Taveesh Garg

Step 1: Sectors to target, Step 2:Resume Making, Step 3: Placement Preparations, Step 4: Signing Companies, Step 5: Buddy Programs, Step 6: The Final Day

Profile at a Glance

● Academic:
○ Department Rank 3 in Chemical
○ Institute Academic Prize
○ Minor in Management
● Internship: Supply Chain Role at Procter & Gamble; worked with Gillette
● Leadership Roles:
○ Events, Student Alumni Relations Cell
○ Team Member, Alumni Student Mentorship Program
○ Teaching Assistant, BB 101 course
● Core Projects: Two core projects, more MATLAB and excel based rather than the
application of core concepts.

Placement Experience

The SIX STEP Journey

STEP 1: Deciding the sectors to target

I found this step to be one of the most difficult ones. Here, you should decide what all you are going to target in the placement season. Along with sectors, we should also try and decide if we are going to prepare for CAT/GRE etc. We should try to get a clearer understanding of different sectors by talking to seniors already working in those. Browsing previous year’s blogs help a lot.
Though it may look like an easy job to complete, trust me it’s not, for most people. The same was the case for me. So, I took an easier way out. I struck out the sectors in which I don’t want to work for (Coding, Finance, Core) at least at the beginning of my career.
I started preparing for the other sectors (Consulting and Analytics) and planned to cut off one, depending upon how interesting their preparation is and of course, my consult shortlists (I feel preparation and criterion for judging for a job in any sector/firm says a lot about the actual skills you might we using there).

Learning: Introspect which sector/firm you want to work for. Narrow down the list as much as possible. Talking to seniors and understanding different preparations for different sectors will surely help.

STEP 2: Making a Resume

Honestly, your resume has already taken a shape depending upon how you have spent your past 3/4 years in the institute. The easier half is the one to be completed at this step. Generally, people tend to spend A LOT of time making sure they have their perfect resume which defines them. I have a bit of different philosophy. I believe it is not that significant as much people think it is. I am not saying the resume making fundae are pointless but it is definitely not worth spending your day and night of an entire month. Thus, I didn’t brag anything about my work on my resume neither did I use a lot of jargon. Everything which I put up in my resume was only those for which I actually worked hard and things which I was senti about. The advantage it gave me was that I never had to prepare much for the resume as part of interview preparation.
I would encourage and recommend the same as one feel a lot confident in an interview as there is nothing on that piece of paper which you are scared of being asked by the interviewer.

Learning: Listen and understand all the fundae which you get from your seniors about making a resume, but for sure, DON’T write anything which you haven’t done. Try to be as honest as possible and make a resume at the end which you are fully confident about.

STEP 3: Placement Preparation

Now comes the interesting step. I, as mentioned earlier, started preparations for both Analytics and Consulting from August till mid September (time before consult shortlists were out). In Analytics, I prepared majorly for Aptitude and Puzzles.
For consulting, I started the basic preparations with different case groups. Instead of giving Placement Preparations fundae (which you will get a lot throughout the process) I would highlight my learning and experience here. Till the time, I was doing both, I was not performing well at either and took an important decision of just doing consult preparations as I was shortlisted in all Consults. This decision also came out from comparing my interests in both kinds of preparations. After focusing on just consult preparations, I realized my whole process became quite easy and very less stressful, highlighting the importance of finalizing one sector to prepare for depending what you want at the end of the process. After this, Analytics was just a back up for me and I realized I can still do well in this without focusing much, thus finalizing the path of consult preparation to walk on for the next 2 months.

Learning: Finalise a target sector for your preparations. Keep a backup which you think you can handle without putting too many efforts. Don’t take more than 2 preparations in hand.

STEP 4: Signing the Companies

I was very particular about signing any company. I didn’t sign the JAF (Job Application Form) of any company whose work description didn’t seem intriguing to me. Views on this can be very subjective. While some might share the belief with me, while there are who believe to sign as many companies, as it might increase your chances of getting placed. While this belief is true, you must think before signing depending upon the image which you see for your company.
I realized the same when different companies’ tests etc were taking a lot of my time for
preparation and thus in the intent of saving my time to the best extent, I started sitting for only those tests where I can see myself working. I didn’t even sign a lot of D1S1 companies as I knew I wanted consults to be the only target in D1S1.

STEP 5: Acing Buddy Program

These 4 are the major steps in your placement process. I got shortlisted for all 5 Consults and Blackstone. The next challenge in front of me due to so many shortlists was twofold – Handling Buddies from all companies and then deciding “The Company” which is your major target among all these awesome companies, for which you really want to work for, which is closest to ideal image who have in your mind for work, for people and for culture.

