Data Science 101: Part 1

The idea for this project arose because one of the most common questions I am asked is: “how do I obtain a position as a data scientist?” It is not just the regularity of this question that got my attention, but also the diverse backgrounds from where it was coming from. And through these conversations, it has become apparent that there is a huge amount of misinformation out there, which has left people confused about what they need to do, in order to break into this field.

I decided, therefore, that I would investigate this subject to cut through the BS and provide a useful resource for anyone looking to move into commercial data science – whether you are just starting out, or already possess all the necessary skills but have no industry experience. And so I set out with the aim of answering two very broad questions:

• What skills are required for data science, and how should you go about picking these up?
• From a job market perspective, what steps can you take to maximise your chances of gaining employment in data science? 

Before we start off, it's important to know that the field of data science is incredibly broad and vaguely defined field. However, data science involves a skill-set that is somewhat bounded, if not incredibly broad. Here is a chart showing the skill set required for a data scientist.

Step 0. Fulfilling the prerequisites

Before you start to learn about the tools and techniques used in data science, you need to get your basics right. Basics in data science means maths, stats and machine learning.

1. Math
1. Start with Khan Academy's linear algebra course. You can skip this if you find it to be too basic.
2. Follow it up with MIT’s Linear Algebra course. Use Gilbert Strang’s textbook to go through it faster. Make sure that you understand matrices properly. The basic idea of learning linear algebra is to get you familiar with matrix computation. Matrix decomposition algorithms are fundamental to many data mining applications and are usually underrepresented in a standard "machine learning" curriculum.
2. Stats
1. i. Start with Udacity’s Intro to stats
2. ii. Use OpenIntro’s textbook to brush up. (Optional step, can skip if you want).
3. Machine Learning
1. i. Start Andrew Ng’s CS229. This is the course for ML. It doesn't involve hardcore coding, just some maths and basic matlab skills. Anyone with no experience of coding can also follow it.
2. ii. Use Practical ML by John Hopkins to brush up.

Step 1: Baby steps

1. Basic coding: This is the one of three pillars on which the field of data science stands. And you will need to be very good at this to excel in the field of DS.
1. For DS, Python is the language to learn. There is no running away from this. 
• Start with Codeacademy's python tutorial and try to finish it as fast as you can. 
2. Setup your system now itself. Use Anaconda available here to setup a Python IDE as well as Ipython notebooks.
   
2. Data Structures & Algorithms: Once you are familiar with the environment and the basic syntax of Python, it's time to learn the basic algorithms and data structures in Python.
1. Learn DS and Algos using Interactive Python
2. Once you're done with the above course, you need to practice what you've learnt otherwise you'll forget it.
1. Get an account on Hacker rank and solve their algorithms section using Python. 
2. Then solve Hackerrank's Data Structure section using Python. These two steps are very important.
3. Databases: As a data scientist, you will need to learn two database solutions. One SQL based(e.g., MySQL) and a NoSQL solution (e.g., MongoDB).
1. SQL: This is a very good place to learn the basics. W3 schools tutorial
2. MongoDB: Tutorials Point has a good resource on MongoDB. Complete it.
4. Learn R: R is a statistical computation language, and the most preferred language by data scientist.
1. Install R.
2. Install RStudio
3. Install SWIRL and learn R. One of the best resources to learn R

At this point, I should tell you that you know almost all the tools that are required at present for you to continue with DS. From this point onwards, DS becomes an art. You have the tools, how you use them depends on you.

As an aside,from here you can go in two directions. If you are disciplined enough, you can take up Harvard's CS109 course available here. But there's a catch. You need to do this course within two months. All problem sets are designed as such. 

                                                              OR

You can continue to work through this manually, taking small steps according to your pace. 

NOTE: Part 2 of this guide will be published in two days.

Hacking Campus Placements

Campus placements have started and I have attended the placements process, both from college and a few good startups off campus. It was tough initially, but I finally got offers from two companies, one of which is Mu Sigma. And it seems like I have learnt a lot about how placements and job interviews work during this period. So I decided to jot down the general preparation tips & tricks that will help you crack these placements.

Note: Campus placements in general are going to be a bit tighter than the previous years given the current economic situations and the general slow-down in hiring. Only the best of the best will have the chance at grabbing the jobs and that means, the ones who start preparing earlier will be ahead of the competition. If you're in your third year, it would be immensely helpful if you start preparing now. And for the record, getting placed from campus is much easier than off-campus and your best chance for a job. If you've any doubts or questions, please visit syedmisbahahmed.github.io.

Important note: This is going to be a long read. I didn't want to write another skeleton post which states outlines while missing out essential information. Grab a cup of coffee, and read on.

First off, let's get a few things straight.

