[FALL 2014 INTERNSHIP PROGRAM]

Project Brief

&
Case Study For Evaluation

Talent Acquisition Intern for Global Outreach

For private circulation only

Part A | Project Brief

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About Eagles Cocoon

We are a leadership incubator set up with the vision of bridging the ever growing vacuum of leadership in
India and globally. We exist to create leaders by unlocking the stories of individuals & organizations who
can be the next pioneers in their respective domains. The stories we nurture are as diverse as helping an
ambidextrous bowler and an all-rounder from a Punjab village into becoming India's next Kapil Dev to
helping one of Asia's acclaimed design firms revolutionize the business model of real estate in the world.
The organization is backed by several industry pioneers of the world, including Shackel Associates, a
leading North American leadership education firm established by a visionary who had redefined the level
of innovation in teaching and leadership development; Outward Bound, the worlds largest outdoor
leadership organization and Magppie Group, a global name in the field of art and design and the only
Indian company to have ever won the prestigious Red-dot award An Oscar of Design for three
consecutive years. Our leadership programs and initiatives have so far touched 3000+ lives hailing from
11 countries and diverse backgrounds including educationists, academicians, foreign and Indian
students, parents, entrepreneurs, scientists, sports enthusiasts, artists, professionals, and even monks.

The role
This is a quasi-entrepreneurial opportunity, where you will closely work with the Co-Founders in
conceptualizing and executing various talent acquisition initiatives, particularly in the area of promoting
ECs internship programs in India, US and Europe. Our intent behind this internship is twofold. Firstly, we
hope to leverage your efforts in identifying and implementing the most effective strategies to build a solid
intern base in India as well as across the globe. Secondly, we wish to identify young leaders in this
process who will do exceptionally well and take them along in our journey of reshaping lives in our unique
way. Those who would be able to bring an immediate impact and strong contribution during the internship
phase will be offered appropriate leadership positions with our organization afterwards regardless of their
age and qualification.

Requirements
We are looking for passionate individuals, who can assume the responsibility of establishing and
nurturing our global base with their entrepreneurial skills and passion. Preference would be given to
individuals with management related backgrounds; however anyone who can relate to at least a few of
the following traits is also encouraged to apply.
1. You dont need Ratan Tata to learn small and big things of life. You are humble enough to find learning
in every situation and from every individual.
2. Instead of contributing to what has already been built, you love the idea of finding something that does
not exist and nurturing it from the scratch with your resourcefulness and passion
3. You can balance micro with macro. In other words, you can manage through tons of small and minor
details and still see the big picture of an initiative.
4. You may have some background or interest in one or more of areas including music, arts, dance,
design, theater, films, business, leadership, engineering, education, technology, social work, design,
traveling, healthcare, fashion and sports
5. You have strong interpersonal skills and can represent a brand to varied audience with utmost ease
and comfort.

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Part B | Case Study For Evaluation

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1/ The Situation
Three thousand years back, India was home to the world's oldest universities of learning Nalanda
University and the country was looked upon as the premier destination in the world for achieving
change and wisdom. Centuries later, India continued to transform the lives of many world renowned
personalities including Erwin Schrodinger, Max Mueller, George Harrison and Mark Twain. All of these
individuals experienced India in a way that left them empowered and inspired for life with a path that
never even existed before. Their lives were transformed just by traveling to India.
st

Ironically, in 21 century, when the world's majority realized the transformative power of India and began
to visit India in numbers, a gradual erosion of the quality of experience began to happen. Even today,
India is considered a unique destination in the world that can provide one the most difficult outcomes of
travel - transformation. However, not many travel operators are looking beyond the forts, temples and
other cursory spiritual, cultural and volunteering experiences. The outcome less than 1% of the 6.8
million tourists visiting India get to experience the real journeys that transcend beyond the beauty of Taj
Mahal, a cursory project of volunteering in an orphanage or a spiritual stay in an Ashram. The biggest
irony is that none of these travelers ever realize that there exists a depth of experience without which a
journey in India is barely complete.
In short, the Indian inbound tourism faces the biggest irony of India travel. Despite its enormous potential
to transform people, India still remains surprisingly hidden to 99% of its visitors whose itineraries never
cross the obvious.

2/ A Research
Realizing the aforementioned irony, two of Indias leading change-agents with global reputation
collaborated with two global leaders of outdoor experiences and, thus commenced a 6 month long
research to discover the real facts. The research identified six layers of experiences that a traveler may
undergo in India and the 6th layer, the layer of real transformation, was experienced by just 1 of 100
travelers. Clearly, traveling to India has been a memorable and intriguing experience for tourists, but 99%
of them never had the opportunity to acquire those experiences that could bring a long-term change in
their lives.

