(I am writing this for helping B-school students secure a job in the last hour. You may add up on what i have written.)

After putting 2 years of time, effort and money into a post graduate course everybody expects that their dream job should be in their pocket well before the final exams are over. But reality is that, only the cream of the batch gets placed within the first two rounds of the interview process. And those who haven’t got through the initial rounds, curse their luck, hate the smarter lot and blame the placement coordinator/committee.

Well let me do a reality check here. I am assuming that I am talking to the so called disheartened and not so lucky students. Let me also tell you all very bluntly and right on your face that YOU all did not prepare yourself in the two years (or whatever time) that you spent in the institute. While you showed off to the professors and the smarter lot that you were attending all the lectures on time and knew the curriculum by heart, you were ignoring and giving a blind eye to the traits of being a smart manager. And it is you who is to blame for where you are now.

Having cursed you all – now let me get back to the actual idea of writing this article. Below I have put down in full faith the points that you should follow from now, until you get placed. I am not expecting you to get placed in your dream company write away as obviously it’s late. If you can do so then hats off to you. But try and follow the following routine for the next ten days and believe me things will start looking better.

1. Get up in the morning at 7.00 am and take a walk around the institute. As you inhale fresh air, imagine yourself working in the company in which you have full intentions of getting placed. See yourself sitting in the chair and working on a project that your boss has just given you. Try to detail out each and every wall of the office. All the staff and colleagues. See them congratulating you on your first day of work. Don’t get stressed in this entire process. Just let your imagination flow.
2. Ensure that you have a good breakfast and go through the newspapers. Try finding out news and events going on in the field of your interest. Read between the lines. If you want to get into events – look for current events going on in the city. The name of the event management company will be mentioned somewhere in the news. If not then Google and try finding out the company. Go to their website and look for current openings. Later in the day call on the board line and find out the HR’s name and extension. If you get through the HR on the first call then get the balls rolling. I am stressing to find the company from the newspaper because if the company is in news – it means that the company is doing well and obviously is in the hunt for talent. (Many B-schools have a policy of routing everything through the placement coordinator or the placement committee. If you have one in place in your institute then you know by now whom to follow up with).
   
3. Give one hour daily to reading about one famous personality who did wonders in his/her field. Read about David Ogilvy if advertising interests you or Warren Buffet if the stock market is your liking. Ensure that you read about one new person everyday in your field of interest. Try finding out how they got their first job.
4. Get down a list of all reputed companies (within your field of interest) with their address and website details. Go to linkedIn or other networking web sites and try finding the HR person’s name. Use your networking skills here. Call and get your dad, your uncle, best friend, cousins, whoever to connect you to the source of one influential person in the company of your interest. Keep calling up people until you get at least one source per company. Remember to write down each and every contacts name – whether important or not at this point. Just write it down.
   
5. By 1.00 pm in the afternoon ensure that the above set of routine is complete and you have made 10 phone calls to 10 different companies. Don’t eat your lunch until at least 5 phone calls have been picked up on the other end. Never mind if you only got through the receptionist.
6. Keep a well crafted resume ready with you all the time. Download a set of good resumes from the net and talk to experienced people in the industry to help you draft yours. Under no circumstances should your resume be more than two pages. If your resume is not in place when you are reading this than consider yourself a fool. Go get in place a good resume right now and have it corrected and proof checked.
7. After lunch is the time for follow ups. Show people urgency. Nothing gets done if it’s not felt urgent. Call up the board lines of companies you have traced in the morning and follow up with the receptionist till she forwards the line to the HR. Be polite, show urgency and tell them that you are ready for the opportunity. Some marketing skills will come in handy here.
8. Time – 5.00 pm. Forget about what you have done all day. Have a good cup of tea and get some energy down your belly. You will need it for the rest of the evening. Get on the web, turn on your favourite music and look for 10 new words in the field of your interest. Learn and memorise 10 new business jargons. They won’t help you much but believe me it will surprise the interviewer when you speak out those words. But ensure that you know the history and usage well. You can’t afford to look like a dud at this point in time.
9. Keep at the above point until its dinner time. Talk to your friends who have got placed. Learn about how they cracked their interview. Don’t feel worried or give off a feeling that you are in a pot hole right now. Tell them that you will get placed soon. Try telling your friends the exact date on which you see yourself placed. Do this. This may seem absurd but for now just do it.
10. Its bed time – 10.30 pm. Go through all the contacts that you had jot down throughout the day and mark them in order of importance for follow up tomorrow. Go take a walk around the institute and repeat the 1^st point as you walk around. Come back in half an hour, wish your pillow good night and whisper into it that you will get a call for interview tomorrow.
11. If you have an extra hour before sleep, then you must watch a movie in this hour. Try watching – the secret, scent of a woman, the pursuit of happiness, the gift, Walk to Remember, etc.