• Placements/ Interviews can’t be cracked without preparation. I cannot stress this enough. You can be very good in your academics or technical stuff, but that’s not enough. You should be interview ready. You have to prepare for it very thoroughly.
• CGPA/Aggregate doesn’t matter. If you can cross the minimum cut-off required by the company (say 7+ or 65%/70%). Once you cross that threshold, everyone have equal chances to get the job. No one cares if you’re a 9 pointer/topper or not.
• Interviewers look for co-working skills. All they want is to hire someone they want to work with. A good mix of intelligence and communication skills go a long way.
• Placement statistics. Don’t worry about the CTC you see in Indian media about IIM/IIT grads getting Rs. 60L+/$100,000 packages. It doesn't paint the whole picture. They don't tell you that all this CTC includes stocks, bonuses and loans. These numbers are not adjusted for PPP, so don't worry about them. Your purchasing power varies by county. Here is a PPP Salary Calculator you can use to estimate how much your salary in another country will be equivalent to in India. 

This post will be divided into five parts.

1. Profile Building
2. Resume Writing
3. Aptitude Preparation
4. Interview/GD Preparation
5. Hey, I'm still not placed. Why?

Profile Building

This section will focus on your profile building. A lot of students make the mistake of thinking that their profile/resume does not matter at this stage. Newsflash, they do matter. So make sure you've a very good profile and a well-written resume.

In general, this is what a resume should contain.

Assuming that you are in your 2nd/3rd year at college, there is still time to improve your potential resume. And this is how you go about it.

1. Educational profile: Although I do agree with the fact that your marks don't really matter in the end, try and get marks so that you satisfy the eligibility criteria of 65/70%. You're talented, but talent won't get you anywhere if you don't have access to a platform to showcase your thing. A good coursework history provides you that platform. Getting good grades matter in that context.
2. Academic achievements: 
1. Can you take up some professional courses and certifications on Coursera/Code Academy/Udemy? Do it. 
2. Can you take up a voluntary project under a professor? Do it. 
3. Can you work/partner with a fellow student/professor/RA on a research paper or article in a reputed journal? Do it.
3. PoRs: 
1. Be involved in as many clubs/organizing committees as possible. 
2. Volunteer for social causes and NGOs.
4. Internship: 
1. Have an internship where you have a specific and clearly laid out set of responsibilities and deliverable 
2. Get a letter of recommendation / endorsement from your direct manager. 
3. Clearly ask for the measurable impact of your work in terms of business efficiency, revenue/cost impact, process improvement, increased outreach etc.
5. Extra curricular: This is probably the easiest part. Any hobby/interest that you have, you can and should nurture it.

• Like writing? Start your own blog or start writing for a website. 
• Like painting/sketching? Get a place at an art gallery. 
• Love coding? Design a good app or website.

A word of caution about your hobbies: Do not lie. If your interviewer is good, he/she will recognize your lie. Secondly, your hobby should actually be an hobby. What is a hobby?
Well, "watching movies" is not a hobby, if you are not aware of the current movie releases, some famous directors, their movie making style, some basic movie genres, and who played who in some famous movies. When I mentioned "blogging" & flight simulation" as my hobby in Mu Sigma, I was asked about the last blog post I wrote and a couple of questions related to flight simulation. So you need to fully prep your hobby. "Watching TV", "playing cricket", "shopping" and "photography" do not qualify as hobbies unless you are really passionate about it and you can show that you've done something tangible. However, you should be able to bring your interviewer around. Whatever you do, don't fake it. They know.

Warning: Keep a written/online verifiable record of everything - from school certificates to course completion ones. When you put something down on your CV, make sure you have the data to back it up. If not, call up your school/college/organization to get it.

Resume Writing

Okay. So you've worked hard to build your profile. Now is the time to design a kick-ass resume. Before we start, you should know this. Recruiters do not read your resume; they do a 15 - 30 second "spot check" of your resume, so keep it simple and awesome.

Step 1: Do's and dont's 

• One Page resume: If Elon Musk can have a one page resume, you sure can. It looks a little silly to see someone just out of school with a two-page resume.
• No Objectives: All an objective does is state, in a wordy way, what position you're interested in. The company already knows that because you applied for a particular position. At best, it'll just waste space. At worst, it'll limit you since it'll exclude other positions that might have been interesting to you. 
• Use a template: Unless you're great with design, you probably shouldn't be creating your own resume template. It'll most likely look sloppy. Use a template, You can just choose a tool you want to use (like Google Drive), and search for some templates. eg. Creative Templates
• Use Columns / Tables: You should use Columns/Tables to keep Data organised and this makes it easier to read and saves space. Just make sure to hide the borders afterwards. 
• Use Formatting: Use Bold, Underline, bullets to highlight important content accordingly, It is very important to have some hot points in resume and more important to be able to highlight them. In my case, the Products I contributed to and their links are of high importance so I chose to annotate them with Underline [Please avoid using many colors]
• Choose a good tool: In my case I prefer Microsoft Publisher, which has good templates for resumes. 

Step 2: By now you should have, a template, a tool and a basic mindset of how your resume will look. Let's dig deep on what you should write in:

• Summary (This plays a big role in great resume): First, nix the objective statement. It is almost impossible to write an objective statement without either telling the hiring manager something they already know or focusing on what you want to get from a job. Both are things you should absolutely avoid in a resume.
  