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3/ The Movement
When the research substantiated the irony talked above, the four pioneers decided to come together with
the vision of revolutionizing the current standards of travel experiences not just in India but gradually at
the global level. This was the origin of ATP (name changed) driven by the following core belief:
Live a life that requires a refreshing travel every month or pursue one single travel that can turn
ones life into a refreshing journey
As a corporate organization, ATP set an ambitious goal of becoming one of the 10 most admired brands
in the travel sector globally by Yr 2020. At the backdrop of this goal was a much bigger dream: To have
every 5th foreign traveler experience a journey of self-discovery with ATP or with hundreds of other
organizations that ATP will inspire with its vision over the course of its existence.
This step will soon be known globally as the turning point that will redefine the realms of global traveling.

4/ The biggest, digital Step

The start-up invested eight months in conducting all the initial steps of business establishments legal
establishment, product portfolio creation, branding and planning etc. and towards the end of this
process, a pioneering organization was brought to life.
Amongst these steps, the biggest step was to create a world class website and an equally exciting FB
page that can communicate ATPs message to potential customers and partners. The website turned out
to be just as visionary and iconic as thought. Now began ATPs first and most creative challenge.

5/ Creation of science behind transformation

Now with the foundation in place, ATP management had to address its first creative challenge: Creating
the science behind transformative journeys.
The first step started with finding catalysts who could together design journeys that would lead to
unimaginable impact for audiences. With next three months involving extensive research, ATP managed
to build an Ideation Cell comprising of members hailing from eight diverse backgrounds: Leadership, Art
& Culture, Travel, Psychology, Anthropology, Spirituality, Business and Experience Design. Together they
found their perfect source of inspiration: DNA. In the words of one of the core members:
It is so astonishing to see how billions of atoms could bond together in perfect combinations to form a
single DNA, which forms the core of a human life, our lives. How about we create a journey that
encapsulates hundreds of tiny and big travel experiences. Now lets weave these experiences together in
the perfect combination and proportion. We will summon them at the right time for our audiences, and, if
possible we will make sure that our customer enjoys them with the perfect blend of people with
unimaginably diverse backgrounds
Nearly 200 working hours later, the group finalized it first flagship journey: 8pkc (name changed)
Indias first transformative travel

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6/ The first journey

The founding team at ATP knew how crucial it is for a new organization to make its first product
successful. With this thought, it was decided that the management would first make 8pkc successful
before expanding the business and 8pkc will set the foundation for rest of its journeys to grow.
The concept of 8pkc was unique: To bring 50 individuals from different parts of the world handpicked
personally by ATP team say a musician from Italy, an entrepreneur from London, a film-maker from LA,
a Chef from New Zealand, a sufi singer from Oman and a medical student from Norway among others.
Take them for a 15-day journey across 10 most interesting cities of India marked with seven
transformative pitstops.
Each pitstop will be filled with a series of unimaginable challenges, experiences and movements of selfdiscovery such as turning around the fate of a dying school, mirroring the life of real sages from India,
living like a villager in an Indian village, reviving a dying art form, understanding 8000 years of India's
history through an adventure game among many others. It was envisaged that each individual after going
through this journey, will leave for her hometown not just having discovered the real India but having
rediscovered her own self.
ATP started launching the program internationally.

7/ The failure
ATP decided to market 8pkc journey through a number of travel agents and planners situated globally.
However, despite the reputation of its founding partners, the firm faced a major resistance from travel
agents who never believed such a concept can work. For them, journeys were about seeing architecture
monuments, temples and scenic places and relaxing in luxury villas. Very few, if at all, believed that a
travel concept can actually change someone. More so, none believed that a 10-15 days travel can
transform people.
Very soon ATP realized, it will never be successful if it continues to rely on partners who dont believe in
the vision of the company. It has to do something different. After an internal deliberation of two months, it
found its answer. The answer was to go direct!

8/ Go Direct through Digital Marketing

For 8pkc to be successful, ATP needed 50 customers from across the world every quarter and to achieve
50 customers, it was estimated that it needed an average of 100 hits per day on its website. It was also
decided that US and Europe markets will play a crucial role in ATPs overall strategy and it had to be the
focal point of all digital marketing efforts.
To achieve this traffic on the website on consistent basis, ATP realized that it will have to set up a fullfledged social media vertical headed by individuals who believe in ATPs vision. Now came the most
important question: How to build a team of passionate digital evangelists in such a short span of time?
Most importantly, What if ATP ends up hiring the wrong people who cant sustain the pace of an
organization ready to take on the world of travel?
A comment came from the youngest founding member of the organization How about we find individuals
who can work with us as interns and the ones who do good can be groomed as future digital directors?

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9/ Global Talent Acquisition begins

ATP management loved the idea of establishing an internship that may possibly conclude into a final
placement for select interns. The idea made even more sense for global markets as international interns
will have an easier access to US / Europe markets than the Indian counterparts. With that perspective, a
job description was finalized and posted in leading internship forums of India such as letsintern.com,
hellintern.com and abroad such as Internship.com. Soon, applications started pouring in and a rigrous, 3step screening process was established to screen candidates as follows:
Step 1. Case Study Evaluation to assess the creative potential of a candidate
Step 2. Digital aptitude assessment test to assess the technical bandwidth
Step 3: Personal Discussion
Post the selection process, selected candidates were being planned to be evaluated through a
transparent online evaluation system Peer Group Benchmarking System that would evaluate each
intern on four areas every week on relative basis and the system had the potential to let the best emerge
as winners. Everything was going well until the internship program actually started.