Follow the above points in full faith daily and believe me things will start to show up on the brighter side. Nothing gets done until you have dared to take the first step. And yes there’s more to life than just getting a job. Don’t cut down your options. You may make a good entrepreneur than just becoming an office chap.

Good luck!

(Views expressed are personal to the author. Individual opinion might vary.)

http://threeparagraphs.blogspot.com/

Three paragraphs is an attempt to write fascinating short stories and poems which are three paras in length. Hope you like what you read here.

—————–
I see your shadow in quivering light.
Reminiscences of your body, pretty close to mine.
My eyes scurry in youthful delight
For a chance to be one, with intentions benign.

Thought – rushing, body – still and divine,
I stand at the window, feelings – occupied
Hands – still, fingers – align
Motion – stops, and You – break inside.

I acuse your actions to be whimsical
and full of pride.
Mixing in my blood you run inside
Candles – alight, My urges – pacified

I sit at the window, in the falling night.

—————————-

Dust, Dusk and Sesame Seeds - The Novel

Go to the book page

About the Author

Title: – dust, dusk & sesame seeds: Fiction

Author: – Siddhartha Choudhary

Format: -Paperback

ISBN: - 9789380154398

Publisher: – Leadstart Publishing

No. of Pages: 132 Pages

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The death of a Brand

“Your service to mankind is over, now you should rest in peace”, the God ordered him as if it were a mere puppet in his arms. “But why should I die”, he resonated back with equal force. “There are still people whom I haven’t served. Some even do not know how I taste. What substance am I made of! Where did I come from!
I can’t go into the junkyard so fast. There are older counterparts of mine who still decorate the shelves of the rich. They still give them a reason to live. They are still money’s worth. I am no coward. I have a personality of my own. I have a name. Should you not let my name be remembered by those whom I served on command? I have done a good job all my life. My mamma says this to me all the time. Should I not give her back my worth? You can’t take me away so fast”

“Dear son but you were never born. Let me tell you that you are nothing but a mere spirit. You have no form, no shape. You exist in the minds of the people and continue to live there until a more dominating spirit takes guard in the defense of his memory. There you lie dormant in his subconscious until a monster known as desire that raises out of the soul of man whips your back. Then there he goes searching for you in your worldly form. He recollects where he saw you last time. He follows his instinct and picks you off the right self. Puts you in his gunny bag and retires to his wife’s command. Little does he know that he is giving up to a spirit! Who, ones his role is over will transcend into another physical form. Without giving him even a hint.”

“But why such cruelty on me Lord? I loved the body you gave me. I loved the place I occupied. I had a nice time mingling with my clones. I have so many brothers and sisters. We all look so alike. Why do you want to take me away from my family?”

“Child you have done your task magnificently, you stood by your promise. Everybody will remember you for that. You were a great experience for the mankind you served. But every living thing that does his task efficiently lives a short life. Mankind needs change fast, faster than you can change form. Let me remind you that you were just a rationale to mankind, to convince that he had taken the right decision. Otherwise his wife will not stay with him. He has to behave bravely in front of her, to show her how intelligent he is. You were a proud possession for him. But now you should retire and let more dandy spirits take your place. The world wants change and it’s not your fault. Come let me find you another body”.

- Siddhartha Choudhary

Coming to think about it lately, much has been written about brands and there humongous existence in the every day world. Step out of your house and you will swear by it. The mammoth sized billboards on the streets will ache your neck till you figure out what it is all about. Kotler will tell you that for a brand to become successful it has to be able to coexist in your mind with everything else.

