Bharath Thippireddys Blog

Thanks to my Cousin Ramakrishna Tippireddy for sharing these details and his experience. He did his graduation and masters from India and is currently pursuing his PhD from the University of Southern California . The Important First Step Before you get started with the application process, it is important for you to be clear on why you want to do your PhD. Once you are clear start researching about your areas of interest and search for the Professors and research groups working in those fields. Contact the Professors with your CV and express your interest in their work. If they like your CV they may show special interest during the application process which makes a big difference to your application. PhD Application process: The PhD application process is similar to that of Masters (MS). At a high level these are the key areas which will be covered in detail in the sections below. 1) Decide on the area of research 2) Choose a University 3) Get in touch w...

Understanding the layers of the vendor onion is a must for every IT consultant .Though you have the required skills and work permits you can not just work as a consultant directly for a company in the US . Corporations in the US hire consultants only through a preferred vendor. Preferred Vendor is nothing but a business term for a body shopping company. And this preferred vendor will in turn have his preferred vendors who employ you. This can be compared to the Computer Networks OSI Model where the  layers below provide services to the layer above. The only difference in our case is that we are the only layer that provides services to all the layers above. Even when you get paid on a 80-20 percentage basis, depending on where you stand in the food chain you end up getting paid half or less than what the client pays the preferred vendor. So working directly for the preferred vendor or the client should be our goal as a consultant. Not all preferred vendors process our visas an...

1) The 'WHY' is important? Either quick money or exploring the planet, there is a reason why you want to travel abroad and it is important to develop clarity on this WHY. Knowing WHY will help you set your goals and also choose your path to go abroad. Here is my article on choosing your path . 2) Know the two types of companies Companies like Tata Consultancy Services will assure onsite opportunities with in a certain time period. Ask them clearly during the interview about their onsite rotation schedule and how long it will take for you to get there. The second kind of companies have good enough workforce employed abroad and their offshore base is mainly to get the work done for cheaper. These companies send you abroad on short trips which can range from a couple of weeks to six months. If your goal is to go abroad on lengthy trips then you should choose the former. 3) Make your Onsite goal time constricted Talk to you manager and understand how t...

1)Titles Dress Up Professionally Not Casual ,Not Gaudy but Formal and Simple Be Early This will give you time to relax,revise and settle down.The last minute rush will only add tension and then the chain reaction of disaster. 2)Introduction State your name with a firm handshake and a smile.Maitain eye contact when you do that and through out the interview.Wish them Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening .Though your technical rounds would have started in the morning ,your HR round might happen in the evening.So  be attentive and wish appropriately. Record and Remember Their Names This will show them your attentiveness and memory skills , when they ask you who took your previous rounds or when the HR asks - Who took your technical round ?. Names are also necessary when you follow up later on for the result.Faces are easier to remember than names. So a quick and easy way to remember names is to associate their names with their faces and the c...

As mentioned in my previous articles While In Campus , HR Round Questions and Answers ,researching about the company that you are being interviewed for will help you answer some of the tricky HR questions.What you talk about them will show your interest to join them and also your research and presentation capabilities.   Gather first hand information about the company from someone who is working for them.The questions you ask should be around - what they do,how big are they , their recent achievements and the range of salaries they offer. You can also gather this information from their website.The home page tells you what they do.The About Us section usually shows the technologies they use and how big they are .If the website does not have recent statistical data ,Google for the company name and you will find what you need and more. Once you know the products they develop and  some statistics from their website and recent press releases will help ...

If you are sitting opposite to a HR,then  you are just a few runs away from victory . Though attitude plays a key role throughout the interview process it is critical in the HR round as they judge how well you fit in to their corporate environment and the company’s goals. While helping "The Perfectionist" in the family with her HR Round recently we came up with the following Q&A .These answers are just examples and you will improve and learn only if you use them as guidance and come up with your own answers. Also replace the contents in the angular brackets appropriately. 1) Tell us about yourself You should start by introducing yourself. Then talk about your technical qualifications and percentages .You can give them some high level details about your projects. Read my article on Building your about me for more details. If you have not worked on your final year projects yet tell them about the certifications you might have done or the electives yo...

