GENMAN GYAN

Sit for summers, get set for life..!

SEPTEMBER 1, 2016
RAJBARATH KR
RAJBARATHKR@GMAIL.COM

How it all started?

I am going to tell you the story of my summer internship. Be cautioned that, through this
document I am explaining the things that worked for me. Smart minds would infer that it
might not work the same way for each one of you.
So, with that disclaimer, please read ahead!
If you are in a hurry like your house is on fire, use these quick links:
Resume
Application form
Psychometric test
GD tips
GD topics
Interview
It was just before I joined IIM Bangalore. On a golden warm summer evening, I and a couple
of my friends were strolling by the marine drive for the first time. Typical of first time
visitors, we were a bunch of gleaming eyes staring awestruck at the Taj. Suddenly one of my
friends said, Lets go in for dinner! The rest of us turned around and looked at him
unkempt hair, crumpled shirt, torn jeans, whacky sandals and a sheepish smile on his face
pretty much like any one of us. But still, we mustered courage and thought, if not dinner we
can at least afford a coffee, even though it would mean we would be penniless to go back
home. When we reached the entrance, the guard asked us, Sir, May I know where you are
going? In a know it all tone I said, Why do you think people come to a hotel? We wanna
have coffee. The guard politely pointed to a nearby building and said, The coffee house is
there sir. Unless you want to check-in I cant let you in here. Would you like to check in?
Suddenly I realised, I got a call in my dead phone. So I attended the call, waved at him and
we fled from the spot.
Exactly one year later I was staying at Taj President for my TAS induction programme. I had
come a long way from that embarrassing day and it all started with the frenzy summer
placement process at IIMB.

TAS FB page

RABARATHKR@GMAIL.COM

TAS website

Why Genman?
Fresh in college, it is common for someone to be muddled with multiple career options
especially because IIMs do not offer any specialization. I had a dilemma between consulting
and general management. But, thats when interacting with seniors, faculty, friends and
peers with relevant work experience was very helpful. The pre-placement talks (PPTs) apart
from offering delicious delicacies also offer a good glimpse about the company, their people,
culture and commitment. It was in these PPTs that I realised I was not interested in
consulting. A few experiences and my personal inferences made me despise consulting as a
career option as well. Having seen them all, I liked TAS PPT the best. For an $110b, century
year old group with over a 100 companies spanning the length and breadth of the world,
they were absolutely down to earth and genuine. With no unnecessary frills whatsoever they
meant business and I liked it. I would always advice one to go for a firm where one will feel
at home. More than the juicy perks, hefty benefits or jazzy tours, liking the firm you work for
matters more in life.
Summer internship is one precious opportunity to waste merely for material ends

Resume Tips
Following the PPT season, were weeks of rigorous preparation for the internship process.
The starting point here was the resume, so I made sure my resume suited the company and
profile I applied for. Here are a few tips to guide you through the process.
What do recruiters look for in your resume?
Good academics
Balance between sections (almost equal number of equally good points)
Your leadership qualities leading a team, magnitude of your responsibilities
Impact you have created in the work you have done
Consistent good performance throughout your career
Sector specific work/exposure if you are asking for that particular sector in your
internship
Exposure to industry through events, placecom, etc.,
Drive to initiate, deliver, excel and inspire
What points could you include in your resume for work ex or internship?
Did you recruit/interview someone?
Performance appraisal, fast tracked promotion, recognition from clients.
Did you implement any best practices which you company follows even now?
Were you the sign-off authority for something?
RABARATHKR@GMAIL.COM

Did you have sole ownership for something?

Cost savings, new initiatives professional and otherwise?
Did you lead a team?
Conferences, conclaves, overseas assignments.
Did you work/collaborate with international clients / international exposure?

What other points you could include?

Papers published, conferences/conventions attended
Part time projects (icon), internship, apprenticeship, articleship
Scholarships, citations, awards, special mention, distinction, Olympiad
Excellent acad performance in individual terms, merit certificates, district, school,
state topper
Events - strategizing, biz plan, case study, oratory
Mentoring, tutoring juniors, new recruits
General proficiency, consistent good performance in schools
Certifications, Online courses
Workshops you held, attended (If it is really big)
Campaigns, social initiatives voluntary or part of an organisation
Apart from mentioning the award or PoR, please also mention why you got the award
or what you did holding that PoR.
How should you structure your resume?
Put your most impactful points at the top. Do not blindly order your points
chronologically.
Bold the impact you created - points like led a team of 15, cost savings of 15%,
ideated an event, footfall, National Green Project Award. Do not bold only
numbers without bolding the context around
Italicise name of events, competitions, hosting institute typically those things that
dont add value but just has a nominal value.
Do not bold or italicise too much so that even your impactful points are lost in the big
black bloodbath
Power verbs Please use them adequately but dont smear it all over your resume to
oversell your trivial points
While you might have achieved a lot in one event, the challenge is to put it succinctly
in one sentence. Do not have multiple sub-points for one event
Bucket your points to show the variety of your achievements Literary and cultural,
social initiatives, leadership and management. Do not bucket like academics, extracurricular | school, college workplace these are obvious splits. If the recruiter looks at
RABARATHKR@GMAIL.COM

your buckets, then he should get a flavour of what all you have done. This is not
conveyed in the second case. Do not have buckets for every section.
Remove jargon from your work ex. Put your points across in layman terms and
highlight the real impact created.
Specify the short forms you use for name of your institutes (IITM, NITT, CEG)
Try to bring the impact in the first half of the sentence and use the remaining to
qualify it and give a context.
Do not force fit sections which you are really not interested / good at say sports