But with new companies sprouting out every now and then, the term Branding has taken a quite a lot of beating. Everything and anything is being promoted in the name of a brand and to gain entry into the corporate jungle, to eat up competition and sustain competitive advantage. Well, there has been quite a bit of time when I last saw a strong brand emerging. The most common brands that I remember in everyday existence are Colgate and Nokia. Both of which I am an ardent user of.

In a much debated discussion with my friend recently, the idea of God being promoted as a brand came up. The idea is not a new one and has been much talked about by marketing gurus across the globe for some time now, but is an interesting topic anyways. Just see the flexibility and ease with which god has been promoted across the world. Like beauty god has its own meaning and significance in the eye of the beholder. Religion has been sold successfully in the name of GOD. It’s a brand that has gained unquestionable popularity into the hearts of all. The story for the launch of God as the savior of the human race has been scripted beautifully by our ancestor’s long time ago. And it has stood the test of time.

Like any other marketing strategy the line Extension for the brand GOD has been crafted out beautifully. So for different needs you summon the relevant god. But what has made this brand so successful and sellable is the gravity with which every character has been drafted out. It takes quite a bit of imagination to draw the picture of a thin saint, residing in the Himalayas with hair so thick that it could contain the Ganges and a third eye, which ones opened could destroy the world. “Yes”, Lord Shiva is the greatest character sketches written in all time. Just imagine a saint having so much power and who could perform the dance of destruction so magnificently. I am always amazed with the sheer veracity with which this lord is described in the Vedas. I was also told that the first piece of advertising work to be recognized as a poster was a cave painting done by our ancestors millions of years ago. So is advertising really that old? Did at that time also man felt the need of his cultures and traditions to transcend boundaries and become popular. Our advertising Scriptwriters should really learn from the Vedas. How beautifully has our tradition been written! Ved Vyas and Tulsidas were to my opinion the greatest story writers ever. They have interwoven the epics so magnificently with life like characters that it is hard to forget them. I feel every script should be written as if it’s an epic in the making. Then only a story will fulfill the expectations of its audience.

Every brand is an epic in the making. And it’s the marketer’s job to see a brand till that point. Or else no great brand will emerge. A brand should at last keep fulfilling its customer’s expectations. That is what a brand is destined for. Which is equivalent of saying that God must keep on disposing the proposals of man. That is what it is destined to be doing. So many expectations have been carved out of this brand that we begin to develop a curse if anything goes beyond of what was expected from him. And our faith towards the brand withers a bit. Consistency is what we start looking in a brand. And to that call a brand must respond to. But aren’t we asking too much? Are we that consistent ourselves? I think we should let loose our expectations a bit and let God relax a bit! Wht say??

 

Right from the evolution of civilization, communication has been playing a major role in transmission of information. Information that is unique, accurate, objective, influential and powerful. If we are to cite some examples form the past of people who brought about a sea change in communication, then perhaps names like Mahatma Gandhi and Adolph Hitler come at the top of our minds. They have shown and equipped us with exact tools for effective communication. Mahatma Gandhi could influence thousands at one go even without the help of a microphone. Hitler, the god of black Propaganda spread his voice out like a magic bullet to manipulate the whole of Germany and the world. We have a lot to learn from them.

Public relation brings to us in this modern fast paced world, the right process to spread the news. News about how organization/individual is doing, covering all the possible events happening in the media, reporting the right stuff and so on and so forth. The role of PR as a communication vehicle is but huge and diverse. PR helps to bridge the gap between the organization and its stake holders/employees i.e. its internal and external environment. This is so very necessary in this age of globalization and cut throat competition.

Today the buzz word is achieving competitive advantage. And competitive advantage can be gained by spreading the right message, over and above effective production and processes. For this to take place the choice of the right medium is very necessary. We have at our disposal today a vast variety of media. Television, radio, internet, newspaper, journals have evaded our privacy from every possible direction. There’s a food for thought right here.

