When is the right time to start preparing for campus placements?

It was during his engineering internship days when Aditya Anand Jha, a student with Apeejay School of Management, found his liking and passion for people’s management, which he describes as  “a beautiful amalgamation of Science and Art”. After giving his CAT exam, he got into one of the leading B-Schools in the country, Apeejay School of Management, which was a different experience altogether. “The 2 years at ASM have completely revamped me and evolved me into a different personality altogether,” he pointed out. Aditya is the topper of his batch (2021-23) with 9.84 overall GPA. The Apeejay topper has recently been hired by Gartner as a Talent Sourcer. In this interview, he explains how he cracked this campus placement. Read edited excerpts:    

What is the role you have been hired for at Gartner ?

My role at Gartner is to source and recruit the best IT talent for the organisation. As a talent sourcer, I have to: 

Source potential and passive candidates through direct channels, social media, internet sourcing, extensive name generation research and relationship building. Continually expand the network through leveraging user groups, blogs and networking events. I will also have to generate candidate interest through creative marketing and social media messaging by clearly articulating the Gartner value proposition. Another responsibility is to prequalify potential candidates to determine their qualifications through profiling, trait assessments and behavioral based interviewing as well as develop a pipeline of talent for current role and future hiring needs.

Three tips to keep in mind on the night before the final interview

Firstly, remain calm and composed, never let your anxiety or nervousness get over you. When you are well prepared, you might not even face such issues. Just a night before your interview just focus on the basics – read a bit about the organisation, how it generates revenue, organisation history, about the founder, its values, etc. Also, practice your introduction and have a good diet with proper rest. You will be geared up for your next D-Day.

What are the essential things to carry and keep in mind when going for the interview process?

While going for the interview process, be it online or offline, always dress up for the job you want and leave no stone unturned in looking your professional best. Have faith in yourself, and remember you either win or learn, you never fail. Eat good, dress well, and smell good should be your mantra for the day.

When is the right time to start preparing for campus placements? Share key tips for preparation?

Well, there is nothing such as right or wrong time for preparation. Every day at your college is your step towards becoming what you want to be professionally in your life. A few preparation tips are:

1.  Always talk sense, always talk data
2. Be affirmative not dominative in your approach
3. Share your knowledge, in that process you will be able to retain that information for a longer period of time
4. Always be confident, not over-confident.
5. Always have a strategic approach towards your targets.
6. Try to extract as much from your goldmine professors as much as you can, they are always there to help you especially at Apeejay.

However, these tips are very subjective. What might have worked for me, might not work for you, and what might work for you, might not work for me. Hence believe in yourself, you will yourself find a way.

Explain four things candidates can do to destress themselves during campus placements? How did you beat your anxiety?

If you ask me then anxiety is not in my dictionary. Such things will never ever exist if you are calm, composed and organised. Know what you are doing. Even during the times of placements, be what you are and never fake yourselves because the person sitting in front of you will always come to know sooner or later. Have your prep right and go for it with full confidence –  stress will not even touch you.