  Instead, use a summary statement which is 2 to 3 lines, and catches your reader's attention. eg.

• Final year undergrad with 10 months of volunteer experience. Trained professionally in TCIL with an emphasis on assembly line automation. Completed projects in digital image processing and have good programming skills. Experienced with sensors and transducers. Commercial flight simulator pilot and avid blogger.

• Be More Specific: Employers need to understand what you've done and accomplished, For example: 
• A. Worked with employees in a restaurant setting. 
• B. Recruited, hired, trained and supervised more than 20 employees in a restaurant with $2 million in annual sales.
  Both of these phrases could describe the same person, but the details and specifics in example B will more likely grab an employer's attention. 

• Proofread: Yourself, ask others to proofread for you, make sure you don't have typos and you should be good to go.
• Upload it Online: I host my resume at my own site and forward link to it to everyone, which I keep on updating with same name, so wherever somebody opens that links gets my latest résumé. Also, it comes in handy whenever you need to get a hard copy printed urgently.

• Generate a PDF: If you send your resume as an attachment, make sure you create a PDF version of the same. To know how to do this in word, go through this link.

• Name it properly: Ready to save your resume and send it off? Save it as “Syed Misbah Resume” instead of “Resume.” It’s one less step the hiring manager has to take. 

You will need much more than this to get a good resume.The best way is to prepare multiple copies and ask for feedback from competent people. You can go forward with 2-3 templates and take suggestions on which to go forward with, etc.

Here is an example of an excellent resume. Link

Apart from this, you can also look at my resume on my website @ syedmisbahahmed.github.io.

Aptitude Test Preparation

This is where the largest elimination happens. A lot of engineering students fear the aptitude tests. But the fact is that there's nothing to worry about because it's *VERY EASY* to crack aptitude tests. All it takes it practice! Just keep on practicing and in a month or two - you will solve all the aptitude questions like a pro. Don't expect to master the aptitude skills in just a week or two. There are 3 sections in any aptitude test.

1. Quantitative Aptitude.
2. Logical Reasoning.
3. Verbal.

QUANT: Only 1 book RS Agarwal. This book is indispensable for aptitude exams. No other book will clear you concepts as profoundly as this one. Many times, questions are asked directly from this book (with same numerical values). An alternative version of this book is available on IndiaBix.com. I would suggest using IndiaBix instead of the book since there are too many repeated problems in the book.

Always keep in mind that not all the topics within Quant are equally important. Lay more emphasis on topics like :-

1. Time & Work.
2. Number Systems.
3. Probability, Permutation & Combination
4. Time & Distance.
5. Percentages & Ratios.

LOGICAL: As such, I didn't refer to any book for this section. But if you want, you can practice using IndiaBix Logical section.

VERBAL: This section becomes the Achilles heel for most students. And the sad part is that there is no quick solution to this. For this section, read as much as you can. Reading will improve your comprehension and also vocabulary.Like it or not; but the Indian job markets demand people who can speak and write correct English. Unfortunately - very few people pay attention to their communication skills. If you think you need to sharpen your English speaking / writing skills; then NOW is the time to do it. It's going to help you in your entire career. Trust me, a lot of people unnecessarily get rejected because they can't communicate or express themselves.

IMPORTANT

• www.indiabix.com: Make this website your bible. This single source can place you in multiple companies. It contains interview experiences, previous placement papers, section wise questions and what not. Every resource you require is there on this website.

• Apart from this, use www.testpot.com to practice tests with time limit. Time management is very crucial. Also, some companies use sectional time and marks cutoff. So ensure that while practicing questions, you do not use your time saved in one section to cover up lost time in another section. That's not gonna happen in real exams.

Interview Preparation
If you've followed my advice up till now, you will definitely get to the interview round. There are generally 2 rounds of interviews, one technical and one HR. Before we start, let me state this: Dress properly, and groom yourself. Don't go into the interview room looking like you just woke up. Use this guide to get an idea of what and how to wear in an interview. For girls, a churidar/salwar suit is usually fine, provided you carry it properly.

Also, apart from the following, it's a good idea to go through your resume once before the interview and scan for any possible questions that you think may be asked related to your resume. For eg, about internships.

Technical

• Core(EC/EE/ME/IT): If you're good at your core engineering subjects, then cracking the technical interview won't be a problem. Most circuit branches will have 3 to 4 very important subjects. Brush up on them and you'll likely be fine. Remember this: For fresh recruits, recruiters are looking more for attitude and aptitude, rather than specific knowledge which would probably be part of the training/assimilation program later anyway. Subject matter expertise is teachable, attitude isn't.
• Software Tier 1/2: If it's a Tier 1/2 company, the questions asked depend on the job description. In general, you need to do brush up data structures, algorithms and any one programming language. For a list of algorithms and DS you should know, refer to the post Algorithms 101 in my blog. If you've a github profile or have contributed to OSS, mention that on your resume as well. Use Ambition Box to get an idea of the questions asked in a specific company. And prepare accordingly.
• Mass Recruiters: Getting placed in a mass recruiter is like firing a gun in the dark. It may or may not hit the target. The result depends almost always on your luck. Prepare yourself well, and show that you're interested in programming. Have one or two projects which show your interest in it. Know basic searching and sorting algorithms. Above all, exhibit an attitude of being able to pick up anything fast. 

