When people ask me about my college life at IBS-Ahmedabad, my answer is “Always busy, yet enjoying it”.

IBS-Ahmedabad campus has become my second home as i spend a lot of time here, exploring various things. Every aspect of a B-school life is perfectly taken care of at IBS.A great mixture of academics and extracurricular activities is what makes IBS class apart.

Starting from 9.30am to 7.00pm in the evening, students and faculties both indulge into working towards one simple goal of achieving excellence. Experienced and skilled faculties, Case based method of learning, Linking theories with reality and a strong conviction towards work are the weapons used here at IBS-Ahmedabad. The always happening environment of the campus keeps students so busy and active that they automatically learn to manage time. The first Quote which I heard at IBS-Ahmedabad was of Prof.Toby Mammen-“Life is Multi-Dimensional”. It seems like IBS is taking care of almost every dimension of a PGPM student.

Team work, the most crucial factor in everyone’s career, is a daily routine of IBS. I am learning a lot from working in teams and groups at IBS-A. Industrial visits, Live Projects and Field based Assignments are some of the largest knowledge resources provided at IBS. I thank all my faculties, seniors and colleagues for their constant support and motivation. I am feeling awesome being a part of a Legacy called IBS.

Contributed by Pankaj Baheti (Batch 2015, IBS Ahmedabad)

We usually associate the characteristic of risk taking with an entrepreneur. But is risk taking the only characteristic required to be a successful entrepreneur? Or are there other qualities too? Or it is not about just being a risk taker but about something else?

We have many friends who have this amazing product idea and want to turn it into a profitable one by taking it ahead as an entrepreneur. In fact, many of us may feel that may be not today or tomorrow, but somewhere in the near future, would like to be a successful entrepreneur. Today, you are being prudent. You plan your life. First, you are going to take a good job which will pay you sufficient to take care of your expenses and also help you save for your future endeavours. Secondly, you are going to start working on a business idea. At the same time, you are going to gain as much experience as possible related to different domains.

But what about those people who never planned all these things? They had a business idea and just took their chance and went ahead with it. And Bang On! They were successful. Bill Gates, his love and passion for coding computer software programs has made him the wealthiest person in the world. He never thought of getting a good job to fund his business and gaining knowledge in all the other fields. He did not walk on the prudent path. He dropped out of Harvard. Can you believe a college dropout now owning a multi-billion dollar company? A company, in which all the aspiring software engineers and MBAs desire to work, is built by a college dropout.

What did Bill Gates do different? He did have exceptional skills. He had love for machine. He had passion for programming. He saw an opportunity and grabbed it. Can a lame man do the same? Can anybody get up from their sleep and start chasing their dreams? Bill Gates had a dream. But this very dream he chased was backed by his skills, love and passion, and vision. What if he had no vision? He saw a dream and randomly decided he wanted to start his own computer software company. What if he had not seen an opportunity which was knocking and decided to start a firm? People would have said he was just lucky, and the luck does not shine every time. But, if there was no such opportunity and he would have decided to start a firm with his friend. Then? He would have failed miserably, his dream would have been crushed, enrolled back in college and would have worked for some successful company. Most importantly, Microsoft would not have existed. Can anybody of us imagine making a presentation or a normal report without using Microsoft Office? Is there any other software that can replace MS Office? Not that I cannot think of any!

Let us talk about the prudent way. We say we will do business, but let us save to fund it. Or we say, ‘I don’t have an idea right now. I am going to wait for the right time.’ But after securing a good job and getting comfortable with the current lifestyle, we see an opportunity but how many of us seize it? How many of us are ready to let go off the steady and fixed income for one business idea. After getting too comfortable with the 9 am to 5 pm job, we find this risk ridiculous.

Dhirubhai Ambani would have got comfortable with the way things going at Majing Corp., but he did not. He parted ways with his partner, Champaklal Damani, for simple reasons. Their style of doing business was different. Damani was prudent. Ambani was a risk taker. But Ambani was not just a risk taker. He had an eye. He built up inventories because he anticipated a price rise, sold the inventories at a higher price and made huge profits.

What differentiates an entrepreneur from a risk-taker is his eye. The vision of anticipating the future market trends, to foresee and move forward with a decision. We have seen many people losing their money on stocks in the anticipation of price rise, but their stocks fail them. These investors anticipate the price rise correctly or they do follow someone’s advice. But where do they go wrong? They did anticipate the price rise but did not know when to exit the stock. They see the rise, they can see the stock has given returns above their expectations but they feel the price will raise more and are ready to take the risk. However, instead of rising, the price goes down steeply, washing out all the returns they could have cashed in.

Here is the difference between an entrepreneur and a risk-taker. An entrepreneur has seen the market trends and knows where to exit. A risk taker jumps at the situation when there is more at stake for a very less return. For an entrepreneur, returns do matter, but he is good at calculating the return for every pound of risk.