A bit brief about the buddy program: This is a program which most of the consulting firms and Blackstone follows under which every shortlisted student is allocated a buddy (someone already working in the firm) to help us out in preparations and to get ourselves clear about what different firms’ work projects are. Some firms also allocate more than one buddy, generally, the second buddy is someone more senior in the firm because he might show us the picture of the firm which the Junior buddy might not be able to.
During the second half of October, your major consult preparations happen through your cases with buddies. You do give each buddy a fair amount of time because of 2 reasons, one, you actually want to learn as much as you can as these are the people who sat through the same process in recent years and have cracked those companies which at this point you are just dreaming of, two, these buddies are your major source to get to know about the company, what projects a particular company is currently doing, what their expertise is and how they are different from the other companies.
My first challenge, handling so many buddies, was obviously tough, but much more insightful. I can easily say if there wouldn’t have been some of the buddies I had, I wouldn’t have able to crack. Talking about the second challenge, choosing “The Company”. This part was actually a lot tougher, for me, personally. I was pretty clear which Consult I want to work for, but wasn’t sure about Blackstone. So, to get myself I talked to a lot of senior people from Blackstone and sat and tried to match what I want at this point in my career and what both companies, Bain and Blackstone were providing. Both companies have their own perks and one has a very different experience in working in both, but as I told earlier, Bain resembled much more to the image of the company for which I would love to work for, thus finalizing my preferences.

Learning: Interact with buddies honestly to learn to the maximum extent possible to learn about the firm and preparations. Finalise your major target company in case of multiple shortlists.

STEP 6: THE FINAL DAY

You are officially allowed to interview only for 5 companies in a particular slot. I chose mine. I had six interviews on Day 1 and finally getting an offer from Bain and Company I closed the process. All 6 interviews were a mix of HR and Cases. Sharing what exactly happened in the interview is of no use I believe, rather I would share the mantra which my buddies suggested to perform your best. The only thing you need with you on that day is your confidence in yourself and calmness. Once you are calm and confident, interviews are super chill!

For any doubts, feel free to drop an email on taveeshgarg@gmail.com

Varun Sant

Pre-Placement Preparation, Resume, LEK, Key Takeaways

Pre-Placement Preparation

There will be different aspects to your preparation based on the companies you wish to apply for. We’ll go over each of them briefly –
1) Mental math –
a) A very important aspect of preparation for majorly trading firms and consults.
b) Do not take this lightly because no matter how smart you used to be you would’ve lost practice due to over dependence on calculators
c) You can use sites like rankyourbrain for this. Desired speed should be around 40 questions (2 min) in hard mode.

2) Aptitude –
a) You will have to be very good in this as most companies will test this.
b) Ensure that you minimize any mistakes
c) Tests on Pariksha.com and the ones conducted by department placement coordinators should give you a good level of preparation.

3) Current affairs –
a) It is important to be up to date with this aspects for GDs and interviews
b) Subscribe to a newspaper – I recommend Hindu and Mint, or read regularly on the app

4) HR and Resume preparation –
a) This part should take around 3-4 days. It can be done close to placements.
b) Be prepared for every single line that you write on your resume
c) For HR, I would suggest sometime when you are alone reflect on your life. Think about all the experiences that you faced at some point in your life which contributed to making you who you are today. This is especially helpful for any unexpected/unprepared questions during the interview.

5) Consult Prep –
a) Attend case interview workshops which will be conducted by the different firms.
b) Focus on quality and not quantity. Over preparation is very real – too many cases and you may become very dependent on your frameworks. This will make you less coach-able.
c) After doing 5-10 cases revise your cases and try to reduce recurring mistakes in the next cases.
d) The cases you will face in interviews will be unlike any you have prepared for so try to do many unconventional cases
e) Take buddy sessions very seriously and show progress across your sessions. Try not to worry about if your buddy is judging you during the process.
f) Towards the end do cases with unknown people rather than your case group or friends. This can do wonders to your confidence ahead of day 1.