A note about mass-recruiters

Even though TCS, Infosys, Accenture, Wipro, L&T Infotech etc are all MRC's, there is a stark difference between them. 

• Accenture, TCS & Infosys have an absolutely shitty selection process. They do not care about getting the best talent. They just have a number in mind. By chance, if you get rejected here, don't give a a rat's ass about it.
• L&T Infotech and Wipro have a much better recruting process, which ensures that only the best get in. GD's, case studies and multiple rounds of interviews are the norm here. If you want to go for MRC's, try these two companies. Although the training at Infosys is better, no two ways about it.

HR
HR rounds are typically easier than technical rounds. This is more of an elimination round than a selection round. Many times, overconfident candidates get rejected in HR interviews - something that shouldn't happen to you. So take the HR interviews seriously!

1. Before anything else, know the company and the job description inside out. Don't just go through the wikipedia page. Use youtube and the company's social media presence to research it thoroughly. You can get one or two solid points which you can answer for the "Why this company"? question. 
2. Here are some questions asked in HR interviews. Link to FAQ. Prepare the answers to these questions according to yourself. I cannot post my answers to these questions owing to privacy issues. But if you want them, I can privately share them. 
3. Prepare general puzzles asked in interviews. Link to puzzles. If these are not enough, use App store/Play store to search for apps, there are tons of them available. Use any one. 
4. Know the trick questions. Don't mention that you want to go for higher studies or anything. GATE/MS are killer words, mention them and you're done. Here is a list of trick questions that might be helpful. Link
5. There is no step 5. If you've done all the above, know that you'll get the job easily. Be cool, calm and confident. And for God's sake, smile. 

Hey, I did all of this, but I was still not placed?

Tough luck, buddy. But I will tell you a secret. Campus placement process has a huge luck factor. Likability is also a big factor. There are a hundred reasons why you may not have been selected. I will list some of the most common ones. 

• Some companies have weird rules. For example Microsoft & Accenture (which is one of the top-notch employers for CS / IT students) is known to be biased towards female candidates. Female students often have lesser rounds and they pretty much have a reservation :P. True Story. 
• Companies often don't care about hiring the best. The are usually satisfied with the general student quality in the campus. They want to hire 10 people that's it. They do not want to put in extra efforts to hire top 10 people. 
• Some times a student is unable to market his / her skills in interviews well. While they are talented and deserve a lot more but they usually lack presentation skills. They may be nervous or they might lack interview experience. They might try even try to act over smart. That may not be their day. If you feel that this was what led to your disqualification, take a friend's help. Give mock interviews to him and ask him to point out mistakes. Then rectify those mistakes. 
• Crappy interviewer is also another factor. A lot of alumni comes back to their campus and may be bias with their judgement. I know some people who were interviewed by their "well-acquainted" seniors for placement and then successfully got the job even though I think there were better deserving candidates. 
• Lack of credentials - Some times a lot of students don't get noticed because they didn't do any good internships or do not have good percentage. 

Likability and luck will only give you a kick start. Nothing beyond that. No successful person was successful just because he was lucky although luck may have helped him/her at some point of time. People will not like you if you are not doing your part well. Talent also is good only for short-term achievements. It is hard-work that will make you successful in the long run. Hard work can single handedly take you from nothing to everything with zero luck. If you try a good number of times you will eventually crack it with no luck.

Lastly, the world is unfair. But don't make the mistake of believing that it's unfair only for you.

Machine Learning 101

Some time ago I started a journey into one of the most exciting fields in Computer Science — Machine Learning. This is my recommendation to anyone who would like to explore this topic, but doesn’t know how to start.

What you should already know

• Calculus (ideally multivariate, but you'll understand concepts even if you only know single-variate). IF you don’t know a lot about this, I would recommend spending some time with MIT’s MV Calculus.
   
• Linear algebra: We all know how to multiply matrices, take inverses and calculate determinants. To understand machine learning algorithms, that’s not enough. You need sound understanding of geometric interpretations of these operations. Prof. Gilbert Strang’s Linear Algebra course lectures are an excellent resource to learn Linear Algebra the right way.
  
• Probability: It is vital to understand probability theory well, to understand why any machine learning algorithms work. The course below is very relevant. Here is the link to Introduction to Probability
  
• Stats
• i. Statistics. Start with Udacity’s Intro to stats
• ii. Use OpenIntro’s textbook to brush up. (Optional again)
  
• A word of caution. Machine Learning is not a place to take baby steps in programming. If you cannot code, take one of many Programming 101 courses. Python is a good language of choice. Most quality courses online use Matlab/Python, but it’s preferable to use Python over Matlab so that you can actually see the calculations being performed and implement them yourself.
  
  Optional, but highly recommended is to know ADA or Analysis and design of algorithms. Here is a link to my blog page which has a list of algorithms you should know. Data Structures is also important, and Geeks for Geeks is a good place to learn. 