You may argue that entrepreneurs do make losses in the initial phase of the life cycle of the business, so why not exit. But which business doesn’t make losses in the initial phase. It is a common phenomenon. But what does not fail or disappoint the budding entrepreneur, is his belief in his idea that will work out. This belief pushes him forward to tackle the obstacles he faces. A belief can exist in many ways, sometimes even externally. For instance, Ekta Kapoor, when she started her television endeavour, she named her every television serial starting with the alphabet ‘K’. Her belief came externally. But over the years, she has scrapped out the letter ‘K’ belief and has been successful both on television and in movies.

If we take a risk and are successful, we are rewarded. But if we take a risk and fail miserably, we call it a lesson. However, the most important lesson for an entrepreneur is the risk of letting go. For an entrepreneur, this is the most difficult part. Partly, because of the love he has for the product he created with his own hands or the outstanding idea he developed all by himself. And, partly because of his ego when he’s about to lose the control over to the new management. However, if he loves his business so much, he should not hold an ego which has been build up due to the autonomy issues and handover the business for its better management. When it comes to his love for the product which he gave birth to and took its motherly care, he should know when to sell it off or even close it down. After trying the IV shots available in his first aid to revive and develop the product, he should learn to give up if its products do not sell.

An entrepreneur may not have attended the finest business school but he may possess management skills. A person may have skills to develop a product, has love and passion and sees an opportunity, but he may not have skills to manage a business. This person should know when to sell off his business when a good deal comes his way. When you reach this stage the risk of handling the whole business by oneself is very high with a huge downfall. And this risk should be avoided. Knowing one’s capabilities is important. And if your capabilities are not excellence in all the areas from funding to selling, you should concentrate on the product.

Article by Divyanka Gangurde

The school days and college days are ones to remember for. But management studies are the one which will create a benchmark for any student in life. The campus experience in a management college is one memory cherished for lifetime.

IBS gives a mix of both management and team work learning and a full campus experience. Campus life is not defined by the area covered by the college but rather by the activities and exposure covered by the college. IBS gives the full exposure including all various types of activities. Right from the very first day IBS has been different for me in various aspects. The activities range from cultural to management and corporate. Its all student driven and of course with the full support of the faculties. It gives an experience of leadership quality and team work. It teaches the management styles, crisis management and time management all in a very informal way. It teaches us how to befriend and adjust even in uncomfortable situations. Campus life is all about those experience of various events on stage and back stage and handling them well with the studies.

It also gives us the way to connect them to the theories and experience which gives us the motivation to reach a destination or goal. The one among the first thing a candidate looks for in any college is a good campus. A great campus is built up by the type of freedom of thought given to the students. The freedom to organize and build up ideas and being able to execute them is what makes up campus life. It not only helps a person build up various qualities but also motivates them to come up with the ideas and thoughts. IBS has a reputation of churning out good managers, the managers who are filled with goals and ambitions. The teachers at IBS encourage the students to study as well as to have fun. The communication barrier between faculty and student is narrowed down which helps a student to grow as a person. A life changing education is what a student will experience here.

These two years of management studies will make build a persona not only on the basis of the management studies, but also on the basis of the real life activities and the thrilling campus life experience will provide with the mixed experiences which will toughen up the students for corporate life.

Contributed by Rima Agarwal (Batch 2014, IBS Ahmedabad)

Have you ever felt what the characters of the book you are reading went through? Or could you picture a particular segment of the story coming alive in your head? Or got so hooked to the book that you could not wait to finish it? Or read one particular book over and over again? Or even finished a book but could not wait to grab the next part of the book?

If any of the above has happened with you, then the author has done his/her job very well. The author has been able to make you imagine the setup of the story, feel the emotions exactly which the characters felt and most importantly, get your eyes glued to the book.

This is being effective. The dictionary meaning of the word ‘effective’ is to be successful in producing a desired or intended result. Consider an orator. A speaker has all the attention he requires as it is rude for the audience to leave their seats. But what really differentiates a speaker from an orator is to have the audience’s attention but also their presence of mind, with their listening dedicated to the orator at the moment. An orator enchants the audience with his/ her moments, expressions, knowledge, fluency and command over the language. But what happens when one is supposed to express oneself through his writing capabilities, when there is no face to face communication, when there is no chance to clear the audience’s doubts, when there is certain change in the voice tone to express certain emotion. How will one deliver the same in their writing?

Well, very few of us are inspiring to be the next Sidney Sheldon or J. K. Rowling or even writers to get their work published in newspapers and magazines or write their own blogs to share their experience, express themselves or change others’ lives, the rest of us may feel that writing is not ‘that’ important.

But writing will always be important. Even if you happen to work in the corporate world tomorrow, you will be loaded with presentations and reports. You will have to write reports to convince your boss presenting him/her how your solutions work or analyse the numbers in qualitative terms to grope in potential clients. For every project you work upon or your every client or every meeting you have to give a presentation, you have to come up with the reports.

Your job would be to include all the correct figures and colourful charts, but what is more important is to be able express those numbers, come up with logical assumptions and clear predictions to explain how you arrived at those numbers. What are you benchmarking or who are comparing the results with? How are you able to achieve the desired target set by the company? When you write a report you need to be apt and precise, but at the same time should be able to impress the reader. The most important is to put across your thoughts. Here, you have to be effective i.e. you have to create the desired result you wanted.

