DAY OF DRIVE at AURELIUS CORPORATE SOLUTIONS.

The mail that we received from our CRC describing about the placement drive, had only mentioned that the skills required are Good communication skills, verbal and written.

So, we had no other idea what and how to prepare about the drive. Moreover, there was no information available about the rounds that would be commenced over there. So, we were totally unprepared.

I made all the necessary arrangement, required for the drive.

You must read: ‘10 things to remember before you attend a placement drive’.

As the day arrived, we decided to hire a cab from OLA.  So, we were four friends, three boys and one girl. I woke them up very early in the morning, as the drive was supposed to be held at 9:30 AM, and we were in Noida-63 at 9:00AM, but as we didn’t know the exact location, so we took the assistance of the great Google Maps. This application is specially created to misguide you when you are actually lost. It took us about twenty to twenty five minutes of driving and asking street vendors to reach to ACS.

Finally we were there and the process of recruitment began at 10:00 AM.

We were all asked to fill a form and were sent to the second floor, to wait.

As we were not informed about the rounds that shall be commenced, so we waited for the challenges that would be thrown to us.

However, here I have categorized the entire drive in five different rounds, which were involved for the recruitment process:-

1.      Face to Face interaction.

2.      Face to Face interaction phase II.

3.      P.I. with GM.

4.      Briefing with the Admin.

5.      Briefing with the CEO.

So, one by one, let me share to you the experience of these rounds.

1. Face to face interaction.

We were asked to fill a form and wait. After few minutes one by one, a batch of five candidates were called downstairs, for the G.D. When they came out the G.D. with their low faces, the tension amongst us increased rapidly. Moreover, when they shared what all were they asked to speak of, and then they stated that they are asking to show them how can they sell a pen. Everyone over there was shocked! The rumor spread that the job is of a door to door salesman, and now we were all planning how and when to leave this place. But then the HRs, Sonu Dewan and Shalini Rawat, came to the floor and they decided to take the face to face interaction over here. Mr. Sonu described spoke of different profiles like KAM, Hr recruiter etc, that were available at that moment. He stated that he will listen to the personal introduction one by one, and based on the quality of speaking and English he will select the candidates. I was the fourth guy to introduce myself, and I didn’t spoke well, on purpose, because of the rumor of door to door salesman. Though it was my fourth placement drive, but yet I was very nervous while speaking out my introduction.

One by one, everyone spoke and then he announced the result, I was selected along with other 24 candidates. So, it was basically an elimination round. I didn’t count, but there were approximately 150+ candidates. So, 16% were selected.

After this round, I raised my hand, and asked the Hr. to describe the job profile, because I wanted to get a clear idea of the job. He explained that Key Account Managers, handles the client and in this we have not to speak to the customers rather we have to talk to the business class people. So, it was sales of B to B (business to business) not of B to C (business to customers).

So, it was cleared that it wasn’t a door to door sales.

2. Face to face interaction, Phase II.

After clearing the first round, we were now in the second phase of face to face interaction. In this round, Ms. Shalini started to interact with the candidates one by one. I believe that this interaction was to understand the attitude of the candidate for the sales profile. The interaction also focused in understanding the level of intellect that a candidate carries with him/her.

Here are some of the interesting interactions that took place over there:-

Shalini:          Why sales?

Candidate 1:   Ma’am, right now I am in such a state that I just want a job, be whatever the profile is.

Shalini:          Why so?

Candidate 1:   Because I am not able to get a job of technical domain.

Shalini:          So, if you are from technical background then why you coming into sales?

Candidate 1:   Ma’am, because I don’t like technical domains.

Shalini:          Then why did you take B.TECH?

Candidate 1:   Because my parents wanted.

Shalini:          So, they wanted you to be on technical side?

Candidate 1:   Yes.

Shalini:          Then will they allow you to do sales?

Candidate 1:   I will convince them.

Shalini:          If you can convince them then you should have convinced them before you took admission.

Shalini shook her head and gave a lame smile at the face of candidate 1. And now she moved to interact with the second candidate.

Shalini:           Introduce yourself.

Candidate 2:   (Does the introduction.)

Shalini:           Why sales?

Candidate 3:   Because sales require discipline and great level of intellect. One must know how to talk to people, how to interact with them. One must have the ability to convince people……… blah blah blah blah……..

(Candidate 2, played smart and instead of answering why sales the candidate spoke of the skills that sales requires. So, the panel got impressed by the speaking and by the good words about sales.)

Shalini took her notebook and wrote down the name of candidate 2, and then she moved to candidate three, which was me.

Shalini:           Introduce yourself.

Me:                (Introduced!)

Shalini:           You are also from B. TECH!

Me:                Yes ma’am, the entire batch is from the same college.

Shalini started to give a serious look to all of us. To this I asked, “Why can’t we be in sales?” And then there started a debate between me and her. I was ready with a good answer for- Why sales? But my bad luck made me to debate to her that should B.TECH students do sales or not?

After five minutes of debate, I stopped answering (arguing), and she moved further to next candidate. She didn’t write my name in her notebook. I got dishearten, because when I wanted to lose I didn’t and then in this round when I wanted to win I am going to lose.

Shalini:           Why sales?

Candidate 4:   Because I have the skills for the sale, as my father has a shop where I learnt to handle clients.

Shalini:          So you know how to convince people to buy the product?

Candidate 4:   No, I don’t need to convince people; they themselves get convinced and buy our stuffs.

Shalini:          Oh really! What is your shop about?

Candidate 4:   Medical Store.

