Ankur is one of our campus recruits who joined Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) fresh out of college. Since then, he’s experienced first-hand what it’s like to transition to our unique engineering culture and become a valued member of the team. We caught up with him to help students get a clearer picture of what life at Oracle is like for a recent graduate.
The main attraction
Ankur has no qualms about admitting the initial reason he was drawn to Oracle. “At my college, Oracle was one of the big tech companies that came to recruit, so yes, its reputation in the market was definitely a deciding factor,” he confides. “Oracle is known for some of the hottest technologies in the market like Oracle Cloud and Autonomous Database. So I thought to myself that if I joined Oracle I’d be able to build a strong grasp of these new technologies as they emerge.”
The more Ankur learned about Oracle, the more he liked. “I also heard from several people working at Oracle that the work-life balance is unbeatable and that I’d have time for my personal commitments—as well as good compensation,” he adds.
Navigating the interview process
Now that he was sold on Oracle, Ankur went about selling himself to us. The interview process gave him a taster of what was to come.
“What I most liked about the application process was that all the interviewers were very, very supportive,” he recalls. “They’ll make you feel comfortable so that you don’t panic. They give a brief intro about themselves and what role they play at Oracle, then start with your resume and move to the technical questions. And they give lots of appropriate hints, corrections, and feedback throughout, which makes the whole process so much easier.”
The end-to-end hiring process includes four interviews, three of which are technical and one is behavioral. “Sound knowledge of maths, data structures, and algorithms will help you get through the written exam and technical interviews,” he advises. “Thankfully I felt very relaxed and comfortable expressing myself so it was all very manageable. The technical rounds included questions on coding, optimization, object oriented programming, competitive coding problems, data structures, and algorithms.”
First impressions
Ankur nailed his interviews and before he knew it his first day at Oracle had arrived. “I was a little nervous about how I’d get on with all these new people in this big organization, but as I went through onboarding and technical training, and met my manager and teammates, all my doubts just fell away,” he shares.
Ankur is now part of our Control Plane team which works on data integration within the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure ecosystem. “Control plane basically does the authentication, management, and allocation of OCI resources for data integration,” he explains. “So I influence the cloud side. I work on adding new features, investigating new design models for the service, and mitigating any production issues that show up.”
All aboard!
Rich onboarding helps college graduates settle into life at Oracle while having time to network with their new peers. “Onboarding was very smooth, informative, and interactive at the same time,” Ankur recalls. “As a new fresher just coming from college I was curious to know how things work, how people collaborate, and even how salaries were paid. So I was delighted on day one when all the freshers were introduced to each other and given this kind of information.”
Group activities and fun games made the onboarding process all the more memorable for Ankur. “Straight away I learned the importance of collaboration,” he notes. “Then meeting with my manager helped me understand my role in the team and what technologies we’re working on. We also attended some corporate citizenship events which showed me that Oracle isn’t just about an individual’s work or even a team’s. Oracle is big on giving back to society and I found that inspiring.”
All settled in
Onboarding came to an end, but the support and guidance of Ankur’s team remained. “All my team members make themselves highly available to me whenever I need them,” he describes. “They also helped me in understand our data integration services and control plane as a whole, which I really felt gave me a head-start. My manager is always just one message away. If I ever get stuck, I know my team will help me out. They really are the best.”
On the flip side, Ankur also has the autonomy to take ownership of his projects and organize his own working week. “I’m working on highly important projects that I have the freedom to run with. I find that the focus on work-life balance really rejuvenates me and makes me more engaged than ever in my work.”
Looking to the future
Ankur’s career trajectory at OCI slows no signs of slowing down. In fact, he’s got big plans for the future. “Down the line, say five years from now, I see myself taking up a leadership position,” he shares. “My plans are, firstly, to acquire more technical knowledge and get a deeper understanding of corporate-level product standards and expectations. I also plan to take more and more ownership of my team’s product.”
How to join OCI—and thrive
Does Ankur have any words of wisdom for aspiring engineers hoping to follow in his footsteps? “My advice is to get a head-start by building a strong background in maths and algorithms,” he instructs. “Then if you join us, try to interact as much as possible with your teammates, other teams, and leadership. You’ll learn so much about the work itself but also about their experience of working in the industry.”
Finally, Ankur recommends rolling up your sleeves and getting to grips with any challenges. “Try to dig into a problem as much as possible before asking your peers to weigh in. It’s always best to have a hands-on approach to solving problems.”
Want to join the team? We’re hiring engineers of all levels in India! Explore our career opportunities at Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and create the future with us.