All these years of schooling, we were given essays to write but we never really paid any heed to them as we were never told the importance of these essays. Anyway, it is never too late. How to develop effective writing skills?

• Read: Evidently, reading helps to gain knowledge and to open up your mind towards different point of views expressed by people about the same topic/ issue. If you are writing a report, it will help you to base your assumptions, include economic conditions and conflicting views, also the recent trends and future predictions.
• Research: One should have complete idea of the topic on which he/ she is supposed to write. So research is a very important part of writing. Research also helps to form one’s own opinions on the topic which is very important, rather than researching and only stating facts which are expressed and experimented by others but only collated and stated in different words by you.
• Do not take a stand in the beginning: This is a very important point, Do Not Take a Stand in the Beginning. Many writers take a stand in the very beginning of their article/ piece. It is a different thing if you are planning to share your certain experience regarding a particular thing. If you happen to hold a strong viewpoint even before researching, then the whole research turns out to be finding work in favour of your viewpoint. When you do this, you somewhat disappoint your readers. You are not able to clear your readers’ doubts by not showing the other side of the coin. So when your research, create an outline. Then go about collecting information which is in favour and not in favour of the topic. Then form your opinion.
• Express: Like I have mentioned earlier, express your opinion rather than stating facts. If you fail to express your opinion, then the document would be just a piece that you made collating others work and facts; which anyone can do. Do not just express your opinion; back it up with experience or assumptions or logic, so your words are not looked upon as empty words.
• Keep the reader in mind: When you begin your topic, do keep the understanding of the audience. A silly example of this would be, if you happen to write for children, obviously, you would avoid using words which are long and are above the kids’ understanding. Your storyline would not be complicated but will be simpler and easy to comprehend. Thus, keeping the reader in mind is very important.
• State you’re Experience: Your experience counts when you are writing a review for a product or had an encounter relating to the topic. If you happen to state your opinion without any experience it is very difficult for your readers to digest, especially those who have a conflicting view. Your experience stands to explain the reasoning behind your views.
• Practice: It is very important to arrange the information which you have collected and align the same with the opinions you have formed along the way. Practice writing on certain topics on which you are supposed to give your opinions. Start with simpler topics and then move to critical ones. Incorporate others opinions and state if you agree with the same or not, also give the explanation why you do or don’t.

Article by Divyanka Gangurde

The term ‘Bricks and Mortar’ was first used in 1992 and was evolved in contrast to the business model of selling goods and services online i.e. Clicks and Clicks. Bricks and Mortar refers to the physical presence of a company such as buildings, stores and warehouses. This is a place where the customer comes face to face with his seller before making the purchase. We all are aware of this traditional model and have made purchases from such stores almost every now and then leaving us with numerous examples including retail outlets, mom and pops stores and  showrooms.

Let’s shift our focus to the Bricks and Clicks model. The Bricks and Clicks model is simple. These companies sell their products in both ways i.e. online (referred as Clicks) and offline (referred as Bricks). This is a lethal combination. Usually, not adopted by many companies and prefer sticking to either of the one channels of distribution. Talking about Clicks and Clicks, you will come across many websites which adopt this model and operate only online. For instance, Amazon.com commenced as an online book store but entered various other segments like retail goods, electronics, games, digital content etcetera.

We see a lateral shift from Bricks and Mortar model to Bricks and Clicks model to cover the market and make their presence felt on the whole. However, this shift has still not gained any attention from their consumers who favour shopping through the bricks more than the clicks. Many of the online stores of such companies are poorly managed which ride the potential customers away. Also, many companies are comfortable with the bricks model and fear the cannibalization of their current distribution channel which drives their profitability. Backed by many other benefits provided to the customers by the Bricks model, the need to eliminate the bricks model and practice the clicks is unfavourable.

Firstly, the touch and feel. Consumers want to touch and feel the product before buying it. If it is an electronic product, consumers wish to receive a demonstration to know how the product works, its size and shape.However, the businesses following the clicks model have started giving a ‘try and buy’ offer to their customers. For instance, you wish to buy shoes online you ask for a trial, if may try the shoes, know whether it fits right and go ahead with the purchase decision.

Secondly, consumers wish to negotiate the price with the seller by asking for discounts or reduction in price. This is possible when the transaction is over the counter (OTC). But Ebay has been able to provide its customers with the bidding option where the customers will bid to pay for the particular product depending upon their understanding of prices. Following price negotiation is the instant order fulfillment. You pay cash and the product is standing ready to be taken home, immediately. But, in case of the clicks model, order fulfillment takes time as first, the order is processed, second, the transaction validity is checked and lastly the product is couriered to the respective address. This conventional model might also come to halt if Amazon’s prime air project proves feasible to deliver products under five pounds in 60 minutes.