What I feel is that the role of PR is to translate information into responsible communication. By responsibility I mean the presence of some type of gut feeling mixed with integrity on the part of any public relations agency. And IPAN I think is on the verge of achieving just that. With its inception in 1988 it has ever since strived to produce responsible communication and facts show that it has done it with valor. What else do you ask from an agency that has turned around the face of PR in India and abroad? There are a dozen and more extremely experienced people heading the operations at IPAN. The PR icon of India Mr. Vivek Sengupta who is the president of IPAN stands for the change that IPAN has strived to bring about. Below him he has a group of matching professionals to help him achieve the company objective, working as heads of different IPAN offices in India. Serving clients like Reebok, Alcatel, Grasim, ITC, HBO is not always a cake walk. The company brings with it a unique approach towards addressing client’s problems and issues. The clients are always obliged working with such an organization which stands to achieve its vission,” with every success we hope to increase the acceptence of PR as the leading edge of an organizations communication strategy”.

 

 

Recently I was a witness to a new campaign launched at a Reebok stores in Bangalore. The occasion was the kick starting of a month long promotion as an initiative to boost retail sales, titled “Hit it with Rbk”. To kick start the event, one of the Brand Ambassadors for Reebok was present there in the name of Mahela Jayawardane. Yes, this star batsman and the skipper of the Sri Lankan Team was the limelight for the evening at the outlet and so was his wife Christina. The more or less sober looking gentleman came in at the store at just the right time irrespective of the traffic snarl.

Right from his setting a foot inside the store began the activities of briefing him about the event and what he ought not to forget to tell the media. He was regularly followed by a senior sales executive of the brand who set off immediately to show him the store. His wife was escorted to the women’s section to do some shopping as the PR officers kept the batsman busy briefing him for the media.

The stage was set as the media photographers started pouring inside the store to do their daily bit of ritual. Clicking pictures of the “ambassador” holding a Rbk cricket bat with the brand logo flashing at the camera as if stating loudly ” Take me, I am more important than the star”. And right it is in a way. “The brand is more important than the ambassador”, any marketing guru will tell you that. So there was our hero doing his bit for the brand in between heavy schedules for a series of cricket matches lined up for him. It was amusing to see the rather dictatorial captain who would not let anything loose on the ground being molded every now and then by the photographers to get the “right picture”. “Sir, if you could hold the shoe for a moment”, guided one photographer and others followed as if giving their invisible assent. The Sales executive seeing the opportunity to sell him some of the shoes interrupted in between, “Mahela, take this one, you always leave the shoe behind”. Our hero, in between posing for the camera quickly picked up some shoes and the ones he touched were considered sold by our executive.” I will get the right size for you done, don’t worry” confirmed our salesman, hungry to get in some sales. ” I want then fitted with half spikes”, the batsman made it clear and in a period of fifteen minutes a dozen pairs were lined up to be packed and dispatched with the cricketer.

Following this he was guided upstairs to the first floor where he got a sight of his wife after battling half an hour with the photographers and the sales guys. And what was up for grabs there was a bit more shopping, this time for his wife. Following the foot steps of her husband it seemed that his wife has also developed some fetish for shoes and she also quietly picked up a couple of pairs which the star nodding in agreement, hesitating to say “no” in front of the camera. So this followed for another twenty minutes with a media crew successfully pitching in an interview with our hero who was now already feeling agitated by the crowd that had gathered inside the store. Some soft drink was ordered to chill the couple and pitch in more sales. By this time the television crew had gathered downstairs to have an interview with him. At last something was going right. Our hero was there for an alleged brand promotion and not for shopping. He enthusiastically battled the topsy turvy questions of the media with a line or two about the brand. The media always have it their own way and our poor guy could not displease them. So it was more questions asked about his tour to India and less and less questions about the brand.

By this time our PR personnel had started getting a headache. “Promote the event man, talk about the brand, he gushed out at the media maintaining dignity and decorum. But all was done and the clock signaled 6.00 p.m. It was time for our exhausted hero to depart into his den. He smilingly waved his hand to the crowd and signaled good bye to the now happy sales manager, who put his hand forward for a handshake. “Thanks for the shoes”, our hero said pausing a bit and then quoting to the manager, “you know I have started playing golf lately”. “Why didn’t you tell me that before? We have an entire range of golf collection ready up there”. Our hero could hardly smirk at this. Boarding his Tavera he waved final good bye to the crowd only with an office staff running in as the gate was about to close, “here are the golf shoes, I am sure you would love them”.

Written as seen,

Siddhartha Choudhary