Nitish Kumar – Geek on the top | “An opportunity may come from anywhere, so always be prepared”

Geek on the top is all about success stories of Geeks who are working hard to chase their goals and are the inspiration for other geeks.

Nitish Kumar is a Computer science graduate who works with Amazon Prime Video and was a former intern at GeeksforGeeks. Nitish is also a certified DS Algo Programmer by MIT, HongKong University, and Codechef. Apart from programming, he is also very good at sports and believes that sports play a major role in keeping a programmer active and fit. Nitish likes to travel a lot whether it being a solo or a trip with friends. He recommends that one should always be prepared for opportunities prior to getting one.

How did you bag an offer at Amazon Prime Video? Could you share some tips for the same?
I was there at the right time and in the right place. I was in contact with a hiring manager from Amazon and got to know that there was a rare fresher opening at Prime Videos. I knew it was for me and So, here I am today, after 2 rounds in India and 5 interview rounds in London, working at Prime Video.
The interview was totally different compared to what we have for Amazon India. In almost every round I was told a story, which in the end resulted in a design or a coding problem. My entire interview was dominated by Amazon’s 14 leadership principles which I had mugged up while I was on my flight to London. During my interview, I had to present my past experience to the interviewers in the form of a case study that exhibits those of Amazon’s 14 leadership principles.
Almost all tech interviews are the same. Just make sure you are strong at implementation and comfortable with whiteboards. Solve some problems with LeetCode and GFG. Keep your LinkedIn profile updated and always be prepared. It is better to be prepared and not get an opportunity rather than getting an opportunity and not being prepared for it.

How was your experience working with GeeksforGeeks? How has it helped you in your journey?
It was wonderful. I was associated with GFG for quite a long time. During my internship at GFG, I published a series of articles on Advance Data Structure and Algorithms. Obviously, writing helped me a lot in conveying my thought process. I got a better idea to present complex things in a simpler way in front of a larger audience. I will be very honest, I have faced an interview where the interviewer asked me from the same article that I published on GFG. So, yeah! It helped me a lot.

You are also active in sports. Do you think students ignore these activities? What are your suggestions on that?
Again, to be honest, I was/am very lazy but I had done quite a few sports in my college. I was good at football and was trying hard at table tennis. There are three things that you will never regret – earning more money, traveling and keeping yourself fit. So, yes – one should play some sports.
Nowadays, students lack in extra-curricular activities and have become technology dependent. It is very important to have some kind of physical activity as it helps to free both the body and mind. I feel that it could be anything, you could go running, or gym or sports, but physical activity helps you to be active and work faster and better. Many students ignore these activities thinking that they would take up their time and waste time in which they can work, but the real fact is that these activities help one to become fresh and fast, and they will then be able to do more work and better work in lesser time.

You were awarded as Junior Programmer of the year. What made you so keen towards programming?
Yes, It was my first year. With my limited set of knowledge and hours of google searches, I was able to win my first debut programming contest. I had always been ambitious. So, maybe that made me so keen towards programming.

What do you like to do in your spare time, apart from programming?
In my spare time, I watch some web series, check out some memes, go out for food, hangout with friends. Recently, I have developed my interest in traveling (both solo or with friends) and that’s my plan for the next few years.

You are a deep follower of Data Structures and Algorithms. Do you think it is the most important subject? If not, which are?
Well for students, I can say that DS and Algorithms are most important subjects as it lays down foundation for other set of skills that they will need in their Software Engineering career. But said so, students should also focus on other important CS fundamentals like OOPs, databases and most importantly, writing clean and robust code. Many students in their early programming days like getting their hands dirty with Competitive Programming. I personally, spent 2 years of my life doing it and would suggest students to taste this water. It is addictive and eats up a lot of your time but in the end, it teaches you one of the most crucial things that you will need in your software engineering career i.e. “Computational Thinking”.

What is your one in a million advice to students pursuing engineering?
I have a set of {advice}:
i) Everyone has a dream but not everyone has a plan. So, always have a plan.
ii) Take calculated risks.
iii) Build your network, it will help you a lot.
iv) It is slightly difficult but as said by Bezos, try to be “Right a lot”.

Nitish can be reached on LinkedIn, Github

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