Next is the returns and exchange option. It is feasible for the customers to return and exchange faulty, defective goods in a bricks model rather than clicks. But the online selling players have also come to a solution for this by giving buyers the flexibility of 30 days to return a product with a no question asked policy. When we look at the clicks model, the reach of technology plays the crucial role. When we look at rural areas where the mobile technology is flourished but internet is yet to be penetrated, the clicks model fails giving way to the Bricks model. The model also fails when we talk about the fresh products market. But we do see Amazon coming up with the delivery of organic food and Greencart.in with the delivery of fresh fruits and vegetables. The feasibility of the clicks model is shortened when the number of the products to be bought is large. Also, the clicks websites are not the one stop solution for all the goods. This point can be reiterated when we see a number of households still opting to buy their monthly groceries from super/hyper markets rather than Healthkart.com. The best part of the mom and pops store is that they provide free home delivery and credit system as opposed to that of clicks model.

There are certain advantages of the Clicks model which cannot go unseen. The operating expenses for this model are very low. No store maintenance costs, no rent, no additional staff; only warehousing. It also saves conveyance expense on the customer front. The clicks stores provide their buyers with numerous sellers helping them to make the purchase decision depending on the number of units required, price, quality and warranty. The buyer can now acquire the product at lower price than from a Bricks store. Also, the buyer can compare the prices and the additional benefits received across different Bricks stores. The payment options are also debatable since the clicks stores provide COD (Cash on Delivery) option and EMI (Equated Monthly Instalments) schemes for credit card holders.

There are certain areas where only the Bricks model can be operated. For instance, if we look at selling insurance policies online, yes, you can select a policy by entering your age, habits, occupation and so on, but underwriting will be a problem. For underwriting purpose, you will have to visit the company’s office to get tested by the medical officers. Thus, it is not feasible to complete insurance transactions online from start to end. This is not applicable to all the services. If we look at making transactions through your Demat account, you need not meet the company managers or the agency you have your account with.

There are companies who sail with one leg in one both and another leg in other both. It is challenging to handle both the channels effectively. Like mentioned previously, there is a fear of cannibalizing the already existing physical distribution channel. Adapting to clicks will also create unrest among the distributors and will oppose this step. Hewlett-Packard is one of the very few companies who have been able sail in both the boats efficiently by protecting their existing physical distribution channels and step by step implementing the clicks model.

Article by Divyanka Gangurde

As per the definition, “The selling concept holds that consumers and businesses, if left alone, won’t buy enough of the organisation’s products.” In simple words, the selling concept means selling what the organisation makes by advertising, door-to-door selling, discounts and promotions, etc. Evolving from production concept and product concept, selling concept gained significance as one of the earlier marketing ideas.

‘Sell what you make’ sounds familiar. Think about the insurance business. It’s been weeks and you have left an insurance agent hanging to buy an insurance policy for yourself to secure your wife’s and children’s future when you won’t be around. You might feel, what is the need to cover whole life? Accidents? Medical treatments? All these get covered, so why have life insurance. But the agent is not ready to budge. You tell him to call some other time and he does not fail to call you. This is ‘Hard Selling’. Yes, it is hard because neither you are ready to buy it promptly nor you feel the need. It is also hard selling for the agent as he has to sell the policy, because his chance to earn extra commission depends upon your purchase.

The selling concept adopted by companies, cash in on its numerous benefits. Firstly, Cost. You’re going to sell a product which gives you cost advantage. A firm with the intention of becoming a cost leadership firm will practice selling. Secondly, Profits. Lower costs, higher profits. Hard selling leads to higher sales volumes. Your selling team will put in more efforts to increase your sales when you reward them handsomely.

After the three benefits listed, now think of me as an agent, who has come to your doorstep to sell you a water purifier from XYZ Co, a new company trying to make its mark in India. The moment you look at me, you tell me you don’t need a water purifier. Still I insist you to see a demonstration, you let me in, I give a demonstration and based on its benefits you buy the product. The use the product for a month and your electricity bill shoots up due to the new device. Now you’re bad mouthing the XYZ Co., complaining about the product. Hard selling has its own share of risks. I have diluted XYZ’s brand value, even before it was created.

Many of us mistake selling concept with the product concept. Yes, you sell what you make. Here, you pull the customers to buy your product, unlike in selling concept, where you are pushing the product in the face of the customers. The product concept brings in continuous innovation whereas selling brings in cost leadership. Consider Apple’s IPod, a unique product, introduced in the era of MP3 players. It brought in invention and innovation through its features and portability. MP3 players and IPod had the same use. It cannibalized sales for MP3 manufacturers i.e. wiping off competition from its rivals (Sony, Phillips), entering a new segment and building brand value for its new product. 13 years from its launch and no imitations.

Today, firms want to create a long lasting relationship with their customers. They want their customers to buy their product throughout their lifetime, also, recommend the same to others. These firms believe they can create brand value for their firms only if they focus on customer satisfaction. Thus they manufacture what the customer wants i.e. they make what sells in the market. In 1960, Theodore Levitt, lecturer at Harvard Business School introduced a new concept ‘The Marketing Myopia’. He pointed out the short-sightedness of the firms practising the selling concept. These firms believed in selling what they make ignoring their customer needs. Marketing Myopia brought in the Marketing concept. Levitt said, selling focuses on the needs of the seller and marketing on the needs of the buyer. It is about finding the right product for your target group and not the right people for your product.

