There has been a thing about Kenneth since childhood. He has been immensely fascinated by human behavior and how pattern of ideas worked within human brains, ever since the time he can think of. This interest became one of the major reasons why Kenneth setteld for a PGDM in the first place. He wants to develop an ability to understand the end-users and tailor-make products around them.
Goa Institute of Management (GIM) wasn’t a matter of coincidence for this boy from Mumbai. It was a step well-researched. “GIM is a completely student-driven campus;” and the B-school ensures to give the budding managers all the necessary platforms to take charge of situations, deliberate, analyse and act. “At GIM, we are responsible for the decisions we make and the actions we take,” explains Kenneth further. Needless to say, this sense of responsibility, coupled with a completely residential program, exposes students to an environment where they are continuously interacting and learning from each other – in fact, at GIM the learning never stops. This process is one of the things that Kennethis going to miss about the Institute.
Kenneth admits too much happened in two years. Daily assignments. Sleepless nights. Case studies after case studies. Research works. Events. Co-curricular activities interspersed with Committes and Clubs’ responsibilities. Group projects. College fests. Back to back lectures. Examinations and gradings. Peer learning. To top it all with, beautiful beaches and buzzing cafeterias whenever there were free hours to catch. Two years flew by amidst healthy peer learning and tremendous academic rigour. For Kenneth, the GIM journey seemed nothing short of being phenomenal. By the time placement season arrived, Kenneth felt every bit ready to sail through the selection process.
However, to be selected by a manufacturing company as big as Godrej & Boyce can definitely not be a cakewalk. Kenneth concurs: “The process of selection was pretty challenging. It consisted of two sets of Group Discussions, a case study analysis and, finally, an interview.” While the first Group Discussion gauged the candidate’s group management skills, the second Group Discussion was all about analysing the candidate’s subject knowledge. A case study was used to track the analytical skills of the candidate. The process ended with an interview that revolved around academic concepts, situation handling and very specific job-role related questions.
“I must admit that I did not undertake any formal preparation for the process,” he says. “One of the major reasons for this was that right from the first trimester, GIM provided me with a platform where I could not only learn all the academic concepts but also apply those concepts at national level competitions, live projects, academic projects, etc.” Kenneth’s projection of himself was therefore confident, as he was well aware of his concepts and about the company’s requirements. Clearly, individuals raised within partially student-driven campuses got energy, confidence, charisma and vibe of their own.
Today, in his position at Godrej & Boyce, Kenneth is all set to make the most of his internship experience with ThoughtWorks Ltd. His job profile includes sales, brand management and integrated marketing communication. This will require him to be well aware of the marketing concepts taught during the classroom sessions. Apart from this his ability to manage a team of his own, understanding his customers and creating value for them will come into play.
His message to his juniors is straight and simple. “Be aware of all that is happening in the world of marketing. This is because you will nose-dive right into the middle of the corporate world straight after the PDGM program. Knowledge about the industry holds the key to your survival.”
