It was an on-campus opportunity for me. Intellipaat came to our campus and offered the profile of a Business Development. All the rounds were virtual. We were given a pre-placement talk session. Where we were given knowledge about the company and the role they are offering for.
There will be a total of three rounds for the BDE profile.
- Group Discussion
- Personal Interview-1
- Personal Interview-2
Round-1: Group Discussion: On average, a total of 40 students appeared from our campus for this drive. The first round is Group Discussion, they grouped us by 10 students per group. The GD round was virtual, they conducted a meeting on Zoom. For every Group the group discussion topic was different and the time for each group was 20min. Some of the topics that I remembered were,
- Online work culture Vs Offline (Work from Home)
- Is Indian Culture Dying
- Electric Vehicle
- Love Marriage Vs Arrange Marriage
My topic was “Is Indian Culture Dying?“ I initiated the GD. I spoke against the statement I believe that Indian Culture is still there. I used the words of Bapu to initiate the Group discussion.
“A nation’s culture resides in the
hearts and in the soul of its people.”
Then I continued presenting with all the supporting statements that I had in my mind. The key attribute that they are looking for is your confidence and communication skills. If you are confident and can speak then you can easily qualify for this round.
I was selected for the next round which is Personal Interview-1. Before PI-1 there is a preparatory talk session. Where they will guide us that what we have to prepare for the PI-1. And a pitch script with the customer was also given to us to prepare.
Round-2: Personal Interview-1: At first, When I joined the session, I wished them greetings of time!
she wished me to. Then the interview began.
- She asked me to introduce myself.
Ans: I introduced myself. - If you’re from engg background then why do you want to switch your career?
Ans: I justified my reason. - She said take me as your customer and sell an online course to me.
Ans: I stared at my pitch (a practice pitch is already given to us) - She said, “I looked for this course earlier but now I have no interest in this course.”
Ans: I convinced her to listen. - She said Okay! Take me through some more benefits of this course.
Ans: I described to her all the benefits of taking that course. Apart from that I also emphasized the benefits of taking that course from the specified company. - She said, “what is the cost of this course?”
Ans: I told her the cost. She said it is too expensive on your platform as compared to other websites. Can you give me some discounts? I justified to her that our cost is reasonable.
Lastly, I greeted her. She was pleased in the end. I said, “It was a pleasant experience having a discussion with you”, and she wished me luck. In the end, I felt a positive gesture from her side.
Round 3: Personal Interview-2: It was a concise duration of a day between PI-1 and PI-2. I was happy with my selection after PI-1 but equally, in a preparatory mode for PI-2. I was provided with a calling format for practice purposes. Along with me, there were 4 others selected for PI-2.
My turn was scheduled for 1:10 but I got the call at 2:13. Waiting in the lobby was also a remarkable experience. I got a call at 1:48 but due to some networking issue, it got disconnected. Then, finally, I got my call at 2:13.
The moment when I entered the virtual meeting room, I wished them greetings of time! HR wished me the same. Then the interview began.
- Introduce yourself. Ans: I introduced myself.
- Being an engg student why do you want to switch to marketing? Ans: I justified my reason.
- What skills are required for sales? Ans: I mentioned 4-5 common sales skills.
- Rate yourself in sales on a scale of 1-5. Ans: I rated myself. I gave myself 4 stars.
- What is your weakness? As you rated 4 stars yourself. Ans: I answered this question very positively.
- She came on the calling format and asked me to deal with her as a customer. Ans: I performed this task.
In closing, I optimistically wished her. She wished me to. It was a 7-8min interview. Here, the special thing was that she gave me positive feedback without asking for feedback.
It was a meaningful experience for me. As I always said,
“Winning does not matter,
Your performance at each instance of your life,
determines you!”
Result: I got the Final Selection from their side.
Tips:
- Be confident of whatever you’re saying.
- Be positive at the time of your interview.
- If you seem to be interactive, it adds good value.
- English should not seem to be enforced on you. It should look spontaneous.
- Keep a decent smile on your face:)