Placement : DAY 7

No more philosophical crap in this post :-)

Well here I am gonna share one of my interview experience.

Companies I appeared --> infinite
Companies which shortlisted me --> finite

Shortlist
(Group Study)
ZS Assosciates
Delloite (Group Case Study)
Lanxess

(Interview)
Sabre
Croda
Futures First
Axiom
TSMG

Indian Oil (Finally Got the job !)

I am here writing about an interview from which I think I learned the most. It was Futures First.
It had 2 rounds of written tests.
The first test was a 6 min test with 40 questions (Ya you read it right 40 Q and 6 min).It was a simple test designed to test calculation speed. It had mostly
Multiplication and Division questions and obviously calculator was not allowed.I think I manged to do some 27-28 questions correctly and was shortlisted for 2nd round of test.

The second test was more like CAT with more weight-age on P n C and Probability and ya there was no English :P.
Some how I qualified this also, and was among last 40 to be called for interview.

I was very excited about this company.The interviews started at 2 am (yes am means in the morning, jab andhera hota hai , na ki jab dhoop hoti hai :-))
My interview started at 2:30 am.
Interview began on a peaceful note with panel (which consisted of 2 people in their late 20's) asking normal HR questions and things related to my CV.
Well after the normal Questions were over it was the time for real ones.
Finally the one thing which I hate the most was asked to me.
"A CHEMICAL ENGINEER : Why you want to work in trading ???".
(I actually had no correct answer for it. I myself don't know what I want to do. At that time what mattered most to me was that I had to get a job , whatever sector it may be.)

Well I gave a prepared satisfactory answer and convinced the guys that I am very ambitious person who wants to be a millionaire and thus trading is the best job for me.
Suddenly the other guy asked me
"Tell me in figures how much u want to earn in 5 years."
Now I was not prepared for that.
I said May be in 10s of crores but he insisted
"No , tell me exactly how much , if not in 5 years then say in 10 years"
As I was about answer it ,the other guy rescued me and he smiled as he said
"Ya we understand you want to be crorepati before you get 30".
I was rather relaxed unaware of the fact that it was just the starter ...main course was still to come.
I was now asked to look around the whole room for 15 seconds.
I looked for , I suppose for 10 seconds only and they began the rapid fire round.

"Whats written on my pen?"
"Sorry sir , I could not see as you are holding it in your hands. Its not visible."

"How many pins are at the soft board behind you?"
"4, Sir."

"Name the colors of the pins."
"Red, Blue , Green , Yellow."

"Name them in the order as they are arranged on the board."
"Red, Green, Blue, Yellow errrr....ummmm... Its Red, Green ,Yellow and Blue".

"Which Company is the AC?"
"Voltas ( I actually confused between Voltas and Videocon and I still don't know which was it)."

"How many switches are in the room?"
"4 ( Again I had no idea)."

But I think it went satisfactory well , though not one of the best. I think I still had my chances.
(Later I realized it was a stress interview.)

Then suddenly they asked me completely arbitrary questions.

"OK Kshitij now tell me -Who is the Governor of Maharashtra?"

"What ???" I almost shouted. Hey this was not supposed to be an IAS interview and why should they care about the governors , I wondered. But finally I said - "Sorry Sir, I don't know."

"So which city are you from?"
"Lucknow."

Who is governor there?
"Mr. T.V. Rajeshwar."

Who is the vice president of India?
"Ohh I knew the name , Sir I can't remember it now. But I know he is a Muslim guy."

I can't believe I said that.

"Did you attend our PPT (Pre-Placement Talk)?"
"No, Sir. I went at the venue but it got postponed for an hour or so and I had some other commitment so I could not wait there."

"Did you visit our website?"
"Yes, sir I did."

"How many offices do we have in India?"
"umm...errr...I will have to count."

"Leave it. Do we have an office in Chennai?"
"No."(This I knew)

"When was our company stated?"
"1980's I suppose."

And this was it. I had failed miserly in convincing him that I was actually interested in the company. Now I knew it was over.

First of all I had not attended the PPT which was a bad impression.
The company was started in 2000 and not in 1980's again a deadly mistake.

As a formality He asked me if I wanted to know anything about the company to which I asked questions I had prepared.

Finally a 30 minute gruesome interview was over.

I knew my selection would now entirely depend on how other people screw the interview.
I was told that the result will be out by around 4 am and will be informed through the placement blog (The normal standard which is followed in IITs).

I had Delloite interview in the morning but I could not sleep at all.
They did not post the result till 4 am and we had an internet ban from 4-7 am.
At 7 am I checked the blog My name was not there. I was disappointed. I hadn't slept whole night and I had a Delloite interview at 9 am.
At times it becomes so difficult, I think probably that was the worst day during my placement season.

Anyways I think I made few mistakes in this interview, which I should address.
First of all , my stress interview did not go very well and in the companies which operate in share market it's a very important think they look for- How well one can handle stress.
Secondly I had a very poor knowledge about the company.

Finally bad days passed and I got placed in Indian Oil on 22nd December.

I will just say here. Learn from your mistakes and don't get dishearten.

Congratulations to all those placed ...
and
All the best to the ones still going through tough times.