Resume

1) Familiarize yourself with what is a resume –
a) Glance through resumes of seniors to understand types of resumes (1 page and 2 page (Consult, Analytics, Finance within 1 page)
b) Notice the formal ways in which points will be written
c) Understand different ways to write same points across 1 page and 2 page resumes

2) Gather information
a) You would have done it for your third-year resume but sit down and write everything you have done in your life. Ensure you don’t miss anything.
b) Try to group all your achievements in headers. You can use existing ones or make your own

3) Making your resume
a) Think of an appropriate format to make your resume table format or header format) based on the matter you have and companies you plan to apply for
b) Pay very close attention to language and formatting – if caught can be a huge turn-off

4) Reviews
a) First round of reviewing should be done by your close friends
b) Second round of reviewing to be done by seniors who have been placed in firms you wish to apply for. Make sure you give them at least a week to review it as they will be pretty busy
c) A continuous round of reviewing to be done by people who you can blindly trust – family or very close friends

5) Miscellaneous
a) Most importantly NEVER lie on your resume
b) Make notes while making your resume of the different points, which you can quickly glance through during resume prep couple of months later
c) You can make upto 3 different 1-page resumes. If you are keen on a particular company you can try to make one resume specifically tailored to it.
d) Try to be different and original in your resume. You should be proud to show people your resume

I had interviews with the following firms –
1) LEK Consulting
2) Boston Consulting Group
3) ATKearney
4) Strategy&
5) Morgan Stanley Investment Banking

LEK Consulting:

Round 1: (Approx. 25 min)
We started by having a discussion about my IIT life and my family to help me calm my nerves.
After a brief discussion, we moved on the case.
Case:
Case type – Market entry
Question – Your client wants to enter the high-school market in your home town and wants your help to estimate the demand and if this is a feasible idea.
Approach – After a few initial questions based on the client, I broke my approach into 2 major parts – Firstly estimating the demand and secondly checking the feasibility of setting up the school based on the demand supply gap.
After I presented my approach to the interviewer, we had a quick discussion on how I would go about doing it and the data that would be required. Post this we closed the case.
Key learnings –
1) Be confident in whatever you say
2) Initial part of the case is key so be exhaustive

Round 2: (Approx. 25 min)
This was my first partner round. We started by having a similar discussion as in the first round and then focused on the mentorship program as I was involved in the same for 2 years. It was just a normal conversation which transitioned into a case.
Case:
Case type – Unconventional
Question – Your client wishes to increase interest of students in your college in core engineering. What would you suggest him to change.
Approach – After a few initial questions based on the client, I broke down the college life into various stages – Before he chooses his major, First year in college, Corresponding years. I did so as I felt at each stage the factors which would govern his interest in core engineering would be significantly different. After this, I wrote down all different stakeholders involved at each stage (student, parents, faculty, amenities) and relevant factors under each of them.
After I presented my approach to the interviewer, we had a quick discussion on why I broke down the problem in this way and how the different stakeholders are involved.
Post this I felt the interviewer was convinced with my approach and asked me to wait for my other partner round.

Round 3: (Approx. 15 min)
This was my second partner round. In our initial discussion, it came up that I had taught in an NGO in my first year. This led to a discussion on teaching and transitioned into a case.
Case:
Case type – Unconventional
Question – How will you implement technology to help teachers to make teaching a more enjoyable experience.
Approach – I broke down my approach into the different stages in delivering a lecture inside and outside the classroom.
Briefly after the interviewer understood my approach we discussed where and how we could implement technology at all the different stages.
Post the interview, I knew that this was going to be my final round irrespective of the result and so I was mentally preparing myself to interview with the next firm if I needed to. Fortunately, after a few minutes the partners entered the room and offered me the job. I accepted the offer and exited the placement process.

Key Takeaways:

1) Be confident – This can’t be emphasized enough. Know that you have done a lot of preparation and that you are ready for whatever happens that day.
2) Always have a smile on your face.
3) Have a trusted friend with you to manage your interviews and trust him completely to schedule your interviews. Do all your thinking only inside the interviews.
4) The entire process will at times be exhausting and scary. It is important to keep going no matter what happens.

Harsh Prasad

Some Useful Tags:
Choosing Target Profile, Preparing Yourself, Consult Prep, Non Core Prep, Interview Experience, Strategy&, A.T Kearny

Profile at a Glance:

I am graduating from the Chemical Engineering department. I have been a part of Mood Indigo Core Group leading the marketing department for the 2017 edition of the festival. My internship was with Kotak Mahindra Bank and currently I’m working as a DAMP mentor.

My target sectors were consulting and finance.

Choosing your Target Profile

This should be the most important aspect of your placement preparation. However, the efforts that are put in to deciding this have never been at par with what they should be. (This is my own personal opinion shaped by what I observed in people around me. Reality could be diametric to this 😛). This is nothing more than a match making step in a crude sense.

