Your Timeline for 4 years of Productive College life

A very important thing in your college life is to manage both academics and extracurricular activities. Please ensure that you have a balance on both. Here I will give a list of things you should do from the beginning, but I came to know only in my third year.

I have also provided a sample checklist, a template at the end of the article. Do check that out.

The Reality

Nevertheless, it was not too late. I was able to manage things but missed a lot of opportunities for two silly reasons, one was self-doubt (which you should kill as soon as you enter into your college life — missing an opportunity will be even more painful rather than not even trying it).

There will be so many people who will be less skilled than you but still got the opportunity to do it because they took action and believed in themselves. Jump in, you can develop the skills on the go.

The second reason is as silly as it sounds. I thought I will not be able to manage both academics and extracurricular activities, which is a myth. If you plan your work properly, manage time, and prioritize things it will be very simple.

Learn to balance because your extracurricular activities always have value in your resume, never miss them.

Yes, now we will get into the list:)

For the first 2 years — Take baby steps!

Have a good connection with your college seniors (Networking). Get involved in extracurricular activities. In the first 2 years, you will not be able to hold any positions but volunteer in events. Also, explore all the domains.

Participate in workshops, seminars, and webinars and learn new technologies. This is the time when you can do courses and get certifications, say machine learning, web development, VLSI, etc.

Now that by the middle of the second year, you will be more specific about your domain, you can ask seniors who have chosen your path and what they did to stand out from the crowd.

You can always use LinkedIn to connect with people outside your college. Please participate in contests and hackathons with your seniors and learn how they do.

For the last 2 years — You will be entering into the adult phase!

So the next two years will be very crucial. Now it's time for you to lead! Yes, there will be elections, and there will be a selection for club heads in your college. Ensure you give it a try and don't worry about rejections.

Before entering the 3rd year, you will have to do projects in the domain you want to. Please approach professors in your domain and start working on that project. Learn the necessary skills and do proper research work.

After entering into 3rd year, it is time for you to do internships. Now that you have a project in your hand and necessary skills, look out for internships. Participate in hackathons. You now will have a better idea and be able to lead and guide your team in the competitions. Remember participation is more important.

Later then you will be entering into the important stage — Placement Preparation!

Checkout these articles for Placement Preparation:

• Free certifications that are worth on your resume
• Resume mistakes to avoid
• Excel in your Technical Interview
• How to get your First Research Internship
• Tell me About Yourself
• How to write a research paper?

Writing and publishing papers are additional add-ons to your profile. You can do them after this checklist(projects, internships, and hackathons).

SAMPLE CHECKLIST/ TEMPLATE: