“Personal interviews are an exchange of energy between the interviewer and you,” words of a faculty member were ringing in Divya Somani’s ears while the interviewers from Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages Private Ltd were sitting across the table, trying to evaluate her professional abilities. Although she stumbled with one of the answers during the interview, she maintained her positive energy and calm. When she was picked by one of the world’s most recognizable brands – Coke, she knew it was that composure and poise that tilted the balance in her favor. We probe further and discover her winning attitude says the recruiter.
The placement process for a massive brand like Coke was bound to be competitive. The rigorous process included Group Discussions and multiple rounds of personal interviews. Divya looks back on the day and reveals, “‘How would you use the online platform to increase the sales of the beverages?’ was the GD topic. I stayed patient while hearing out everyone’s ideas and made my points crisply but effective. I think being agreeable was one quality that helped me to make my mark,” she says.
If the Group Discussion session was tricky, the personal interview raised the level of difficulty. Strategies to increase market share, interactions with retailers, were some of the questions Divya was asked. “In fact, they even asked me if I felt like going back to Eastern parts of the country where I come from. I wondered if my being from Jharkhand would come in the way of me getting the placement,” she admits candidly. But nothing was going to stop her on the day as she realized these were just ways to rattle her during the interview, and she rose up to the challenge.
Divya’s sterling performance during the entire process has won her the exciting career profile of Sales Team Leader. Is she prepared for the challenges of professional life? She confidently asserts that her preparations began right from her early days at Jaipuria, Jaipur and haven’t stopped since. “We went through many courses like Sales Management and Business Development to role-play techniques in our PGDM classes. It taught me to negotiate, communicate and pitch the product,” she stresses.
For Divya, real-life exposure to the world of Sales and Marketing offered valuable takeaways that she will rely on in her professional life. First, the live project with Big Bazaar and then the internship with Parag Milk Foods taught her a lot about teamwork and sharpened her professional skills. “My role as a social media handler with MRC Jaipur also taught me a lot. It pushed me to give my best in any situation, which is going to be my strategy at work. In the future, I want to get a Ph.D. and share these learnings with others,” she concludes.