According to the marketing concept, you find the needs of your target group. Design and manufacture a product which is exact to your target group’s needs. When you are aware of the demand for your product, your inventory is low. The probability of your product failing is zeroed down. Also, it’s an answer to the increasing competition. If you produce a product according to the specifications of your consumers, your customer are not leaving you and going to your competitors. You will build up customer loyalty. If your company is to launch a new product, it can do that under the brand name and take advantage of this customer loyalty.

Marketing concept helps you in coming up with your own Unique Selling Proposition (USP). It also helps in creating brand value for the particular product. For instance, Tanishq, one of the leading jewellery selling brands in India, under the house of TATA, has created its own brand value. Avoiding irrelevant costs and demand forecasts are outcomes for the firms following marketing concept. Another aspect is the focus groups. The discussions led by these groups will help you realise if your product is upto your customer expectations and how much are they willing to pay.

Dell is respected as the industry leader in the segment of personal computers. Their marketing strategy involves making the product according to the specifications of the customer and delivering them personally. This has helped Dell to build customer loyalty and reduce costs. Customization of products also helps in charging a premium price. Its competitors (HP, Lenovo) have focused on reducing prices of their personal computers by reducing costs. However, Dell has been able to save its highest market share in the segment by not focusing on reducing the cost, thus, not comprising its product.

In the recent years, we have seen a gradual shift towards societal and holistic concept. Companies have now started adopting these concepts for the greater good of their customers and the society. They indulge in CSR (Corporate Social Responsibilities) activities to interact with its customers and the society at large. This helps in gaining visibility, understanding the changing customer needs and increasing the customer base.

Article by Divyanka Gangurde

Anxiety is not new to us. Remember the first time you climbed the stage to perform at your school’s fancy dress competition or a recital. The heavy lump you felt in your belly, making you sick and sweat. Anxiety before the interview is exactly the same thing.

Anxiety occurs when you know you have to give your best shot, often referred to as performance anxiety. When you have an important decision to take which is going to affect your life. When you have an interview which is going to get you closer to your dream, you tend to feel anxious, because you want to make no mistakes which will ruin your chances.

Anxiety is an emotion. You’re bound to feel anxious, when you have an action plan but don’t know how to execute it. When you know you have to do certain things, but are not able to do the same as worry creeps in. What does one really worry about before an interview- his/her inability to answer an asked question, feeling awkward or conscious while being scrutinized by the interviewers from content to fluency to body language, one’s unpreparedness or cognizance, fear of committing mistakes from past interviews, when it’s your dream job and don’t want to mess things up, when you have inadequate or vague information about the job description (responsibilities), when you feel under-qualified for the job specifications (KSAs) the post demands?

Stand in the waiting area, you will see a number of candidates reading current affairs or going through the answers they have prepared for specific questions or asking others questions to clear their own doubts. Yes, your fellow interviewees are feeling anxious, too. Anxiety is common and exists in every human being. Only the level of anxiety and the way to manage/hide it differs from person to person.

In fact being anxious is a good sign. It reflects that you are aware of yourself and in control of your actions. It also shows that you are looking forward to something and don’t want things which are out of your control, to get in the way.  Though little anxiety is always good to keep things in control, but higher level of anxiety may lead to nervous breakdown, shaking one’s confidence, forgetting the little things which do matter a lot, such as greeting the interviewers or shaking hands or even forgetting to smile. I may say that anxiety is good but do not show it to your interviewers. They may take it as the sign of unpreparedness or even low level of confidence.Your interviewers will not take time to gauge if you are nervous as the symptoms are obvious such as feeling nausea, fumbling during hand-shake or handing over documents or talking, sweating, choking (or losing your voice while answering), answering in a low voice (will show disinterest towards the particular job or lack of confidence), taking a lot of time to think on a question, freezing (not able to think on the questions asked), forgetting important documents, not able to sit stable, fidgeting or not looking at the interviewers while answering their questions.

Avoid the above to beat the interview blues. But at the same time, it is also the interviewer’s first responsibility to make the candidate comfortable. When the interviewer begins the interview asking you about your hobbies/interests, your journey to the venue and questions which are not related to the job, s/he is trying to make you comfortable. What’s in for the interviewers? Talking about interests/ hobbies helps in finding whether the candidate is a good fit. So my advice is that you should answer their questions with complete honesty.

