“It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.”
Babe Ruth
Tania Malhotra, a freshman at Thapar Institute Of Engineering and Technology, Patiala, has faced her fair share of disappointments in life. But she sourced the drive and motivation to move ahead in life from those setbacks and has risen from her ashes like a phoenix bird. Now she is one of the Women Techmakers Engineering Fellows of 2020.
The Women Techmakers Engineering Fellowship program is a unique one organized by Talentsprint and supported by Google. It is aimed at identifying young women’s talent and developing them into highly competent professionals for the global tech industry. To learn more about this program, click here.
Read on to learn more about Tania and her journey.
Key takeaways from this interview:
- Tania’s story behind her motivation in life
- Major accomplishments in Tania’s life
- The application process for WTEF
- Why was Tania selected?
- Words of wisdom for future applicants
THE INTERVIEW
1. What is the story behind your motivation and drive in life?
After failing to get a decent rank in JEE exams, and landing in a tier-2 university, I had lost all faith in myself and my abilities. Because in India, it is a general belief that only engineers from IITs or NITs can do well in life. But then I accepted my failure and promised myself that I would give my best shot at whatever I do and make use of all opportunities I have. Then I came to know about this program, worked hard, and got selected. Now I am really grateful to get mentored by Google mentors and the best teachers by Talentsprint. This incident has taught me never to give up in life and also the fact that if one door closes, another opens with bigger and better opportunities.
2. What would you say are the major accomplishments in your life?
I consider being selected in the WTEF program as one of my major accomplishments. I’ve also been awarded the 21Under21 award at GS India Summit 2020 that recognizes individual efforts towards extraordinary contributors who have achieved heights under the age of 21 and created a great impact.
3. What was the application process to WTEF like?
We had to undergo a rigorous four-stage selection process. Firstly, we had to submit our application with our details and required documents. The selected applicants were invited for the online aptitude test which tested our analytical and quantitative reasoning. It consisted of moderate-difficult level logical reasoning questions. The next step was a language skills test where they tested our comfort and ease in using the English language. This test was imperative as the medium of communication during the course of the entire program is English. After clearing the first two rounds, we had an online coding assessment. This was entirely in Python and had questions that tested our programming skills. The questions required a thorough understanding of the concepts and revolved around predicting the output of a code snippet and writing python programs for the asked questions. Finally, we were called for round 4 -> The Online Interview wherein we were asked questions related to our personality, strengths, career goals, and vision besides our approach to coding questions asked in the online coding assessment.
4. What would you attribute your selection to?
I think I was selected because I kept my efforts high and expectations low. It was my hard work and sincere dedication towards whatever I do, that got me through. Of course, I would not forget to give some credits to my luck!
5. Any advice that you would like to share for the future applicants, from your experience?
Just keep calm while answering the questions. Indeed, the competition is tough, but with a clear understanding of the concepts and confidence in yourself, you can surely make through.
Tania’s story tells us how even the smallest setback in our life can be turned into a glowing success story. Her success is not pure luck. It is a result of the sheer amount of hard work and perspiration that she put in. Apart from being active in the tech field, she is also dabbling in the fields of content writing and digital marketing. Just like Colin Powell said, “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” As a WTEF fellow, Tania would now be able to shape her career and life and also inspire millions of girls around the world to do so!
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