November 9, 2006
"Be a Functional Parachute"
The speaker, Ms. Madhuri Menon, began her talk by reflecting the concerns of Management students regarding their course and more importantly, the placements. In spite of career planning, lots of uncertainties arise during the time of placements regarding the career path to be chosen. The students are enwrapped by a feeling of anxiety and excitement. The speaker said that till now the students had been in a cocooned existence and had a safety net around them, elders and lecturers to guide them. But the time has come when they will have to stand up for themselves and take decisions on their own.
Though it is facilitated by the college, preparation for placements is mostly in the hands of the students. Every student has a unique skill set and the Management course helps them channelize their strategy. In the next few minutes of her talk, the speaker focused on the HR perspective of the placement process. The question of why companies would choose Amrita students elicited interesting answers from the students. The most apt one was that the Amrita students are grounded in reality unlike students from high profile colleges. The speaker brought out an analogy to this. She said that one must be like a functioning parachute, useful to organizations only when the mind is open. It is the willingness to learn that ultimately motivates an organization to absorb the candidate.
She said that Amrita has a unique value-based education that stresses the importance of integrity, honesty and good conduct in a business environment. The students must leverage these strengths to the fullest extent. The opportunities are vast with so many choices, verticals and levels in the job market. It is a win-win situation when the objectives of both the candidate and the organization are accomplished. Organizations expect MBA grads to start running immediately after recruiting them as they feel that they have been given the basic inputs during the course. But candidates may be lacking in several aspects before joining the company. Additional inputs are required and at this point of time, it is self learning that helps. There is a very thin line between optimism and confidence and going overboard results in over confidence which is not good. The students must be confident about themselves and prepare with a positive attitude. Being rejected the first time is not the end of the world. It only means that the skill set is not suited to the organization’s requirements. The speaker then discussed the common selection procedures.
Resume is the first virtual interaction with the company and hyped-up resumes are a strict no-no. Many companies conduct group discussions after resume screening. They test an individual’s ability to work in a team, his/her leadership qualities, group dynamics, the depth of views, the width of exposure to non-academic topics, the verbal and non-verbal cues, the behavior and attitude towards other members and listening skills. Assertiveness is preferred over aggressiveness. Interviews are conducted to test the candidate’s attitude, communication skills, to bring out the uncertified learnings that cannot be put in the resume and more importantly, the transferable skills that he/she possesses.
The speaker discussed in detail some of the aspects to be kept in mind before sitting for an interview. The most appropriate dress code is formals complemented with good grooming. The candidate must be comfortable in the attire. Punctuality is highly appreciated. First impression gives the best impression. The students must develop the ability to think on their feet keeping in mind the implications of their answers. Some companies also conduct psychometric tests to perform personality profiling, to check consistency, decision-making under stress, attitude, behaviors and potentials. The bottom line is that one must be honest as any rigging can be easily identified.
During interviews, ad-libbing would not help and it is appreciated that one accepts his/her ignorance on the subject. Technical knowledge of the subject is important. It is advisable to read up on the company profile before facing the panelists. The candidate must convince himself/herself and the organization that he/she is The One. Questions related to career growth can be put to the panelists. It is not advisable to talk about the salary package during the interview because companies would themselves reveal it to the candidate. Students with prior work experience have more deliverables and thus, greater responsibilities. Organizations have higher expectations from them. The speaker advised the students not to give mock interviews as it would be a waste of time and energy for both the parties. One must be focused and strive to fulfill one’s dreams and aspirations.
She speaker suggested that the students conduct their own SWOT analysis giving importance to the strengths and challenges. Extracurricular activities must be highlighted in the resume and during the interview as these expose several dimensions of the candidate like team spirit, time utilization and attitude. Lastly, the speaker threw light on the expectations of students from organization. The students look for growth, learning environment, recognition of good performance and last but not the least, money. All this preparation must ideally begin with a self analysis of he/she is looking for in life. She ended the talk by quoting a Zen learning of the importance of emptying the cup i.e. going for it with an open, humble mind that there is still a lot to learn to life.
S. Shobhana
II MBA
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