Riding on the experience of having interned at the largest FMCG firm of India (HUL), I thought of calming down the nerves of the new comers a bit by feeding them with 7 steps that can increase their chances of grabbing a marquee internship in Sales & Marketing manifold. Let’s start:
- Let your resume speak for you: Make sure that the lower half of the CV which comprises of pointers like Positions of Responsibility, Extra-curricular activities and Hobbies/Interests is overarching and clearly dominates everything’s that’s there in the upper half. It implies that you do not need to have stellar grades/academic achievements to strike gold.
- The newspaper is your best buddy: You may want to skip a case reading prescribed for the impending sessions but definitely not your daily dose of newspaper reading. Zero in on one or maximum two newspapers that you would religiously follow at least till your summer placements and stick to just them! Hovering over new publications every day won’t help your cause.
- The maze of brands and their companies: Don’t bother too much about mugging up the brands and their corresponding companies. This is a task which can be easily completed in the last few days ahead of the placements. You can even have a quick know-how of any company after getting shortlisted for further processes by going through certain sections of the annual report of that company (for example Managerial Reporting and Analysis).
- Embrace the industry and a particular brand: While you don’t need to dip yourself into the ocean of brands, it’s always a great idea to know one particular brand inside out! Information about its inception, ad campaigns, recent performance, competitors, etc. is to absorbed very thoroughly. In a similar fashion, start following a particular industry (FMCG preferably) from today itself.
- Do you know yourself? Your CV is your bible and your key to unlocking a great summer placement. Be prepared with a customary “Tell me about yourself” question and 3-4 questions that the interviewer can ask on each line that is mentioned in your resume.
- Domain knowledge: Even the most sought after marketing firms don’t expect a great deal of domain knowledge/jargons during summer placement process. For most of the cases, clarity on 4Ps and the STP framework will be enough. Common sense helps more!
- 3 golden words for acing the GDs & PIs: CONFIDENCE. OPTIMISM. PASSION.
Hope these steps clear the air to some extent and also allay the fears surrounding summer placements. Do comment below to get your queries addressed.
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Comments
Shrey Singhal
Hello abhinav, it is a great article to read and you have explained each point aptly. I would like to ask you what do the companies look for in a marketing candidate? (I don't have any achievements, extra curriculars and work ex) How can I impress the interview panel?
1 Sep 2017, 10.15 PM
+Read Replies (2)
Abhinav Bansal
Thanks for your appreciation! So in the cases where a candidate doesn't have anything in his/her resume, the candidate has to prove himself by delivering a much much better interview than those having glittering brands and personal achievements on their CVs. How to do that? By throwing in relevant examples during the interview of something that you recently read in a newspaper, by showing confidence and self-belief in whatever you say, by maintaining a mild-pleasant smile all throughout the interview and by showing (off) your knowledge about their company (this is where you play with their biases).
1 Sep 2017, 10.54 PM |
Shrey Singhal
Thank you so much Abhinav. I will surely work on my other aspects to improve myself.
1 Sep 2017, 11.09 PM |