Step by step guide

1. The first step is to go through Andrew Ng's Coursera course which is a fantastic way to get your feet wet. You get enough mathematics and theory to obtain a solid understanding of what is going on "under the hood" of ML algorithms, but you don't get bogged down in proofs and superfluous content (at least for getting started). It is an overview of all of the above, and uses Matlab/Octave (Matlab's open-sourced cousin).
   
   
2. Once through with Andrew Ng’s course, it’s time to look at some of the wonderful free frameworks out there. One of the most popular is scikit-learn, a Python library that implements numpy and other native-C code to make your code fairly fast as well as easy to write. This is best suited for things other than neural networks. Scikit’s own ML intro is really good.
   
   Another exciting framework that was just made public is TensorFlow, a highly flexible framework created by Google. It's officially a framework for "data flow graphs", which is the superset of neural networks (i.e. neural networks are a type of data flow graph). It promises to be flexible, scalable, fast (uses GPUs automatically*, which are essential for modern neural network development), and be useful in deployment as well as research.
   
   
3. Data Cleaning & Exploration: What differentiates a good machine learning professional from an average one is the quality of feature engineering and data cleaning which happens on the original data. The more quality time you spend here, the better it is. This step also takes the bulk of your time and hence it helps to put a structure around it. You can refer to the following article. Data Exploration in Python.
   
   
4. Now you have all what you need in technical skills. It is a matter of practice and what better place to practice than compete with fellow Data Scientists on Kaggle. Go, dive into one of the live competitions currently running on Kaggle and give all what you have learnt a try. Try Kaggle’s Titanic problem. It might be hard at first, but with time you will get better at it.

The International Air Travel Guide

Many of us would be aspiring to work overseas or might be having close friends travelling overseas on employment. Trust me, there would be a thousand questions that would puzzle you before you travel. You can have cold feet as you near the travel date. One might feel a bit shy to bother the employer with too many questions thinking it would be a trouble for them. This is a humble attempt to address few of those questions.  This post may not address all the concerns but I am happy to respond to any particular questions you might have that is not covered below. Please take this as an attempt to help first time travelers.

Bank 

1. Convert your bank accounts to NRI/NRO. Your bank, on submission of your VISA copy should be able to convert your existing savings account to an NRO account and open a new NRE account for you. If you wish to avail yourselves of an international debit card please do it well in advance, it might take a bit of time to receive the card and PIN. Having an international debit card will help you immediately after your arrival in foreign land.
2. Activate online banking, OTP should not be mobile number based. Hardware token or an app installed in smartphone are the best options.
3. Collect from your bank all details needed to remit money to your account from overseas. This can be available online but it is better to have it with you.
4. Leave some signed cheques with someone trustworthy. You never know when it might come handy. But do this at your own risk, we never know if our trust on anyone was rightly placed till it’s broken.
5. Reschedule the date of standing instructions and EMI etc. to new NRO accounts and fix dates around the expected salary time.
6. People generally get confused about why we need NRE/NRO accounts and keep an idea that it’s to save tax on the foreign income that you have to open an NRE account. That’s not the case. Opening a non-resident account is a requirement as per Foreign Exchange Management Act. It’s a much more serious law than the tax laws. Your foreign income is tax exempt even if you receive it in your normal savings account. But failing to notify your bank within a reasonable time about change of your residential status is a serious offence under FEMA and you may end up in jail for that reason.

Baggage

1. Be sure about the hand luggage regulations, do not carry restricted items such as shaving cream scissors etc. in hand luggage.
2. Different airlines got different baggage regulations, please check it online from their respective websites. There will be limitation on overall weight of the baggage, on maximum weight of individual pieces of the baggage and on maximum weight and volume dimensions (length, height etc.) of hand baggage.
3. There is a general misconception that the weight of hand luggage does not include weight of the laptop. Trust me it is inclusive.
4. The luggage regulations are very important, and no matter how busy you would be before travel, please carefully read through it. It is not something like a software license agreement that you scroll down and just blindly click and accept. A lot of people at the check in counter will serve as testimony for this. You will see them unpacking and throwing stuff to dustbin to comply with luggage regulations.
5. Excess baggage is billed at a heavy tariff and it’s not worth paying for it unless you are smuggling diamonds. If it’s unavoidable for you to limit the luggage to the available quota, buy additional luggage allowance from the airlines in advance. This will be comparatively cheaper than paying at the check in counter. Buy a weighing scale as you prepare to travel for the first time itself. You will be using it many times in the future when you come for your annual leaves and return.
6. Make sure that all your check-in baggage is locked and the keys are kept in your hand luggage. An ideal way is to use quality number locks. If you are using number locks change the default 000 combination to another number. In all combination locks there is an option to change the combination number. Using 000 is as good as not locking it at all.
7. If you ever see how the ground handling crew handle your luggage, you may decide not to send any check in luggage at all. It is seriously thrown up and down when they load or off-load it. If you have connecting flights, it’s even worse. So as far as possible, do not pack anything fragile. If you have something fragile in the luggage, paste a big fragile sticker across the bag and also request the airline staff at check in counter to add a fragile tag to the luggage. The luggage can get exposed to rain also if there is a connecting flight or if there's heavy rain at the time of landing.
8. You might find helpless fellow travelers going to the same final destination pleading with you to accommodate in your baggage a small bag of their luggage. Please do not entertain this request even if it’s a pregnant lady asking you to help her with carrying a few month’s supply of baby food. If any illegal material is found in that baggage, you may not even get an opportunity to explain yourselves.
9. If anyone gives you a package to carry with you through friends or relatives, please open that package, make doubly sure that it will not land you in any trouble. A polite refusal may not always be practically possible in such cases, but you can always insist to open the package and carefully examine it.
10. Remember to carry basic toiletries such as tooth brush, comb, towels, soaps etc in your check-in luggage as you will need it overseas on the day of landing itself.
11. There is an option always available to add part of your hand luggage allowance to check in luggage. If you are travelling in a group, make use of this. It’s also advisable to use trolley bags for hand carry as well, but be within the dimension limits. Airports at times involve long walks and carrying the luggage on a shoulder bag would be tiresome.
12. You will be confident that you will be able to identify your bags at the destination. But what you need to consider is there can be another person bringing the same type of bag and he may just accidentally pick your bag and go with it. By the time you realise it, it would be a while. So keep some visible tags or stickers on your bag to identify it from similar bags, not only for your benefit but for others who are bit too casual about this.

