Butterflies in the stomach, restless night, lot of anxiety;
these are the things one expects before a job interview, especially if it is
with a brand as big as Mercer. However ,I had none.
After a good night sleep I woke up relaxed and followed my
routine and reached college well in time. As we were clearly communicated of
the proceeding for the day, we had our first briefing by the Mercer team at
9:15 after which the three panels started interviewing us.
While the interviews were going on, we were in parallel having
our consulting skills class by Anil sir. I found it difficult to concentrate in
the class because I was constantly thinking of the three questions that I will
have to answer in my preliminary round of interview. I would say, I knew the answers
of the two of the three questions however I was unsure of my answer to the
question “if I have had a failure/regret and what have I learned from it”. One
of my biggest failures was when I did extremely badly in my class 12th
board exams. I was not sure if I should be citing that however I thought I should
be honest and admit that it has been my biggest failure.
With the butterflies in the stomach starting to come alive, I
waited patiently in the library. Nithya shanti’s teachings crossed my mind and
tried calming myself through deep breaths. My name was called; I went in, spoke
for 1 min 30 sec and came out. Phew, that was quick I thought. Even though it
was short I was happy,” I did well” I thought. I was able to communicate what I
wanted to and I was content to say the least.
Next round was the most interesting and exciting in the
entire process. Eight groups of 7 members each were give a case study to crack
in 25 minutes. We all had to come to conesus and then present it to the audience.
I personally loved the activity. It involved brainstorming as a team and then
preparing the best possible solution. Luckily our team got the turn to present
first and I was chosen by my team members to take the lead in presenting it to
the audience. We had 5 minutes to present of which I used 3 minutes and left the
other two minutes for my team to add something in case if I missed anything. I
think we did a great job as a team in not only covering the minute details but
also in collaborating and displaying great team working skills.
After all the teams had presented, we were asked to take
leave and only the shortlisted ones would be called back. I grabbed a quick
bite and went back to the class at 1:00 PM to attend Anil sir’s class which
would start at 1:30 PM.
Sharp at 1:28 PM I got a call stating that Vivek and I have
been shortlisted from BLP and are among the 7 others from HRLP. My heart
started pounding as if I just finished a 100 meter sprint. I was told that at
1:35 PM I will have to present a 3 min presentation on a subject which I had in
the 2nd semester called Global Business Strategy. I scrambled for my
notes, tried to find some relevant points and ran to the 3rd floor.
I was asked to enter the room at sharp 1:35 PM to make my presentation.
The board room looked different today. I had been in this
room many a times but all of a sudden it felt different and impersonal. I
remembered the good times when I gave my first presentation to the board of
SOIL after winning the business idea competition and the many meetings which I had
with the CF management team regarding my work as a CF member.
I was asked to start speaking for 3 minutes. I tried to
structure my thoughts and make a logical conclusion, but I found it hard to
recollect what I had learnt. I stumbled upon disconnected thoughts and tried my
best to put up a good show. My time was up and I was asked to leave and send the
2nd candidate in.
I knew I had not done a good job. I was not prepared to make
that presentation. If only I could have prepared well, if only I could have
structured my thoughts. There were many such if’s, but the moment had passed
and the present moment never has any problems. I thanked Nithya Shanti for the
wisdom again and went back straight to class.
As I entered the classroom I found the class submerged in a
conversation with Anil sir, of which I had the least idea. I took my seat and
tried to make sense of what was on the board. A few minutes later, the
remaining 11 candidates who had applied to McKenzie but had not gone through
the interview with Anil sir were asked to analyze the SOIL’s proposal to Axis
bank to fund the residential campus. For the next one hour the activity went
and some intelligent and some not so intelligent questions were asked by the
aspiring consultants.
I had gone to my introspecting mode trying to analyze what I
could have done better. I got a very simple clear answer; I was not prepared
well to take on the interview. Had I been
better prepared I would have done much better.
The day was quite eventful and I gained a key lesson out of
it; Nothing Beats Good Preparation.
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