HCL: The Beginning…
Life is full of surprises! Especially when you haven’t bargained for them! And that is my story, too. But like with all stories — let’s begin at the beginning.
I was working at PepsiCo as a Marketing Intern and I got to know about the MTV Get a Job Programme from a colleague. While it was wonderful to see my favorite music channel MTV going beyond just music and making a difference to lives of the youth, what was even more interesting was that this programme is co-presented by LinkedIn — the definitive platform for career growth.
With two such awesome names driving this effort — it seemed like something I really wanted to explore. When I saw the programme portal for myself, I was amazed to see opportunities with well-known and successful organizations that freshers like me could aspire to. The logical thing then — once I finished my internship at PepsiCo, was to go and give Get a Job a shot! From the list of available opportunities, I applied for the Digital Marketing internship at HCL Technologies. I strongly believe that digital technology is the enabler of innovation, creativity, and plays a key role in ensuring efficiency and productivity. With my passion for marketing — this seemed just the right opportunity for me and so I completed my application using my LinkedIn profile, and then just completely forgot about it.
Until almost a month later, when a mail popped up in my inbox from Get a Job portal, stating that my application had been shortlisted for the next round — i.e. — the Elevator Pitch! I first thought “Okay that’s awesome”, because in all honesty although I knew I had done all the right things and had faith in myself — getting selected was still an unexpected but happy surprise! So application selected — check!
Next up, was an Elevator Pitch which involved the making of a 60-second video wherein I had to describe myself, what motivates me, and why do I think I am the right person for the job. I came up with a pitch that was unorthodox to say the least. Putting it together, too, was not easy either. After some 20–25 attempts to get my phone propped at an angle that could get in my face, upper body and some of my room, I finally got the ‘money take’ and submitted it. What seemed painfully impossible in the beginning would turn out to be a boon later on!
And would you believe it! A couple of days later, I get yet another mail stating that my pitch got selected. I was quite zapped as to how did I get selected? Imagine — this is me, someone who really doesn’t fit in to the frame on-camera (quite literally!). But that’s how it went, so I took it in slowly until it hit me — I’m in the final round and it’s now my time to shine.
So on the 22nd March, 2016, on what would turn into a hot, sweltering day, I reached the HCL headquarters in Noida ahead of time. I could already feel the anticipation building up as to what lay in store for me. The time was now, and I was all set to make the show begin!
Oh and the added bonus as that MTV was going to shoot it all and air it on TV. Me, along with the 4 other finalists, were asked to assemble at the Customer Experience Center, in an exhibit room in the Corporate Tower of the campus. This is THE heart of HCL technologies where the founder & CEO, Mr. Shiv Nadar and top management work, so you can understand when I say this that the building itself was a class apart in terms of art & infrastructure. The CEC was a room full of achievements that HCL had achieved from their inception till the present, which left me awestruck and amazed. Upon our arrival, we were given a welcome folder that included a graphic novel focused on Ideapreneurship ( a culture that HCL has developed to foster each individual’s ideas and to act upon it in innovative ways), a brief summary booklet on how HCL Technologies came to be, evolving from its parent company — HCL Enterprises, and a welcome message. Up next, camera crews from MTV & HCL called us individually to shoot our introductions while asking us some basic questions. Having taken care of that, we had a quick breakfast (thankfully!) after which we had our first Challenge — the Group Task Round.
All this was completely unexpected. This wasn’t your normal Group Discussion where you get a current affairs topic and have to debate with each other on the pros, cons & put forward our respective stances. Rather, this was quite straightforward but the situation was unique — 5 of us are flying to our football match when suddenly we crash land in a dense jungle; with the fuel leaking and an impending danger of an aircraft explosion. In this situation — we had to choose only 6 items out of the 16 listed to take away from the aircraft in 20 minutes, to ensure our survival and move forward until help reaches us.
Having picked my list of 6 items, I recommended to the group that they be included, but one of my choices, was met with doubt from my other members. At the end of the day, I still stuck to my guns but since this was a group exercise and we had to reach a collective decision, I relented, accepted collective opinion and moved on. Naturally, the judges took note of my apprehensions and questioned me, upon which I replied back with logic and common sense. Whether it worked or not, we’d find out later; so we finished the exercise and went off for lunch. During that time, we were followed around by the camera crews and one felt almost movie-star-ish! I had to pinch myself hard to bring myself back to Mother Earth! We sat about — waiting for results of the group exercise — and would you believe it — the two super finalists names were flashed on a the screens — and then I went into a daze.
Right there were two names of the super finalists — and I WAS ONE OF THEM! This was getting more and more unreal by the minute. However, I had no time let it sink in or even rejoice — as this was the moment of reckoning. My next round was going to start immediately. Setting my mind on the goal once again, I walked into the room where the HCL staff panelists were waiting for me and prayed for the best.
The interview process went really well in my opinion. I was serious, truthful and answered questions asked of me with focus and clarity. Seriously though, at one point, I thought I really messed it up by really pushing my luck. Having been asked questions about my upbringing, my educational background and my work experience and a few logic-based questions which I was able to answer up till an extent, I was asked one question which really became a turning point of sorts — “How would you market a ping-pong ball?” I won’t even go into details here as what came out of my mouth next was both horrifying and hilarious. I seemed to have replied on impulse with a whacky reply which was true to me but may not have gone down well with the panel of judges. Let’s just say that I made an impression on them; but of what kind I was clueless about! A few more questions & that was it! I had done my best and I could now only wait to find out if my best was good enough or not.
The overall process was amazing. The whole day was like clockwork. Everything was planned down to the last minute and I had no time to breathe. But it was possibly amongst the most memorable days in my life. I had a great time meeting with everyone involved in the process, right from the finalists to the members from HCL & MTV and their respective camera crews.
The highlight of the day had to be VJ Gaelyn who was the MC for the whole event. Seeing her there — charged up & excited — kept me from being nervous and boosted my morale. I’m still awaiting my results and am hopeful that nothing went wrong, I’m determined to shine and add great value to my work at HCL — should I get the opportunity as promised to the panelists. I reiterate the promise that I made to the panel of judges -”Provide the best I can so that Team HCL can trust me and put their faith in me and my capabilities”.
To know what happened and whether I got the job or not, turn on your TV sets and tune in to MTV at 8:30 pm today, 29th April, 2016. More to come soon! Until then…