Check in process 
Be sure of immigration procedure and documents should be taken along with copies- just in case if they want to keep a copy. Immigration requirements would differ from country to country. Be patient throughout this painful procedure, ignore trouble makers and people in rush – you will find people skipping queues and behaving very ill mannered, do not lose temper to anyone, no need to argue to anyone. If anyone needs to be explained anything, please do it with a smiling face and keep the tone as polite as possible. This is a pain everyone goes through to travel overseas. The tension and stress or waiting long hours and the process as such would get better of most people. I have seen even very seasoned travellers freak out. The normal order of check in procedure is as follows.

1. Gate – you will be asked to show passport and ticket. Keep these ready. They will check the basic details and your identity and let you inside the terminal. In some of the airports people accompanying you may be allowed to come with you to the visitors waiting area. I personally feel there is no need for anyone to accompany you beyond this point. They have been with you all these years and few more minutes are not going to make a big difference.
2. Luggage screening, tagging security to all check in baggage. There may be different screening points for different airlines. At times it may not be required, you may walk direct to check in counter. At some airports you need not put your hand luggage through for the initial screening at others you may need to screen all luggage including hand carry also.
3. There will be people offering to wrap luggage with a white plastic cover. This will look very cute with their wrapping machine and all. It is a waste of money if all your luggage is already nicely packed.
4. Check in at airlines counter. These counters open 3 hours prior to the scheduled departure time and shall remain open till its only one hour for the take off. If you don’t manage to reach this point on time you have missed the flight even though the plane is still on the ground. Reach the counter at least with two hours to departure time.
5. Drop off unaccompanied (check in) luggage, and collect boarding pass and luggage slips. They will require you to present your VISA also. Remember to collect enough security tags of your airline for each piece of your hand luggage. This will be needed at security check. Be behind the yellow line at all queues, when you are the next person to be attended.
6. If you are a first time overseas traveler option to online check in better be avoided. Check in at the counter by standing in the queue. Advantages of checking in online is that you will get to choose your seat and there can be a dedicated counter for baggage drop off for passengers checked in online but it is really meant for people experienced with air travel.
7. Some of the airline staff at the counter can be very unfriendly and reluctant to accommodate your requests. There is no point in getting upset with them. Neither they own the airline nor can they help everyone with all the requests they get (say for a window side seat). If what you are asking is possible they would do it right away, they have no favorites. All passengers are just the same for them.
8. Before immigration, fill in the form and be prepared for some mild interrogation. If you have a VISA and offer letter, overseas accommodation details and other minimum documentation you should be fine (be behind yellow line till your turn). Most cases you may get an immigration declaration form from the airline check in counter itself with the flight number stamped on it. If you don’t get it from there no need to worry, there will be plenty available on a table on the way to the immigration counter. Double check they stamped exit on the passport.
9. After immigration you can keep all the documents except the boarding pass and passport safely inside. You will only need passport and boarding pass from this point on till you reach the immigration counters of destination airport. You are now officially outside India.
10. Security check. Be very patient with them and remember to carry your boarding pass and passport with you, do not send it through the scanner. They will stamp your boarding pass (be behind the yellow line till your turn). They may need you to remove the laptop or other electronic equipment from the baggage and place it on a separate tray. It’s very important to give attention to the requirements of the security check and go through it patiently. One of the main reasons our flights seldom run into hijacking scenarios is the efficient security checks we have. For any air traveler security checks are the biggest pain on international travel. Try to travel with shoes with no laces and metallic parts, no wrist watch, no belts, no chains, minimum/no ornaments for women, avoid jackets, avoid caps etc. Before security check put wallet, etc. in hand bag and send it through the scanner. Laptop in most cases would be required to be sent separately on security check, when packing keep it in hand bag in a convenient way to be removed otherwise you may have to empty all the hand baggage to get the laptop outside.
11. Duty Free – no need to look that way.
12. Waiting area – be watchful with your luggage. If left unattended they will be removed. Use toilets at the lounge if needed. Toilets on the plane are crammed and with no water.
13. Boarding gate. Keep your boarding pass ready for cross-checking.
14. If you report about two and a half hours before the departure time, you should have enough time to complete all these process. Also note that if it’s not a rush hour you can be through in about 20 minutes also. So there is a good chance that you might reach the boarding gate with more than 2 hours to wait for the boarding to begin. But once you are at the waiting lounge you are through with the most painful part (excluding the flight) and you may just and relax.
15. Flight. The worst travel experience, be prepared. The airline crew is not as sweet as they seem to be in  movies. They are not even as beautiful. Do not plan on drinking the free foreign liquor too much if it’s your first flight. On your later flights please help yourselves and get a good sleep. In another post, another day perhaps I will share my experiences with various airlines.
16. Ears may pain for few people on flight take-off and landing, it’s usual and no need to worry about it. You will be just fine in few minutes. Ear plugs and chewing gums might help in some cases for me just enduring it is the best way to handle it.
17. Try not to put your hand baggage anywhere behind from where you are sitting. Please find a head rack to the front of your seat. As soon as the flight lands everyone will stand up for no reason. They may just keep standing for about 20 minutes till you are cleared to proceed to the doors. Then they will just move forward with their hand baggage though the narrow path between seats. You will not be able to reach your hand luggage even if it’s just one raw behind.
18. If you want to keep a book or an iPad with you to use during the flight, remove it from the hand carry and keep it with you before you put the hand bag in luggage rack. Once it is put there it is a pain to open and remove things.
19. If your plane go under a big turbulence or shake heavily when in air it’s not falling down. It is very common. Just the same as your car hitting a pot hole on the road. Unless oxygen mask come out there is no reason to worry. Just keep the seatbelt on and stay at your seat.
20. Follow the airline crew instructions with respect to seat belts, keeping the seat upright on taxi and take off, switching of communication devices etc. When food is served (mostly at odd hours) chances are high that they may not have what you like the most. If you want a particular meal (say vegetarian) you have to pre-book it. You can do it when (if) you are doing online check in with some of the airlines or else the agency that issued the ticket can do it for you at no extra cost. Pre booking a special meal will not cost anything extra and another advantage is they will serve you first. You will not have to wait for that trolley to slowly reach you.
21. Before leaving the plane check your seat pockets and make sure you have left nothing there.

