BHOPAL: Swapnil Jain, 22, was a bit nervous when he was first interviewed by a software honcho from Twitter, the social networking and microblogging service provider, in the last week of May. It was one of his seven interviews - all ranging from 45 to 50 minutes duration - conducted through online video conferencing from the Twitter headquarters at San Francisco. What more, he was hired for an annual package of about Rs 70 lakh by the $9 billion US firm after the final interview in Delhi in May last.

"Sitting in Delhi on a computer, I was trying my best to reply to the queries of software engineers of Twitter," he said. Once the technical interviews were over, an Indian manager of the

took another interview in Delhi on May 30 and two days later, I was told that they were hiring me," Swapnil, who belongs to the small town of

, about 70 km from Bhopal and near the world heritage site Sanchi, said with lot of excitement in his voice .

"Later they mailed me the offer letter signed by the chief technical officer of Twitter with an annual package of $1,30,000 per annum. Inclusive of bonus, it is about Rs 70 lakh," he calculated.

Ever since, it is celebrations abound. His grandfather, who is a leading lawyer of Vidisha, Babulal Jain, father Sanjay Jain and mother Savita are busy organising "Jain Vidhan", a ritual of Jain community to celebrate the feat.

Swapnil will join on October 1 at the San Francisco headquarters of Twitter. He would report to a manager of Indian origin.

A graduate from IIT Delhi, from where he passed out last month only, Swapnil has not even received his degree certificate. "Convocation ceremony will take place on August 30 and I am waiting for it anxiously," he told TOI.

On the mantra behind the success, the IITian says, "Be consistent. Be regular and consistent in whatever you do. Even a small work," the reply was quick.

"It's a huge opportunity. First, I would like to work for 3-4 years to gain experience by interacting with them. After all they are the experienced lot," he said adding that later he was planning to start his own software company. "I want to do something that would be of their standard," he revealed.

Swapnil had his schooling from the local Trinity Convent and then

in Vidisha before moving on to Kota to prepare for the biggest entrance exam. He cracked the IIT in one go.

"I never had anything in my mind when I got admission. I took things as they came on," he said adding that nearly a month to finish his graduation, he got information from IIT alumni about the openings in Twitter.

If Swapnil can be believed, 30 people had applied for the

including him and he was selected.

Talking abut the preparation for the interviews, the

said that he once again went through what all he had studied with specially focusing on algorithmic, coding and programming.

Some colleagues of Swpnil from IIT Delhi are joining Facebook and Google on October 1, and he plans to start his own company along with these colleagues in future.

Looking back, Swapnil said that cracking IIT was also difficult as he belonged to a small town and there was no one to guide him. His father runs a jewellery shop and mother is a housewife. However, the only support was from his brother Sohil Jain, who was pursuing his engineering course in Indore.

"I went ahead with strong resolve and stood 94th in the all India rank list," he said.

His mother Savita told TOI that she was very happy and at the same sad also. "Happy because he has got the best of the offer and sad because he is going to another continent far off from Vidisha."