Everyone in the room started laugh at this humorous reply.

Shalini:          Then tell me why should I hire you?

Candidate 4:   Because I have the ability of convincing people.

Shalini:          (She pointed towards a computer screen and said to him) sell this to him (me).

Candidate 4:   (He turned to me and started) Hello sir.

Me:               Hello.

Candidate 4:   Sir, as per your requirement I believe that this monitor of Samsung will be best.

Me:               Why so?

Candidate 4:   Because it is latest in the market and will support any CPU and also it comes with HD sound speakers.

Me:               Ok, how much it costs?

Candidate 4:   15,000 rupees only.

Me:               This is too much, please lower it down.

Candidate 4:   13,000 is the best price I could offer.

Me:               Sorry, but I have only 10,000 rupees.

Candidate 4:   Ok, I’ll talk to my managers.

Me:                Ok, I will come to you later then.

At this point Shalini interrupted and talked to me as if she is also a sales person over here.

Shalini:          Wait Sir, you can also get the payment done in EMIs with 0% interest, with no hidden charges.

Me:                 How much is the amount for each EMI?

Shalini:            3000 rupees sir.

Me:                 Ok, I will buy it.

And that’s how she showed her skills of sales, well the trick was simple but I learned that once we are able to pitch the client properly then we can throw such options that can make the client surrender.

Well, this went on further and there were more funny incidents, and when the results were declared 13 out of 24 people were selected, including me.

We were then given a break of 20 minutes, and were informed to gather here for the next round, which was personal interview with John, General Manager at Aurelius. So, I went out and had some biscuits and chips.

3. Personal Interview with General Manager (GM).

The first two rounds were not difficult to crack, because I had seen much worse elimination rounds in other placement drives, for example as that of Zycus where two out of thirty were getting selected. But, these two people were very strict as they spoke to us. It seemed as if they want to sabotage us. So, I had a perception about that the GM is also going to be the same.

As I returned to the room, I saw that P.I. has already been started with the other members. There I saw Mr. John, sitting and chatting to the candidates. Along with John there sat Ms. Cathy, quality control supervisor at Aurelius.

So, the process was simple, one by one John talked to the candidates and analyzed them, and then he asked the candidate to go downstairs to wait for the result.

I was quite nervous, but when John spoke his politeness and friendliness eased me a lot, so I started to build up my confidence. He was not only analyzing but was also helping the candidates to express themselves in a better way for example:-

The second person to talk to John was very nervous, and he was stammering a bit. So, while stating his introduction and his strengths. He said, stammering, that he can work well in pressurized condition.

Candidate:      (Stammers) I can work well in pressure!

John:             You can work well in pressure?

Candidate:      Yes sir!

John:             Are you in pressure at the moment?

Candidate:      Yes sir.

John:           But you are hardly able to speak! Let’s do one thing, you take a minute and calm down yourself, then we will continue.

One of the funny things that John asked to candidates was that- “Let’s suppose you woke up one morning and you go to bathroom. You pick up your toothbrush and apply paste on it. Then, you start to brush your teeth but then you realize that instead of toothpaste you have applied foaming cream. Then what will you do?”

So like this, the session continued, with several interviews. I waited for my turn eagerly and finally it arrived.

John:                Introduce yourself.

Me:                  (Introduced).

John:                Ok, so tell me what is the most difficult part of your life?

Me:                  (Told)

John:                How you overcame that?

Me:                  (Told)

John:              I like it that you are so stable and so much aware about the surroundings. Is there                        anything you would like to ask?

Me:                  Yes, what was one of the most difficult parts of your life?

John:                (Told)

I too then took his leave and went downstairs and waited for the results. It took quite awhile for summing up this round. And finally after a long wait the results were announced; six out of 13 were selected in that round.

We were then asked to submit our resume and photographs and were asked to wait, as we had two more P.I. on its way. It was already evening and this much long wait resulted in a headache and so I took medicine (saridon) and pain slowed down gradually. Then finally we were set for the next round.

4. P.I. with the admin.

After a long wait, this round started. We six were already selected for the job, but these remaining P.I. were just the briefing rounds. So, one by one we were sent to the cabin of Mr. Ajayveer Singh.

My turn arrived and I opened the door and asked- May I come in? My voice was firm and confident. I don’t know how I am able to sound like that in those nervous conditions. He asked me to get in and sit. I pulled out chair gently and sat.

Ajay:   Tell me about yourself.

Me:     (Introduced).

Ajay:   Why sales?

Me:    Sir, it was suggested to me by several seniors and mentors that I do have skills like good communication, intellect, so, I should head for the sales and marketing.

He looked impressed. He continued.

Ajay:   So, are you aware about the profile? Work and responsibility?

Me:     Yes sir, Mr. Sonu described them well.

Ajay:   Proper training will be provided to you and you will get a better idea when you will be at floor.

Me:     Okay Sir.

Ajay:   Are you good on phone?

Me:     Yes sir, that’s not at all an issue for me.

Then he wished me luck and I came out of the cabin.

Then we waited more for the next and the last round. But then Ms. Shalini arrived and explained us that Mr. Sumit (CEO of Aurelius), is busy in a meeting that would go on quite long, so we can visit here tomorrow in afternoon for the briefing.

5. Briefing with the CEO.

I’ll be sharing this round as a story, in the next post, as it contains many motivating and many interesting talks. So, please follow/subscribe us. Also share this to the one looking for some shared experiences regarding placements.

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Also, read '20 suggestions reagarding placements.’
Also, read 'HCL placement drive experience'