Pune's Placement Titans 2 | From a Late Start to a Mastercard PPO | Kajal Israni | Entrance & Beyond

Think you're too late to start preparing for placements? So did Kajal. She wasn't the earliest to begin her preparation, but she stayed consistent, made the most of every opportunity, actively participated in clubs and extracurricular activities, and eventually secured a Product Development Internship at Mastercard, converting it into a full-time PPO. In this episode of the Entrance & Beyond Podcast, Kajal shares her complete placement journey—from college struggles and preparation strategy to clearing the Online Assessment (OA) and Hackathon, balancing academics with extracurriculars, networking with seniors, and succeeding in the corporate world. Whether you're in your 2nd, 3rd, or final year, this episode is filled with actionable insights for placements and internships. What You'll Learn 0:00 Guest Introduction 2:45 Background & College Admission Struggles 3:33 First Day of College 4:39 "The Game Isn't Over Till the Last Ball" 5:50 Clubs & Extracurricular Activities 6:55 Seniors More Like Friends for Life 8:07 First Insights into Placements 10:20 Day in the Life Two Months Before Placements 11:30 DSA Resources & Preparation Strategy 12:00 Core Subjects & Daily Routine 15:06 Mindset Shift That Changed Everything 17:00 Building a LeetCode Profile 17:35 Preparation Before Applying & Online Assessment Experience 20:30 Placement Lessons & Clear Strategy 22:10 Why Starting Today Matters 22:50 Don't Cheat in Online Assessments 24:25 DSA Topics Ranked 26:40 Hackathon Experience 28:30 Hackathon Day 30:00 Multitasking During the Hackathon 30:40 Biggest Mistake She Made 31:35 Networking Tips 34:10 Internship Experience & Corporate Learnings 38:31 Interacting with Senior Managers 39:07 A Day in the Life at Mastercard 42:47 Final Message 🌟 Key Takeaways 🚀 Late start, strong finish 💻 OA preparation strategy 🏆 Hackathon tips & learnings 📚 DSA roadmap 🧠 Core CS subjects 🎓 Clubs & extracurriculars 🤝 Networking with seniors 💳 Mastercard internship journey 📈 Corporate & PPO lessons 🎯 Placement & internship tips 📚 Resources Mentioned 💻 LeetCode – DSA Practice https://leetcode.com 📖 Striver A2Z Sheet – Structured DSA Roadmap https://takeuforward.org/dsa/strivers... 🎥 CodeHelp by Babbar – Core CS Subjects ‪@CodeHelp‬ 👩‍💻 Guest Kajal Israni 🔗 LinkedIn:   / kajalisrani   🎙️ Host Aparimeya Tiwari 🔗 LinkedIn:   / aparimeyatiwari   🌐 Follow Entrance & Beyond 📸 Instagram:   / entrance_and_beyond   💼 LinkedIn:   / entrance-beyond   Disclaimer The views, experiences, preparation strategies, and interview process shared in this episode are based on the guest's personal journey. Recruitment processes, interview rounds, and evaluation criteria may differ across companies, roles, teams, and hiring seasons. This podcast is intended for educational and informational purposes to help students prepare more effectively.