Decide what are the parameters your choice of profile would depend on (in my case it was short term goals and my skill set)
Write down the “values” for those parameters.(in my case, what are my short term goals & what is my skill set)
Now, make a list of those profiles you feel could be a match and then write down in detail what each of them have to offer.
Each of the above steps will require you to put in a lot of efforts. Speak to people, seniors currently working in those industries, your friends and finally with some bit of introspection, you’ll be able to decide on what should be your target profile.
With this match making, you’re done with the crucial initial step. (Well begun is half done,right ?)

Preparing Yourself

The preparation required varies from profile to profile, however the following major things are important for most of the non-core profiles.

Resume – Make sure you have the first draft of your resume ready at least two weeks prior to the deadline and you get it reviewed by multiple people preferably those who could make it to companies you target. It’s of utmost importance to be truthful in your resume and make sure before the interviews you are thorough with each and every point mentioned on your resume. You should be prepared to speak for 5-10 mins on any point on your resume. Do mock interviews with your friends to help you prepare better.
Tests – The non core companies usually ask only aptitude tests which only questions on basic arithmetic and logical reasoning. If you’re preparing for CAT as well, then the study material provided by T.I.M.E. should suffice.
Interviews – All companies have two types of interviews : profile specific and HR. (Some might have only HR). I prepared majorly for the consulting interviews.

Consult Interview Preparation:

Consulting companies majorly ask cases in their interviews to test the ability of the candidate to structure complicated problems and judge their business acumen as well. Preparation for case interviews can’t be done alone and it’s advised that you form a group of 3-4 friends with whom you can practice cases. You can form multiple groups as well which allows you multiple viewpoints and also you won’t have to read too many cases for your friends. September is the ideal time to start case prep. In the initial few weeks, stick to the standard resources and make sure you are comfortable with the basics.
Once the shortlists are out, companies allot you ‘buddies’ who are working with the firm and their job is to help you with the preparation. Make sure you take this buddy program seriously and utilize the feedback given by your buddies. For some firms, the buddy program might be evaluative as well.

Finance and other Non-Core :

Case prep does help for non core profiles other than consulting. It’s good to practice 4-5 guesstimates every week starting mid- August. Apart from cases, puzzles are also asked in most of the interviews. I followed a couple of standard puzzle books to prepare them. You can also search for the puzzles online and practice. Make sure you’re solving 2-3 puzzles everyday.
A lot of interviewers also love to ask questions on current affairs(specially the case with finance interviews) as these are a metric to judge the candidate’s enthusiasm for the relevant industry.
Make it a point to read the newspapers (Economic Times/Mint preferred) everyday. Also, do read up in detail about the major events that have had an impact on the industry you’ll applying for. For example, in finance events like global recession, economic crisis in Greece etc are important to know about in detail.

Interview Experience

I did not practice cases in the week before the interviews. However, this depends entirely on yourself and there’s no correct way to deal with this. The last week is only for yourself to calm down,relax and make sure you are able to deliver your 100% during the final interviews.
I was shortlisted in three firms in the first slot of day 1.

L.E.K.
A.T. Kearney, and
Strategy&

I managed to interview only with ATK (3 rounds) and Strategy& (3 rounds). Usually, with multiple shortlists, you’ll have interviews clashing and it will be your call to decide where you wish to interview. In most cases this depends on which company you want to work with and how your previous interviews have been with that particular firm.

Strategy&

My first round involved a short case on market growth and was majorly focused on HR. The interviewer dug really deep into my resume and grilled me a lot on a couple of points.

In the second round, we had a discussion on the consulting industry and the interviewer very enthusiastically talked about how the industry is expanding in India. I guess the purpose of this discussion was to test my enthusiasm for consulting. The final round was a short conversation after which I was given the offer.

A.T. Kearney

The first round centered around a case where I had to find out the reason for the declining profits of a canteen in IIT-B campus. The case went pretty smooth and the interviewer seemed happy with my approach of tackling the case.

The second round was also a case where in I had to find the reason behind declining sales of sweet shops in Bhopal.

The final round was a short conversation with the partner wherein he asked some questions on my resume, my interests and so on.

Broadly for all consulting firms, the interviews are very similar and they involve 20-25 mins of case solving and 10 mins of HR type questions. In many instances, interviewers also have made cases out of the candidate’s resume. Therefore, I would reiterate , you need to be thorough with each and every point on your resume.