10/ The Challenge

Soon after the launch of the internship program, ATP started receiving nearly100 applications a week (20
Global / 80 Domestic) but, surprisingly, the quality of applicants became such a big issue that only 2 out
of 100 survived till the end of the process. On the other hand, ATP had a target of hiring 12 individuals out
of a large pool of interns. Clearly, this would have taken a long time.
Applicants at each screening step: Step 1: 100% >> Step 2: 10% >> Step 3: 5% >> Post Selection: 2%

11/ The question of How

Its always easier to build number dreams on paper. Its far more difficult to find creative ways to achieve
the same. This was now the topic of discussion on ATPs coffee table. How to solve the problem of such
massive filtering. Ideas came in quickly and here is how the conversation went.
Hey, how about we ease out our screening process? That would make things better. Right?
No way, Itll only lead to us spending much more time training unfit candidates. I feel that its better to
delay plans rather than starting with a wrong team
He is right, we need to think on the other side. I mean, how can we enhance the number of applicants to
a level that even with 3-4% conversion we will find our A-Team very soon
There is one more thing we need to do besides increasing the number. We need to increase the RIGHT
number, which means getting the right quality of candidates to apply. We can do this by collaborating with
good colleges in India and in US/Europe. Some of us have studied there. It shouldnt be a big deal
It sounds all amazing but its impossible for us to be everywhere. I mean, how do think you can start
visiting colleges even in India, leave aside globally, to represent our brand, give presentations etc. This
will take too much time and we are still in the process of setting up our travel infrastructure. What should
we leave if we do this?
There was a silence in the room for every knew this was the hardest nut to crack. How to increase the no.
of applicants all of a sudden? Should we just slow down rest of the priorities or this one?
Final comment came:
How about we identify a few interns who can represent the spirit we all have and spearhead this initiative
of finding talent? Wouldnt it make sense to evolve a few such individuals as our future Talent Acquisition
directors and keep them in our core-team?
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12/ YOU AND THE PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS

Eagles Cocoon approached you on behalf of ATP with this internship opportunity as part of which:
1. Selected interns will work directly with the senior management in identifying and recruiting individuals
from India as well as abroad for its digital marketing internship projects. Interactions will happen through a
mix of virtual means and personal interaction, wherever applicable.
2. The assignment will be for 2 months and tenure can be kept longer or shorter in exceptional cases in
mutual agreement with EC.
3. Each intern who completes the tenure of the internship satisfactorily will receive a formal certificate.
Additionally, those who remain in the top 25% based on pre-defined parameters will be awarded a special
Letter of Recommendation and those who will remain in the top 10% will be considered for an opportunity
to join the organization and assume a leadership role in near future.
4. A variable stipend scheme has been set in place through which an intern can typically earn between
$300 and $1500 depending on the contribution made during the two months of the internship. No fixed
stipend will be offered, however any extraordinary expenses will be reimbursed on actual basis.
Now with these terms in mind, are you ready to help us revolutionize the world of travel with Indias most
forward looking travel organization? If yes, answer the question well.

13/ The Assignment Question

This internship will not be governed by specific set of activities and tasks mandated by us. This internship
will be governed by you and your entrepreneurial spirit. This is why we are looking for individuals who
have the potential to work independently and who can carve out their own paths.
To that end, your assignment task is to share with us a Two month long engagement plan that
specifies various tasks / activities you intend to do if you are selected. Your end goal is to identify,
motivate and recruit talented interns from India and abroad for our digital marketing focused projects.
Generally speaking, we prefer candidates with action plans that are very specific and thorough, such that
we can see that once you get selected, you will be in a position to make an immediate impact with
minimal hand-holding.
Important Guidelines that you must adhere to
1. Your assignment is focused on identifying and encouraging interns to apply. Please do not focus on
suggesting news ways of screening as those have already been finalized.
2. We are not looking for any fancy documents, just well structured thoughts. No PPTs / charts needed!
3. You can skip the global recruitment aspect if you do not feel confident about answering the same.
4. The more specific you are, the better will be your chances of selection. Try to include names of
entities, platforms, avenues etc so that we know exactly what you plan to do.
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5. Avoid suggestions that are about hiring 3 parties or advertising. We are looking for creative solutions,
not the ones we are well aware of, making an ambitious video etc. Also avoid suggestions that will take
too long to organize collaborating with government, organizing a large scale competitions.
6. Email us your response as a separate document and please mention your full name, college / work
organization name / program, email id and your current location in the document.

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