It is not possible to eliminate anxiety completely, thus, you should focus on minimising it. To overcome and manage anxiety, I suggest the following-

1. Be Prepared- Practice interview sessions with your peer or family members or a person who has conducted interviews before. Handover company description, industry background and the job profile you have applied for. Also, provide them with questions you are preparing for. Ask them your areas of improvements to work on and any other questions which may be asked. Also it is important to ask them if you make any common mistakes which appear while answering the questions and tell them to observe your body language. Ask for their suggestions. Take this practice very seriously.
2. Practice commonly asked questions-Interviewers have common questions in place, such as tell me about yourself, what are your hobbies/ interests, what is your dream job, where do you want to be ten years down the line and many others. List down the most common questions and try answering them in 200 words. Practice them well but do not memorize the answers. If you memorize them and happen to forget a line in between, you will try and remember the answer in front of the interviewer which will create a bad impression.
3. Back answers with your  experience and how it will fit the desired job description-The common questions asked by employers in this context are what major challenges and problems you faced, how did you handle them, tell us a situation where you had to show your leadership qualities, which is your biggest achievement so far. Remember to back every answer with an instance from your previous job, the situation you faced, how did you handle it, how has it helped. Also, try to link the same with the job profile you are applying for and how will it help in the future.
4. Understanding that unexpected questions will also pop up-If the interviewers happen to ask questions which are not prepared by you, try not to act very surprised. If you are not able to think on the same lines, ask for a few seconds without hesitating and think upon the same and then reply calmly. Do not take a very long time to reply. If you feel you do not know how to answer the question, tell them you don’t know, but do not do it for every question.
5. Understand what the job asks- Make sure you have complete idea of the job, its responsibilities and KSAs required. Connect to the people who are working at the same position and ask about their work. Questions asked related to the job must be answered properly.
6. Research about the company- Many a times, interviewers asks questions related to their companies and the latest news surrounding them. You should be able to handle such questions as it shows your level of interest in working for the company.
7. Know your resume- It is crucial that all the things mentioned in the resume are true. The most likely resume based questions to be asked are- run me through your interview, your hobbies/interests, what were the roles for the post you held.
8. Keeping Asked and Required Documents in place- You should make it a point to gather the asked documents as soon as you receive the call letter. Arrange the documents, so when asked for a particular document you are able to hand it over without a minute’s delay.
9. A good nap- Have a goodnight’s sleep so you will wake up fresh for your interview. Do not avoid breakfast. Avoiding sleep and food leads to insomnia and nausea, respectively.
10. Wear comfortable clothes- Dress formally but choose clothes and shoes in which you will be comfortable. If you are uneasy wearing a tie, then carry one with you and wear it if the other candidates wear it too. Avoid dark colours which will make you sweat.
11. Reaching venue before time- Start from your place early to avoid reaching late due to traffic or difficulty in finding the venue or any such reasons. Reach before the stipulated time to look around and relax yourself.
12. Waiting time- The Waiting time is more stressful. Utilise this time to interact with other candidates, to loosen up and relax!Ask them where they worked before, what are their qualifications. Asking the ones’ interviewed before you the questions that interviewers asked, it will help you to understand what the interviewers are looking for.
13. Be Honest- During the interview do not answer any question with incomplete information. Get your facts and figures right. Your resume should not contain anything which is alien to you.

Think Positive, be Confident, be Yourself!

Article by Divyanka Gangurde

The personal interview (PI) is an important part of B-school selection process. It is your chance to impress the panelists and succeed. It may be the first interview for most of the candidates applying for a B-school admission. Yet, some candidates prepare so well that they glide their way smoothly through the interview process.

The personal interview is generally the final step towards admission and is the hardest round to clear in the selection process for the MBA program. This may be attributed to the fact that in spite of your rigorous preparation, you may not be able to predict the questions that the interviewer might ask. At times, the interviewers may even pose unexpected questions that can make you feel uncomfortable. In such situations, you must try to stay calm and focused while answering questions, as such questions are meant to test your ability to act under stress.

Candidates are not expected to come up with a correct answer for every question. But they are expected to give answers that make sense. So, try to give thoughtful answers in an honest way without committing the mistakes that can come in the way of your selection.

A list of the common mistakes that candidates must avoid during an interview can be of help in the last minute preparations. Here are some of the most common mistakes that must be avoided to be able to make a positive impact on the interviewer.

Reporting Late for the Interview

Try to make every effort to be present for the interview well before the scheduled time. This would allow you to feel relaxed and be at ease. But, in case of an emergency, do make it a point to inform the college authorities in time.

If you have informed the college with a valid reason for your delay, it would demonstrate your professionalism. On the contrary, arriving late for the interview without informing the interviewer would make a negative impact.

Dressing up Inappropriately

The interview at the B-school could be the first chance at the formal interview for most of the candidates. So, it is necessary that they do not end up making blunders on that front. The right way to go for the interview is wearing a business suit—neat and nicely ironed—with polished formal shoes. Girls should avoid bright colored business suits, heavy make-up, gaudy jewelry and bold perfumes. Boys, on the other hand, should avoid wearing informal/ semi-formal clothes, at the worse—going absolutely casual.

Going Off the Track

Avoid going off the track or giving irrelevant answers. For example, if the interviewer asks you “what are your views on the current financial policies adopted by India’s Finance Minister? do not present your views on America’s or any other country’s financial policies just for the sake of showing off your knowledge.