Application form
The next major task is preparing answers for behavioural questions and making your SOP
for the application form. It is at this moment that you introspect about your life and it might
not be a rosy experience. Thats when chickens come home to roost! But, trust me, it is
common! Despite that, I would advise not to give in to the easy option of bluffing your way
through the form. Instead of practicing hard to put on a good mask to the HR, it is best if you
realise your flaws and start changing fast.
While filling the form, keep in mind the values of the company you are applying for. Try to
reflect these values in your answers but dont force-fit or explicitly state the values from their
website. Ideally speaking, SOP is for your career/life. So talk more about yourself, your
strengths, aspirations, and passion and use examples to substantiate each claim of yours.
However, have a few elements about to the company towards the end to show that this
company will help you achieve the goals that you had earlier stated in your SOP. For short
and long term goals, you could consider short term as 3-5 years and long term as 13-15 years.
Keep you ambitions realistic in this section. It is a good idea to not write about your
entrepreneurial ambitions here. You can use quotations but they have to very apt precise
and not mere fillers. Please avoid clichd phrases and quotes. Avoid bombastic adjectives.
Try to highlight the work you have done and your contribution more than how big your
position/project was. Highlight your leadership experiences, show your learnings. You could
also go in a chronological order showing that you have had consistent interest in say,
leadership. Avoid restating the points already mentioned in the achievements section unless
you have to quote it to prove a point or it is really big. For filling your form, you could take
the guidance of seniors but remember they cant write it for you for a very simple reason
Your pay cheque will not be addressed to them.

Psychometric test
Psychometric tests (PT) could get on your nerves. There are times during your test when you
think - "Is the question setter that dumb? How many times will he ask the same damn
RABARATHKR@GMAIL.COM

question?" But if you identify the trend that the questions are similar, half your battle is won.
This is because consistency in your answers is key to success in psychometric tests.
Here are a few sample questions for which you will have to choose an answer amongst
answer Strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, strongly disagree. These questions are not
exhaustive and only test a few of your personality traits. There could be many more like
these.

My goals in life are clear

If people are rude to me I just shrug it off
I am confident in what I do
I can work even when things get disorganised
I consistently put full time and effort into everything I do
I prefer achieving my goals than assisting others to achieve their goals
I prefer working within a stable rather than flexible environment
I am ambitious
It's better to get a job done than aim for perfection
I am able to complete tasks as well as, or better than other people
I like to be in charge of other people
I strive to do the best I can
I feel uneasy if I'm the centre of attention
I am confident in my abilities to complete difficult tasks at work
I am happy to make speeches in public
It is very important for me to achieve my goals
I like to react to things on the spur of the moment
I believe I am more intelligent than most
I don't like unexpected responsibilities
I tend to take on other peoples problems
I approach life in an easy-going manner
I feel like a failure compared to my friends and co-workers
I like to have plenty of time to myself
People often comment on how comfortable I am in giving orders

There are other question formats too apart from the one above. The key to clearing
psychometric tests is being true to yourself. Have the position and the company in mind and
remember the core values of the company when you answer these questions. Answer in the
context of work and not in a social context.

RABARATHKR@GMAIL.COM

GDs
The next crucial part is the Chairmans GD. (You can find sample topics here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0B9wNgKZ2AZe1VHpNR0dBM21KTEU )
Here are a few things you can keep in mind for your GDs
Do not start unless you are absolutely sure. Bad start might ruin your chances.
Be very structured in articulating your thoughts give examples and complete your
argument
It helps to note down your points and others (for the summary)
Whenever you make a point try to relate it to or contrast what was spoken earlier
Remember, its not a debate, it is a discussion so dont shout or hog
Content and delivery are more important than facetime. In a 15 minute GD, 5 entries
with 30 seconds each or something proportional is good enough
Keep track of time and make sure your group does not deviate from the topic will
fetch you brownie points
Give chance to the silent participants. But dont put them in a fix when they really
dont want to speak
Finally, make sure your group arrives at a conclusion or solution to the problem at
hand

The D-day Interview

It took you arduous toil to reach here,
A moment of callousness will cost you dear,
Panic not for the prying questions asked,
When you are true, you cant be unmasked.
While preparing for the interview, keep the following in mind:
Know about the history, performance, future strategy & leadership of the company
you are applying for
For business groups, identify 2-3 companies and profiles that you would want to work
in and prepare reasons as to why
Take a print out of your form & HR answers; have a glance before the interview
Prepare accounts of your relevant work experience to use as examples
Brush up your academic concepts and prepare examples for each of those
Have an open mind and do not panic
Of all you think that matters in an interview, it is the company fit that they are looking for
the most. So, when you have chosen the company by your heart, it is very easy to defend it.
RABARATHKR@GMAIL.COM

Most often genman firms come on day 1 and all well-paying consulting and banking firms
come on day 0. So making a decision to sit for genman would mean you are ready to give up
on consulting firms. It is a conscious risk that you have to take, but if not for that, you would
never get what you wanted.
About my interview, it went reasonably well, however my panellists had a poker face all
throughout. By the end of the interview, when I knew I got the offer and my friends did too,
my joy had no bounds. After we were placed, we helped our friends who were still in the
process. On day 2, I realised that whoever was yet to be placed, was still there not because of
any dearth of talent but only because they could not handle the behavioural aspects of the
interview. That is why I insist the importance of preparing for behavioural (HR) questions.
Yet another thing that was apparent by the end of the internship process was the culture of
the firms, conspicuous by their conduct. While every other major firm resorted to
backchannel means to poach candidates by calling them against the placement norms, Tata
never did anything like that. It was the most transparent and genuine process ever, which
respected the preference of the candidates.
So! Thats the story of my summers. I hope each one of you get some wonderful unforgettable
experiences in your summers. Dont worry! Put in your best efforts and leave the rest to
chance.
Wish you all the very best!

RABARATHKR@GMAIL.COM