frontend collaboration. One important learning was that participation often creates more value than focusing only on outcomes.

2. Infosys Digital Hackathon Experience

Competing in hackathons further strengthened  Team communication, Solution design, Innovation under deadlines and presenting ideas effectively. These experiences also expanded professional networks and introduced new opportunities.

Networking and Participation Opened Career Opportunities

One of the most valuable outcomes of active participation came through an ISRO-related opportunity. While working on a satellite image processing problem during a hackathon, Sanket’s team gained exposure to advanced technical challenges involving large-scale image data. Although the team did not win, their effort created visibility and eventually led to an internship opportunity.

Skills developed through this experience:

• Technical curiosity

• Industry communication

• Relationship building

• Persistence despite setbacks

This showed that opportunities can emerge from participation itself.

Confidence and Communication Supported Professional Growth

Technical skills alone are often not enough during placements and professional growth. Sanket emphasised the importance of confidence while presenting ideas and communicating with teams. Important professional skills included:

• Explaining technical decisions clearly

• Speaking confidently

• Learning continuously

• Being comfortable with imperfections while improving over time

Confidence helped translate technical ability into visible impact.