So let's continue..

Stop # 2: SP Jain

This was one of the most exhaustive interviews I had..The pressure was comparitively less, so I kind of really enjoyed the first stage..yeah, there were two stages of interviews..

Let me begin at the beginning..

It was a warm sunny day on the 25th of February:) I reached SPJ at around 7:45 in the morning, the process was supposed to start at 8..We were made to sit in an auditorium.. and as people trickled in, the audi got packed..I knew a lot of people here too..met an old JC friend..these interviews turned out to be proper 'adda' spots man!

One interesting thing about the composition of people here: There were quite a few non-engineers..of course, engineers were in the majority, but there were more non-engineers here than I have heard of, or met at other interviews..

There is this thing about SPJ, I have it from reliable sources that most things are student-managed..so you would be managing the finances of the institute, or be a part of the administration, or helping out with the recruitment, depending on whatever your interests might be..

So we had these three-four students managing stuff like getting you to register, calling out your names for the interviews, announcing whether you got through the first round or not..escorting you to the interview panels even!

But since there were so many of us, the entire registration process took quite some time, and even after that one did not know when one would be called in for the interview..One thing I should mention here is that SPJ has 'Group Interviews'..a concept that works out well sometimes, as in, they are not out to butcher just you..aur bhi bakre hain halaal karne ko;) So you can take a breather between two questions..but on the flipside, you have to be assertive and if you have a good point to make (since most of the questions asked are thrown at the group), you have to worry about somebody else putting it across before you do!

My group was called in pretty early..I had seven people in my group..one other Somaiya-ite and one other Infoscion apart from me included! LOL! We were escorted by this guy who told us that our panel was pretty chilled out and we need not get nervous..

So in we went.."Into the jaws of death, rode the.."

Okk, I am done dramatizing..so in we went..our panel had two men..plus the guy who had escorted us in! Yes! The students even sit on the panel at SPJ!

We sat down, did our introductions..

Hey btw, did I happen to mention that the world, especially India had just come out of hibernation the day I had my interview?! By which I mean, that the Railway Budget had come out and three long pending and extremely important court cases had been resolved just the day before! We were busy lapping up the newspapers outside in the audi knowing fully well that Lalu's 'Gareeb Raths' would be the hot topic of discussion!

N we weren't disappointed..the interview lasted for over an hour and all sorts of topics under the sun were discussed..The Railway Budget in great detail..mostly the professor on the panel wanted us to think about why the Railway Budget was creating such a furore, considering that due to cheaper air-fares, the Railways seemed to be going out of style! We spoke about how there was still a huge customer base for the railways..esp to and from places which do not have airports, blah blah..

Then the tone shifted to values, ethics, what is wrong in the world of today, the India of today, corruption, taxes, the role of parents in shaping their children into succesful and ethical people, the role of schools, the BRIC report, how many years it would take for India to achieve what it wants to, the IT sector, qualities a good manager should have.. etcetra..O man, as you can see..it was a very interesting interview!

I was told later on by a fellow 'participant' (Long back when the CAT results had just come out, somebody had compared the entire GD-PI process to a 'Reality Show'!) that I had got super passionate and was extremely assertive during the interview..mind you, he did not say 'aggressive'! :)

Well, my take on the interview (you are your best judge..most of the times, we all know how well or badly we've done..it's only that we do not want to admit it..even to ourselves sometimes)..so my take on this interview was - I had done well..somehow, I managed to get in at all the right times, and the views that I had come out with had seemed to go down pretty well..

We came out and were made to sit for some time before we were told our results..I had got through the first round..the second round was to start after a break of a couple of hours..I went to lunch in a nearby restaurant with some friends I had met there..

The second round started..I was in the first group to be called!! There were 6 people in my group..we were taken to this auditorium and made to sit outside it for sometime..we got acquainted..two non-engineers..the rest all engineers-working..three out of them in Software..

We were called inside then..the audi was this huge dark place..like a movie theatre..hardly any lights were on..the interviewers were sitting in the front row seats..there were some four of them..and a couple of students besides..we were taken to the stage where chairs had been put for us..these chairs were covered with white cloth..and the spotlight was turned on, pointing, you guessed it right, on us..

The reason why I have described this whole thing in such (excrutiating?) detail is because I want the reader to get an idea of the apprehension we were feeling..the whole thing looked like we were being set up for some 'tamaashaa':)

The introductions were again done..we were made to speak a bit about ourselves..I hate this part..I never know what to include..how much to leave out..what aspects to touch upon..I said some stuff about my schooling, college..extremely superficial stuff..some people spoke about their strengths and weaknesses, beliefs..that made me feel that I could have done a much better job..

After that, they started a GD..The topic was ' India's stand on Iran'..It was a good GD..I made good contributions..one of the guys held some very anti-american views..his comments sparked another GD..they asked us to talk about 'America using arm-twisting measures to meet their economic ends'..I was terrible in this GD..I hardly made any contributions! Left a bad taste in my mouth!

Then they started asking individual questions..I was asked just one question..what values has Infosys imparted to you! I started in a somewhat shaky manner..but once I got into the flow..I must have sounded like a Miss Universe contestant..making a huge deal of the values, professional ethics and the importance of customer satisfaction and delight that I have learnt from Infosys! LOL!

They seemed to lose interest in my answer by the time I finished!:) I was extremely disheartened by that..considering that they asked some other people a lot of questions..grilled them no end and received (what seemed to me) satisfactory answers..I was feeling quite miserable at being asked just one question!

Thus ended the second stage also..while walking out from that place..I did not think I would get through..

But I did..

We had been told that the first interview also carried some weightage..it was not just an elimination round..so you see, that must have sailed me through..because the second one was nothing to write home about!

So, here we are, at the end of another interview..

At this point, I was thinking that no matter what happens..I would take a lot back from these interviews..the whole process got me started on a lot of subjects which I had not known much about before..like finance, economy, the budget, how it affects us..it made me think about a lot of aspects about myself that I had not thought about before..and it brought me in contact with a lot of people..brilliant people, people who knew so much more than I knew..

So, I knew that this whole 'Reality Show' would be a great learning experience!