Introduce yourself

As you know by now, I am Samik Sen. I have been named after a holy man cited in Mahabharata, who is
remembered with respect for his patience, politeness and merciful nature. I believe these are also the
qualities that characterize me.
I live in a suburb of Kolkata with my father. I lost my mother to leukemia when I was 2 years old. I grew
up under the care of my grandmother, who has been the greatest influence in every aspect of my life.
I have done my schooling in Kolkata, where I secured above 90% in both my ICSE and ISC exams. My
love for biology, especially medically important organisms was the reason for me choosing
Microbiology as my B.Sc. subject from Calcutta University. After that, I wanted to move into an applied
field; and the success of the HGP and my curiosity about computers led me to opt for M.Sc.
Bioinformatics.
As a person, I am soft-spoken and reserved. For me, emotions and family values hold a place of much
importance. I have been a steady performer throughout my studying years, and I believe I can sustain it
at my workplace as well.
My hobbies include reading literature, creative writing, and I also an avid film-watcher.

Strengths

I am regular, organized and disciplined. I am emotionally strong and mature. My concentration is not
easily disturbed by changes in the environment, and I think that helps me to be a fast learner.

Weaknesses

I am reserved and quiet; and I feel that a certain degree of improvement in my communication skills will
be of much help. I am excessively self-critical and believe in going deep into details of any work; which
sometimes may not be practically possible.

Greatest Success

While I was taking my ISC exams, my father suffered a heart attack. Apart from the anxiety and tension,
I also lost much study time as I had to visit the hospital twice daily. But in spite of that, I was determined
to stay focused and not to allow the pressure to take its toll on me. I finished my exams with confidence,
and the results were also up to the mark

Biggest Failure

I do not think much about failures in a negative sense. I believe that every situation in life has some
lesson to be learned which is more important. I rather like to look upon failures as a chance to
understand my inadequacies and rethink my priorities in life.
*** Specifically, due to the lack of a proper studying strategy and not paying enough attention to regular
practice in class 8, I was not able to secure good marks in the final exams. For that reason, I couldnt opt
for Computer Studies as an optional in my ICSE exams. I learned from that lesson, made a well laid-out
study plan, which helped me to fare well my Class 10 boards.

10 Years from Now

Being a student of bioinformatics, I have seen the enormous power, utility and scope of databases to the
academia and industry alike. I would like to learn and work in such a way that 10 years from now,
through my efforts, the country can boast of an indigenously developed DBMS that can be used for
academic as well as commercial purposes with maximum economy.

Also, think on your responses to the following:

Who has been your inspiration and why?

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o
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Examples of situations where you have demonstrated

Leadership skills somewhere in school or college
Team performer group project or something
Problem solving ability situation where you came up with something innovative

What kind of books you like to read and why?

What is it that motivates or encourages you you could say a challenging situation, an intelligent
discussion, good food etc

What is it that you hate or dont like lack of integrity, hypocrisy

Why should we consider you and not someone else this is essentially your USP an answer
could be I bring with myself an ability to keep my cool under difficult circumstances and creative
ability to solve tough problems this is why you need to think of examples of the situations as detailed
above.

What are the alternative career options that you would be looking at if you do not get a job on
campus/ some other option which interests you and why whatever you say, justify it with some
reasoning about knowledge upgradation and having an overall perspective or say it interests you because
of the scope to utilize your creative spirit in multiple ways dont mention about money or position.

Who has been your role model if any and why?

How do you perform within a group relate to the example of where you established your
credentials as a team performer.