At Transit airport 

1. If you have a very long transit be prepared for some boring hours. At transit airports you have nothing much to do than just waiting.
2. After you leave the plane make sure you follow the direction arrows for the transit passengers.
3. If you can get a lounge access it might help. But these are expensive places to be at. By the time you are a frequent flier these will come free to you. Paying for a lounge entry is not worth it if you are a youngster willing to take a bit of trouble.
4. In most cases you will get boarding pass for your connecting flights also from the original departing check-in counter itself. If you haven’t gotten it please go the check in counter and collect it showing your ticket and passport.
5. In some cases, you may have to collect your luggage from the transit airport and check it in again. This will happen in two situations mainly. The first one is if one of your connecting flight is a domestic flight and the other international. For example, if you are flying from Mumbai to Cape Town, via Johannesburg. After your Mumbai Johannesburg flight you will have to go through the immigration process collect luggage and check it in again at the domestic check in counter. In this case you should not be using the transit gate also. For all practical purposes treat the two flights as two separate journeys that will save me a lot of explaining. (If you are travelling Kochi-Mumbai- Joburg- Cape town, that is a domestic connection at origin and another at destination. My prayers are with you). The second situation is if your connecting flight is after 24 hours and there is another flight with the same flight number as your connecting flight leaving earlier than that. In this case you may also be required to have a transit VISA so that you can go out and collect the baggage, stay there overnight and come back on the next day.
6. The biggest question about transit is what if I miss the connection? If the flight is missed on account of late arrival of your previous flight, it will be a very simple situation. They will send you on the next available flight. The airline will give you a VISA and accommodation at the transit place if the next flight is after a long time. They will give you food vouchers as well. You will be completely taken care of. Even in other cases the airline will get you a flight to the destination. The only difference would be if it’s your negligence that caused you to miss the flight, in some cases you may have to pay for your connecting flight and they may not give you free food, visa or accommodation.
7. If you miss the connection, hold dear your luggage tags. More often than not your luggage may not be travelling with you once you miss a connection. At destination airport you will have to show these tags to lodge a lost baggage claim. The baggage will eventually reach you provided you keep those tags safe.
8. Boarding gates can suddenly change at busy airports and they can be very far away too. You cannot check it 5 hours before and just relax at 10 minutes walking distance to gate. So please reach the boarding gate in advance. In airports like Dubai it can take more than 30 minutes to go from one gate to another far away gate. In Kochi it can take about 4 minutes.
9. In some of the transit airports they have security checks so prepare to go through that trouble too.