Furthermore, you should not be evasive about questions on your weak areas such as poor grades. Do not try to hide anything. Instead, try to give honest answers to make a positive impact on the interviewer. It is better not to give excuses for your past failures or lack of determination and hard work to achieve the goals.

Avoiding Eye Contact

A confident candidate, who has prepared well for the interview is expected to give answers by making good eye contact with the interviewer. Maintaining eye contact with the interviewer shows that the candidate is confident and cares about what the interviewer is saying. Making eye contact also demonstrates that the candidate is actively engaged in the discussion.

Absence of eye contact or even an inconsiderate handshake can indicate that you are not confident and trying to hide something. The advice is to be confident and let it show through your body language.

Exaggeration and Overstating

It is better not to exaggerate facts or lie about something just to impress the interview panelists. The interview panel is more experienced and smart than you are. Trying to hide certain facts can be annoying for any interviewer and might hurt your chance of obtaining admission to the B-school of your choice.

Misleading facts and overstated information can never take you too far. So, be yourself and structure your answers around authentic facts and figures.

Not Using Your Past Achievements to Impress    

Candidates who tell their success stories from the past will have more chances to crack the interview as opposed to candidates who do not t talk about their past accomplishments. Try to talk about the situations when you achieved your goal or target in spite of unfavorable conditions. This would demonstrate your perseverance and hard work to accomplish your goals. For example, if a candidate has succeeded in getting good grades in his high school examinations despite the fact that he was participating in the district level cricket tournament which was coinciding with the examinations. It can be a good rationale to prove that you can multi-task and yet deliver good performance.

Not Maintaining Decorum

It shows lack of manners when you speak with the interviewer by calling his or her first name unless the interviewer allows you. The interviewer might get offended when you address the interviewers by their first names. Similarly, candidates are not expected to ask personal questions without the permission of an interviewer as it may suggest that the candidate is unprofessional.        

Interrupting the Interviewer        

It is unprofessional to interrupt when the interviewer is speaking. Wait until the interviewer has completed his statement and reply accordingly. If you make haste while answering the questions or interrupt the interviewer, it would demonstrate your impatience, and over-confidence. So, never interrupt the interviewer.

Lack of Preparation        

When it is your chance to ask some questions, do not mute your expressions and give an impression as if you do not have anything to ask. Utilize this opportunity to express your thoughts and future prospects in the college. Candidates who do not ask questions when they get the chance generally portray their lack of preparation and unwillingness to know more about the college. Try to prepare 3-4 relevant questions before the interview that you would like to ask about the college, if given a chance.

Reacting Negatively

You should not react negatively by making inappropriate statements in response to the opinions made by other candidates, current students or even alumni of the college. It would be immature and unprofessional on your part to react negatively to the views expressed by other candidates or current students of the college. It is advised to maintain a neutral view to the statements made by others.

Remember, your first impression is going to make an everlasting impact. Try to make this impact a positive one by avoiding these common mistakes during the interview process. Do what it takes to prepare appropriately for the interview to be able to impress the panelists. Prepare thoroughly, try to give answers honestly, and be yourself. All the Best!

“When our research tracked 20,000 new hires, 46% of them failed within 18 months. But even more surprising than the failure rate, was that when new hires failed, 89% of the time it was for attitudinal reasons and only 11% of the time for a lack of skill. “

These are the findings shared by Mark Murphy founder & CEO of Leadership IQ, a leading management and employee engagement experts quoted in his book “Hiring for Attitude: A Revolutionary Approach to Recruiting and Selecting People with Both Tremendous Skills and Superb Attitude”.

These and such findings reiterate the need for today’s organizations to hire candidates for a right attitude. While the importance of Technical competency cannot be underplayed, slowly and steadily Soft skills and attitude have acquired a very critical position in firming up hiring decisions. This phenomenon has also been gaining momentum thanks to the myriad of academic papers and Practical Wisdom that has emphasized the significance of the “right attitude in the right body.” Furthermore investing in Training and Development can train employees for technical expertise. However, the same cannot be easily achieved in case of attitudinal restructuring. As Herb Kelleher, former Southwest Airlines CEO used to say, “We can change skill levels through training, but we can’t change attitude.”

Recently an IT solutions based Organization expressed a desire to have a training program designed for their Team and Project Heads on Hiring Skills. While these key people were involved in conducting the technical round interviews, the top management saw a tremendous need to develop a mind-frame for their employees to identify a right hire by looking beyond relevant work experience and technical competency. The reason… of late they have had cases of seemingly right fit that quit or are asked to quit due to an attitudinal misfit.

