How I got placed….

It all started with a mail! Company XYZ coming to college tomorrow for Finance, Marketing and HR. Please see the profile and package before applying.Finally! I thought, some company is coming for us. My happiness was short lived.

Only students who are ready to relocate should apply.

Damn! But the Co is really good, I tried to reason. Although the BPO industry isnt. But the pay!!! Oh the Pay!! That’s really really good!

Lets see how it goes. And so I give my name.

Its time for the pre placement talk the next day.All of us, nicely suited up! I have never really liked the navy blue suit very much. But it serves the purpose. The interviewer cannot see how much we are shaking inside the suit!

“—-largest growing industry— No.1 company— great profile—great practices— opportunities for growth—amongst the best places to work—-relocation(ouch!)–PAY!!”

Ok! By now Im in love with this company. Im applying!

Its tiime for the GD(group discussion) and the topic given to us is “if oranges tasted like apples”. Seriously? With people scribbling away in their notepads as if this was the last few minutes of some theory paper, all I can think of is WTF! And before I know, the madness has begun. The finance guys relating it to the GDP growth and export capability (THEY ALWAYS DO THAT!) the marketing guys (EXPLAINING THEIR UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION. YEA RITE!) and the HR people (HOW TRAINING CAN CHANGE PEOPLE)… I am clearly lost, but I realize I have to say something..Before I can think I have already said…. “If Oranges tasted like apples, then fruit salads would become boring” Attaboy except that nobody else finds it funny. Cummon, that was original!  Either they have not got the joke, or they are too tensed. Poor souls. I think of my ‘original’ joke and smile yet again. I have not said anything else in the GD.

I wonder why I even wait for the GD results. Apparently the guys from the Co. XYZ too didnt have a good sense of humour. ‘Im not working for a Co. that doesnt have a good sense of humour’ I tell myself. Well as they say..angoor khatte hai!

I take 2 days just to get over the Company.I have never been not selected in a GD! I know that hurts more than anything else. Or so I thought. But truly, what hurts even more, is your friend getting selected in a company. Dont ask me why, how, etc..it does. 🙁

So after a couple of days, in which people give me advice on how to speak in a GD and the whole college knowing that I tried to crack a joke, there comes another mail!

Again I am suited up and again I fall in love!

“—– Banking Industry—-Growth opportunities—no relocation—-ok pay—“

This time I clear the GD smoothly and its time for the first round of interview.

“Why HR after Engineering?”

“During the course of Engineering, I realized I was better at dealing with people than with Computers”

“So engineering was a mistake?”

“No Sir. Its just that I couldnt imagine myself doing coding for the rest of my life.”

“So engineering was a mistake.”

“No sir. It has helped me develop my analytical skills” 😉

“Why do you need analytical skills in HR?”

“Sir to decide the Yield ratio during recruitment (trying to divert), and deciding the compensation…(trying to divert)…”

“So you mean to say only Engineers have analytical skills?”

//NOW WHEN DID I SAY THAT!!!!//

“No sir….”

“I am a Bcom Grad, and a gold medalist, and yet I can say I have pretty good analytical skills”

// Oh. Now I know. MR. JEALOUS!// 😉

“I was just speaking for myself!”

OOPS.. You know there are times, when even while saying something, you know its coming out all wrong!

Yea. And in this way, I was kicked out from the first round this time. It again took me 2 days to get over it. I was really in love this time, I told my friends…

And then, THAT mail came. I wondered if I should go for this industry.

At the pre placement talk, I fell in love again! Decent package, not something that I would jump for, good amount of travelling, but you cant really call it relocation…and the profile of Plant HR! I could literally see my self there.

Don’t get your hopes too high. I told myself. They have only ONE opening. This time more with a “Hua toh theek, nahi hua toh bhi theek” attitude I went for the GD.

I sailed through the GD and was the first to go in for the interview.

I was surprised at my confidence in answering questions. I answered everything, right from labor laws,Compensation and Benefits, HR Planning, Training and Development, Recruitment, My summer project. I recited laws word to word, answered situational questions, and ya, even cracked a joke!  \m/

And they laughed! Thank God for that! 🙂

By the end I knew I had done exceptionally well and so the results didn’t surprise me! Yet it took 2 days for me to digest it and today as I sit down and relive this experience of mine, all that I can say is that its destiny. I was as good in the first interview as I was in the last, but somehow, I was meant to be here.

PS: We are not allowed to leak out names of Cos. Please no naming!

Cant wait for office to start now!! 🙂

Abha Deshkar

17/02/2011