At Destination Airport

1. Many of the airlines will assist you with arrival declaration forms of the destination country when you are still in air doing nothing. Please fill it immediately after you receive it and keep it with your passport.
2. Be seated till the doors are open, no need to stand for 20 minutes till business class and first class guys are out.
3. There should be two gates, one for arrival and one for transit, use the arrival one if it’s your final destination or use the transit gate for connection flights.
4. Duty free – best be skipped if it’s your first flight. In few airports duty free can be after the immigration.
5. Immigration - If you did not get the arrival declaration form from the flight grab one and fill it quickly.
6. There will be separate queues for nationals and foreign passport holders. Find the right queue and join.
7. If you already have a visa (employment visa) questions will be minimal. But if you are entering the country with a visit visa and planning to get a work permit (visa) after you reach the country there will be difficult questions. This is one thing you must discuss openly and in detail with your prospective employer upfront. There is no need to panic if they appear to be interrogative and rude. Just keep your calm and stick to the song your employer told you sing. In this situation a sim card with roaming facility is priceless to have.
8. Baggage collection. Look for the carrousel that shows your flight number. Make sure all pieces are collected and all are yours. Many times bags can be identical.
9. Customs – usually there will be a green channel that you may use.
10. Exit gate.

Other Points

1. No need to pack so much of food, every Indian food item is plenty available at most overseas cities but medicines are not. So take with you at least 6 months’ supply of medicines you routinely take. In very rare cases these medicines could be illegal in your destination country. Get a general understanding if the use is banned or it’s only the sale is banned. Take the prescription notes along with the medicines if the use is not banned. Overseas you might find other variants of same medicine but may not exactly the same.
2. Passport should have sufficient number of blank pages and minimum 12 months remaining validity.
3. If the country of arrival needs any vaccination certificates, please carry those. Some of these vaccinations should be taken a month in advance.
4. Carry some passport photos of you to use in case of application filling. Some stamp size and some normal passport size.
5. Carry your original certificates, marriage certificates, birth certificates etc. with you but leave attested copies back at home.
6. If you want to retain your phone line, convert it to post-paid and activate international roaming. Once in a while (3 to 6 months) put it in a phone overseas to show some activity
7. Have an idea upfront how to make phone calls from your destination/transit airports. You could face challenges and get stranded.
8. Foreign currency. Ideal to buy currencies of your destination country for about one month’s use. It will be hard for you to manage without local currency in any country. Exchange agencies/banks may not be accessible easily. You may feel uncomfortable to borrow from friends also. Buy forex from your bank or Thomas cook/UAE exchange etc. At airport they will loot you with bad rates. So never plan to buy forex from airport counters. Once you have enough forex with you a lot of things become manageable.
9. Pre-arrange the meals of day of arrival at foreign country.
10. Power plug points are different in different countries so keep a multi-pin travel adapter with you for phone, laptop etc.
11. Ornaments- when you take it out from India ideal to do some documentation with the customs post at the departing airport or else you will end up paying duties when you re-import. That is only if you are taking too much gold with you. In African countries it’s not safe to use ornaments. Unless you really cannot avoid it avoid taking any ornaments abroad.
12. Modify your contacts list on phone by adding +91 as prefix (remove first zero) to all numbers that you would like to use in future. This is a painful task, but if it’s done onetime and synced to your email contacts list then for future use you have a lot of ease.
13. Try to get a SIM card overseas in advance using your local contact overseas (ideally the person who come to pick you from airport should bring it). Activate some data package also for immediate use. This will be very handy. Borrowing phone repeatedly is an odd feeling and roaming calls on you Indian line is expensive. Also remember to keep your mobile fully charged before take-off and switch it off immediately before flight take off.
14. Carry one or two pens. There will be forms to fill at departing airport and destination airport. You may not get anyone to lend you a pen easily.
15. Join for your flight loyalty program online before you fly. (frequent flier program). The airline miles can be handy in future.
16. Carrying Indian currency with you is not legal although nobody seriously would check you to see if you are in possession of currency notes.
17. Keep with you the contact details of Indian embassies or our consulates at the destination. In my experience I have not heard of them assisting anyone who gotten in to trouble abroad, unless say a war break out. On the other hand, if you have contact details of the Malayali association or Indian association committee members or chairmen, they are more likely to come to your rescue should you get in to any trouble. But this cannot be a general rule there can be exceptions.

Conclusion 
There are many other aspects you may need to worry about such as what are the key considerations you have to keep in mind while going through your offer letter, what enquiries should one conduct about the future employer, what would be the key cultural aspects that you need to be mindful of when travelling overseas etc. Let’s cover those in another post. I also request the fellow members to contribute to this post by sharing their experience and wisdom on the subject.
In a few words what can be said is, if you can manage your luggage as per the norms and go through the whole process with a lot of patience, politeness and avoid rushing for anything, the international journey is a cake walk.