Attempts to hire for a right attitude may take many forms:

Psychometric testing

The objective of a Psychometric assessment exercise may extend from quantifying innate personality qualities to organizational behavioral characteristics such as citizenship behavior. The findings of the Tata Strategic Management Group study as reported by the Economic Times in February 2014 indicate that “an increasing number of Indian organizations are using psychometric instruments to facilitate objective people decisions. The survey suggests that adoption rate could move from a current 52% to 87% by 2016. The psychometric battery may include time tested instruments such as MBTI, 16 PF test to relatively newer tools such as Thomas Profiling

Behavioral Event Interview (BEI)

Another attempt for right hiring includes Behavioral Event Interview (BEI). Also known as “competency-based interviews” or “targeted selection”, the goal of the BEI is to ask specific instances from the candidates past which could reflect a work-based expression of specific job related competencies. BEI is based on the premise that Past behavior predicts future success. Additionally, BEI provides an opportunity to the interview panels to use a standardized assessment method to measure the responses and qualifications of their prospects. A typical example to assess conflict management could be “What is your typical way of dealing with conflict?  Give me an example.”

Ann Rhoades, PRES and founder of People Ink, an experienced Human Resources expert having served as the Chief People Officer of Southwest Airlines, Promus Hotel Company and JetBlue Airways has been firmly believes in connecting to the person behind the face of the candidates to gauge their attitudinal make up and coachability. Her favorite question is “Tell me about the last time you broke the rules.” Her candid belief is that a long silence or a noncommittal response is an indication that a candidate is trying to figure out what she wants to hear. “The good ones,” she says, “don’t care.”

Targeted Selection

Some organizations also follow the Byham model, wherein companies work to understand their star performers, identify their target behaviors and attitudes, and then develop interview questions to find people with those attributes. Bill Byham, and CEO of Pittsburgh-based Development Dimensions International (DDI) and a pioneer of “Targeted Selection” method of hiring propounds that the best way to select people who’ll thrive in your company is to identify the personal characteristics of people who are already thriving and hire people just like them.

Simulations

Another modern method of hiring people with a right balance of Knowledge Skill and Attitude (KSA) involves the Simulation methods. Very popular with MNCs such as IBM, Toyota, this exercise comprises of establishing simulation assemblies. Charles Austin, an Atlanta-based consultant with DDI, has helped organizations design such facility. He says “people who don’t have the mental stamina to meet BMW’s “aerobic workplace” requirements don’t get hired.” Similar facilities have been built for other automakers (including Toyota and Subaru). For another simulation built for Cessna single-engine airplane factory, Austin developed an elaborate role-playing exercise for managers that simulate a “day in the life” of a harried executive. A job candidate spends up to 12 hours in an office with a phone, fax, and in-basket stuffed with files and letters. Throughout the day the prospect works through memos and handles problems.

Shadowing current star performers

Certain organizations arrange for short-listed finalists to shadow star performers this becomes a win-win situation, for a good expectation setting for candidates and two to get an unbiased feedback from the current employees in terms of behavioral competencies.

Vetting Applicants’ Social Media Profiles

A modern day phenomenon to check the attitude of the millennial employees is to explore and analyze their presence on the social media. A look at the social networking sites and personal websites presence of a candidate can speak acumen of social behaviors which would otherwise be difficult to gauge.

While there can be a number of techniques aimed at picking the right talent for the organization, interviewers may benefit from keeping five golden rules in mind:

Identify mind-set mine-fields

It is a good practice to start identifying attitude reflectors such as stickiness with previous organizations, educational gaps, sudden exits, career journey, choice of past employers and projects. While it would be just a starting point, it could help the interviewer set certain hypothesis that need to be tested during the course of the interaction.

Move from the bird’s eye to a worm’s eye

Most often organizations are not very clear about what defines a right attitude. Defining key behavioral competencies that are desirable to the given role becomes a good beginning for the search for a right fit. Once such traits and competencies are identified, narrowing down tools and measures to identify the key competencies in the prospective hire becomes a smart way of hiring for the right attitude.

Move from worm’s eye to a bull’s eye

Evaluating an attitude from a resume requires keen observational skills and deep human insight.  Such characteristics can be exhibited through answers to questions which go beyond the traditional interview methods. Going beyond the cliché “Tell me something about yourself” to a more relevant question keeping the business needs and job requirements in mind would help bring out the critical aspects of the candidate’s persona and provide some food for thought for a right people decision.

Use a right mix of Behavioral, situational and value based questions

The interviewer should always aim at knowing the multiple facets of the candidate by presenting pertinent situational questions, keeping in view the job profile. A question such as “ imagine that a customer is giving you last minutes changes in the requirement and expecting them to be incorporated in the solution to be delivered in next 36 hours. How would you handle the situation” would give a good view to the candidates’ analytical, problem solving, conflict management skills as also the ability to innovate and negotiate in real time. Similarly a question such as “A manager asks you to lie to a customer about viability of one product choice as against the other in order to book greater profit, Would you follow their instructions or not?” cannot be categorized as good or bad but can be considered as a measure of core values.

Listen, Listen and further Listen

Finally the key to successful hiring depends on the interviewer’s ability to listen to the said as well as the unsaid. The words and beyond them, the noise as well as the silence that is witnessed during the interaction.

To conclude in the words of Sir Winston Churchill, “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.”

Organizational investment in these little things while making talent and people decisions would lead to big differences in the way of doing Business.

Contributed by Prof. Dipika Dabke (Faculty, IBS Mumbai)