Monday, July 9, 2012

Book Review - An Idiot, Placements and IntervYOU by Toffee




‘An Idiot, Placements and IntervYOU’ is a perfect self-help book for I.T. job aspirants.

Genre: Self Help/ Non-Fiction

Publisher: Times Group Books

‘An Idiot, Placements and IntervYOU’ is the first book by Toffee (real name Taufeeq). It is the non-fiction story of Taufeeq, who was a brilliant student during his school time. He joins one of the best engineering colleges, and then, like most of the engineering students, he too spends his time in doing just about anything, apart from studies. Finally, when he begins his final year of engineering, a question starts haunting his mind – ‘What next?’ It is then he starts taking his life very seriously, gives his best shot and gets placed in his dream company. You all must be thinking, what is the big deal about this, as almost every engineer gets placed in one or the other I.T. company. A year later after joining his dream company, Taufeeq decides to share his experiences regarding interviews and placement processes. As a result, he has come out with a self-help book that gives you in-depth knowledge and information about the complete interview and placement procedure, which is carried by I.T. companies.

As a first time writer, ‘Toffee’ (Taufeeq) has done an outstanding job. In this book, Toffee has minutely and very accurately explained the complete interview procedure.  Every step, every single topic, like Pre-placement talks, preparation of a Resume (pronounced as Kaminey, not Dhoom), preparation for the Aptitude Test, Group Discussion, Technical Interview, HR interview has been explained in such fine detail, that a reader like myself feels that why this book was not available when I had to prepare for such interviews. Even after spending 7 years in the I.T. industry, this book didn’t bore me at all. So, I am sure that the freshers will definitely find this book very helpful.

The biggest plus point of this book is that it is not just a basic self-help book. Toffee has included all the ingredients of placements and interviews, and has blended them so well in a sweet, touching, and inspirational story. The another plus point, apart from the correct and fine detailing of the interview procedure, is the one liners thrown here and there by the writer. Please allow me to mention some of them:

‘Fight against the situation, not against the rival...’

‘Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is just the noise before defeat...’

‘When you hate someone, just tell it. That’s better than showing it. And when you love someone, show it. That’s sweeter than telling it.’

‘There is nothing like right and there is nothing like wrong. There is happiness and there is sadness. What makes you happy is right, and what makes you sad is wrong.’

‘Life moves on... But don’t just let it pass you by...’

Few words regarding the writing style of Toffee... Well, I don’t need a few words, only one word is enough – Fantastic. Well deserved applause for the publisher as well for producing an almost error-free book.

I really didn’t find any serious negatives to write about. The only thing which disappointed me was the lack of originality in the one-liners. I found most them on internet, and hence they are taken from the internet pool. But then, they have been used very effectively.    

On the whole, Toffee’s ‘An Idiot, Placements and IntervYOU’ is a very well written and well explained self-help book for I.T. job aspirants. Each and every chapter is very minutely explained, and Toffee’s writing is flawless. While reading a book, I generally dog-ear the pages on which I like something. After finishing this book, when I looked at the book, I found many pages dog-eared.  I am going with well-deserved 4 out of 5 stars for Toffee’s ‘An Idiot, Placements and IntervYOU’.

Verdict: A perfect self-help book, with all the necessary details blended with a fine story.