Whether it is a job interview or a visa interview there will be a point of wait. This could be waiting for the interviewer to come pick you up from the reception or standing in the visa line for an hour before you talk to the immigration officer. Along with your technical skills and communication abilities you should develop the required patience and concentration. While you wait, do not let your mind wander about your evening plans or  places you want to visit once you are abroad. You should use this wait time to revise what you have prepared and to organize your thoughts. This will make your brain stay focused on the task at hand. You can revise on topics like these: How should I introduce myself to the HR? How should I talk about the salary? How should I talk about my intentions in going to the US with the Immigration Officer? Revising your 'About Me' is not a bad idea. Time for a Self Check   When you are at your best and have answered every single ques...

With the increasing number of opportunities and the quality of life restoring in India you should take extra caution while leaving the country. What looks like a solid plan for the next few years might change the entire course of your life. The energies at this point of your life should not be used in any other means except for the betterment of you and your family. So it is important for you to understand and make a conscious choice on why and how to come to the USA. The list can be exhaustive and these are only a few popular routes. As a Student with average GRE scores A low GRE score means an admission in to a college with little or no Financial Aid. It will be an extension to your college/student life for sure. But there is an underlying struggle to study, work and earn a job. Unlike your bachelors where your parents will be bearing the fees, in most cases we feel obligated to pay back the big bank loan. Very few students here make it to the full time jobs. P...

There are different types of organizations you can start  from LLC, S Corp to C Corporation, Non Profit .Read the article at this link to see which one suits your business best. 1) Registering the company Once you know the type of business, you should choose a name for your corporation. You can register your company online for a nominal fee. There are several websites which check if the name you have chosen for your company is available and then help you register with the federal and state. They also offer other services like web hosting, creating a logo. Here is the one I used to register my company in 2007. When the registration process is complete you will receive a Federal EIN number along with other TAX Schedule documents from IRS and State in the mail. Organize and store them in a safe location. Document keeping should be a habit that you need to cultivate once you have your company. EIN (Employer Identification Number) is like your social security number which ...

There are several advantages incorporating your company. It will be the channel to express yourself in the area of your interest. You can be your Boss. Or even better you can train and place others. Or save some taxes while doing nothing.The options are unlimited and i am going to state a few here. Although you can start a company while on a VISA there are several impeding clauses. Check the following discussion forum thread for more. I suggest you wait until you get your EAD. It’s your product and you own it If you have that one idea which will change this world around then why sell it to those already rich corporations. Start your company and be the sole proprietor of your creativity. You can do this while still working for another company. Be Your Employer (5 star) I find it funny (ironic) the way companies work here. The concept of vendors, sub vendors and consultancies through which your dollars roll before they fill your valet is bureaucratically corrupt. The soone...

Coming up with an about me will help you answer the same question when asked differently by multiple people in the interview process. This is a good resume you have here; can you tell us more about yourself? Can you talk about the projects you have worked on? Can you give us a quick overview of your resume? Give us a brief Introduction of yourself. Even when they see your personal and professional details on your resume the reason they ask this question is to better understand your work, communication skills and how you express yourself. This is also your opportunity to market yourself and to create that first best impression. The about me drives the interview and the questions they ask you later. So it is important on what you choose to say. Building About You-self: Before you start building about yourself you should know yourself. Go through your resume multiple times and see how best you can answer each detail listed honestly. A good About Me should be no l...

This is the first article in the series of articles intended to guide a college grad in his journey from campus to his dream career if not a career.In this brief warm up article lets talk about what you can do while in college and also a few tips while researching for on/off campus interviews.I will be writing more about the interview process,higher education options etc in the future articles.Since my major was computer science and i claim to have good first hand knowledge of IT ,the examples sited will be mostly IT related and students from other fields/branches have to substitute appropriately. Knowing our-self - change begins here Only when we know about our-self can we improve.Do a self check,accept your weaknesses and use your strengths to overcome them.Work on your percentages and communication skills.They play a key role in the screening process once you get to the interviews.And there can not be a better time to fix these than while in college.While there are several book...