Wednesday, November 16, 2005

 

mock interviews and class presentation

Monday and Tuesday were eventful. Monday was more eventful than I wanted it to be. We were supposed to have mock interviews with various companies on Monday. I signed up for a bank interview. I got an email from the Career Services that I was in the group that was supposed to be interviewed in the first half of the day. Everyone was supposed to get a slot of half and hour, of which 20 minutes would be for the actual interview and 10 minutes for the feedback. Since I was the last one in the group, I calculated the time I was supposed to be and went to college half an hour before my actual time. Right after I reached the room where I was supposed to be interviewed, things started falling apart in front of me. I saw all of the rest of my group in that room with an interviewer. For the whole time, I was thinking that it was an one to one interview. I was wrong. It was supposed to be a group interview and everyone would get a half an hour slot in that group interview.

I panicked and quickly went to meet someone from Career Services to explain my problem. (My flatmate who I met in the hallway suggested me to do that. Thank you Kapil!) Career Services was very helpful and got me hooked up with a bank representative who was free. In the end, I got a chance to have an one to one interview with the bank representative from the department I was most interested in. The interview went well. I was calm. I got good feedback. It is indeed right when they say "everything happens for our own good" , isn't it? I am so glad that the disaster that was unfolding was prevented for something better to come. And yes, I suggested Career Services to be more explicit next time because it wasn't obvious from the email that it was not a one to one mock interview. I met some other people who felt the same but were lucky enough to reach the campus before the group interview session started.

Today I had a class presentation in my Managerial Communication class. This was not something I was really keen on doing but I did it because somebody from our "group" had to do it and there was basically no one else to do it. I prepared for a presentation on why high tech companies from Spain should have an offshore operation in Nepal rather than the popular destinations India or China. I was more nervous than I normally would be before the presentation. I am not sure why. I need to avoid this in the future. Perhaps I was not as much prepared as I should have been.

But after I reached the podium in the class to make my presentation, I calmed down and wasn't as nervous as I was before coming to the podium. The presentation then turned out to be really funny for the class, especially when I compared Nepal to the core of a sandwich in which the two pieces of bread were India and China. That whole example made everyone laugh and that made it easier for me to continue with my presentation. At least I was able to capture the audience. The feedback I got was great. One suggestion was to have a balance of humor and the serious stuff. It was a great presentation for the class but might not have been great for the potential investors. I also mentioned some negative press images of Nepal and made some arguments to clear away any doubts but I was suggested that it could backfire. In any case, I am glad the presentation is over. It was a good learning experience.

Comments:
Sometimes the nervousness hits, even when you're well prepared. But, if you're well-prepared, you can still give a good presentation, as you did.

It also helps to wear pants so as to hide the shaky legs!

Þhân†ôm
http://mbachronicle.blogspot.com
 
Just dropping a line and saying hello. I am a round 1 applicant and will be at the open Day on Nov. 28th. Your blog has been great and giving me a lot of info. Keep it up!
 
Anonymous,
Thank you. I look forward to seeing you on 28th. I will be with you all during lunch.

--pradeep
 
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