The Great B-School Hoopla

Placements – The dream for which an MBA student spends lots of sleepless nights. HUL, ITC, P&G, Nestle, Citi Bank, GeP, Amozon,… These are the names that he thinks in his mind and tightens his grip in his tight fist. Yeah, of course there would be those superladies and supergentlemen who get through PPOs in their Summer Internship with a bit of talent, a bit of hard work and a bit… No, a lot of networking!! Be it as it may be, if I were to give you just one advice for Final Placements friends… It has to be – DO NOT BE A PART OF IT. Get out with a PPO in your Summers with an effort of your lifetime and enjoy your B School Life.

Well, there has to be many others like me who would not have been ripe enough to be plucked during the Summers. Well, it shouldn’t matter to you if you know the reason you couldn’t make it all the way and the aspects you need to improve yourself in the next one year. For instance, for me it was to improve my technical knowledge and developing a practical and thorough insight of my Domain – Supply Chain. After all, it isn’t your end of life. Move on and say to yourself, “So what?” Enjoy the fact that the best in the Campus are getting a PPO and it’s your competition that reduces for the finale - Final Placements!! And if you are on the greener side, beware of the complacency.

Being in Placement Committee taught me various lessons. Time Management, Understanding of requirements of the recruiters, Leadership Qualities, Crisis Management, blah blah… Sorry I got driven by the bullshit answers you got to give during interviews. Well you know what’s the biggest asset of being a Placecommer?? Here it is – You are undoubtedly a part of the best minds of the Campus, some awesomely gifted self-committed, self-driven and creative people who pushes you each minute to newer limits which you never even expected out of yourself!!

Handling the various processes, organizing major events and involved in a lot of placement-related activities throughout the year never gave me the freedom to concentrate full-fledged on my studies. Frankly, I never wanted to anyways.. Or neither did I ever do though out my career. So as the days closed down to my Finals Placements, I started to keep myself in seclusion more and more. I started spending more time in my room with Supply Chain books or at gym. You always need a special company to keep you going and letting your fears and emotions out. Frankly, there is nothing you can be told back that can pacify you but it’s just about someone you care listening to you and saying, “It’s Okay”. I have been lucky in this way as I can thinking about not just one but many close friends.

The first day was a nightmare. I started with an IT profile, got to the last round, rejected… then a SCM profile, again got to final round, rejected… then a Marketing profile, selected for the first round and my dilemma with it cost me the opportunity. For once, I realized that being on the other side and wearing your name tag on your suit is very different from wearing the Placecommer Tag. On the second morning all I did is brush up my Summers, heard some inspiring song (on any other day I would have been face-hiding-embarrassed by this) and pledged to myself that this is the last time that I am going upstairs for the process as a candidate instead of a Placecommer helping others with getting their jobs – My actual Job!!

So 3 hours from this, I got my first job of my life!! Thank you so much to everyone who were a part of this. Well, it’s 2-3 days of stardom and then it’s all the same guys. So make friends, love others and enjoy life. And a new phase of my life starts which scares me sometimes, but you know what… Bring It On!! :)