Asian Paints is India's largest paint manufacturer, and it has dedicated itself to beautifying millions of homes throughout the world for over 80 years. Having started off as a paints company in 1942, it had ventured into various portfolios and has now evolved into a décor company. In this conversation, we have with us Divyanshu Rai, a NITIE alumna and a Management Trainee at Asian Paints. In a candid conversation, Divyanshu lets us in on his earmarked journey of how he managed to get an offer from the FMCG giant.
What made you realise your interest in the Supply Chain domain?
After graduating as an IT engineer, I joined Tata Consultancy Services, where I was working for an American Airline. My project was to manage MRO processes and a wider supply chain by using Artificial Intelligence, Machine learning and Augmented reality technologies.
The interaction with the client exposed me to the world of supply chain management. It made me realize that the success of the business depends on the fact of how well a company adopts supply chain strategies. While working for almost 2 years on the same project I gained some insights into the drivers of supply chain management, inventory, logistics, distribution networks, and network designs in the supply chain among others. This experience was enough for me to realize that I have to pursue a career in Supply Chain Management.
As a person, I am passionate about meeting new people, and learning new skills. I like facing challenges and finding creative solutions to them. Since the Supply chain as a domain involves a complete end to end journey of any product or service from its origin to the end consumer, it provides me with an opportunity to explore the complete value chain, satisfy my passion and keep learning in the process.
As Steve Jobs said - “The only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to follow your passion.”
What made you zero in on Asian Paints as your dream company?
When other companies were laying off staff or rescinding offers to interns or full-time hiring due to the epidemic, Asian Paints was one of the few that looked after its employees and their families and improved their morale via numerous programmes. This exemplifies genuine leadership and speaks volumes about the firm's principles. One of the primary reasons I decided to join the Asian Paints family was because of this.
Secondly, Asian Paints has a long history at NITIE, my alma mater where I pursued a course in Post Graduate Diploma in Industrial Safety and Environmental Management (PGDISEM). The company has been recruiting from NITIE for the past 50+ years and this has resulted in a large alumni base in the organisation. I've seen innumerable alumni who began their careers as trainees at the organization and have moved to high leadership roles.
The various roles offered in the Supply Chain and Environmental Health and Safety domains are enriching and the option to experience multiple roles across functions makes it an excellent place to start your career with. Hence, I had no second thoughts about applying for Asian Paints.
How does Asian Paints hire top talent at B-Schools? Can you take us through the interview process?
The selection process of Asian Paints is extremely simple, and the interview felt more like a conversation than an interview.
Throughout the interview, the panelists ensured that the environment remained light. The interview mostly focused on my subjects of interest in the MBA program and my internship experience. They were interested in understanding more about the learning I gained and the impact I made during the internship.
The focus was on exploring my analytical and project management skills and how these were put to use in the internship and other academic projects I have been a part of, through situational questions. Overall, the interview experience was intriguing, and I'd like to work with people like them in the future.
What are the few things that one should keep in mind while preparing for your final placement interview based on your experience?
The key, in my opinion, is to choose the firms you want to focus on and to properly prepare for each interview (for each company) by researching the businesses the company is in, the places they operate from, the kind of customers they serve, and so on.
Aside from that, it's also critical to learn about the firm's culture by speaking with graduates or other individuals in your network, as well as by visiting the company's job page on the corporate site and on social media.
How did you navigate through the selection process? Tell us about something that worked for you.
Since Asian Paints is a legacy recruiter at NITIE, I researched and learnt about the various businesses that it has ventured into, and I tried to build my profile according to the kind of roles/profiles offered by the organization. I had also taken up a couple of live projects/internships as part of the course curriculum and this helped improve my practical knowledge and problem-solving skills and develop my thought process.
The theoretical and practical course curriculum at NITIE along with these varied experiences helped me appreciate and comprehend the domain's intricacies.
How did you navigate through uncertainties during the interview process?
Interviews and placement processes, in general, are full of uncertainties and I mitigated this by adopting a 5-way approach:
1. Adequate Research: I researched the companies visiting the campus and the types of roles offered by them at NITIE. I filtered the companies that align with my interests and passion.
2. Utilizing Alumni Network: I connected with all the alumni placed in these companies in the past 3 years and learned about their experiences so far. I gained insights into the interview process and the perspective of the company. I got to know the company’s culture and the kind of candidate they look forward to hiring. Based on this analysis I further narrowed down the list of my dream companies.
3. Preparation: Confidence is the key to success which in turn is developed by putting in hard work and preparing for one's goals. I had already organized all the notes and the study material which I’ve gone through for my MBA. I kept revising the notes which gave me immense confidence as the D-Day approached.
4. People: Having a network of dependable friends who can motivate you, help in your preparations and provide you with much-needed resources has helped me a lot during the interview process. I had taken multiple mock interviews with my peers which helped me understand my areas of improvement.
5. Inward focused thinking: I believe most of the uncertainties and resulting problems related to stress and anxiety are created by comparing oneself with one’s peers. I have always focused on competing with myself & improving myself daily instead of comparing with others, as each individual has a different background, a different journey and aspirations.
How did the 2 years at NITIE shape you up for your professional endeavors?
1. World-class faculty: The quality education imparted to us at NITIE ensured that all the students are technically sound and are industry-ready before the placement season begins. The faculty at NITIE has immense experience in academia as well as the industry.
2. International Exposure: In almost all modules at NITIE I had 1 course that was taught by an international faculty:
a. 'End-to-End Supply Chain Transformation through Digitization' by Prof. David Simchi-Levi (MIT, USA)
b. 'Social Network Analysis and its Applications' by Prof. Noshir Contractor (Kellogg School of Management)
c. 'Business and Operations Analytics' by Prof. David Simchi-Levi Prof. David Simchi-Levi (MIT, USA)
d. 'Modeling and Building Digital Supply Chain Twins using any Logistix' by Prof. Dmitry Ivanov (Berlin School of Economics and Law)
These courses gave me a deeper understanding of Supply Chain Management and the global scenario in this domain.
3. Internship opportunities: Being a student at NITIE aided in landing multiple internship opportunities. I interned at various multinational organisations. These internships helped me apply the gained knowledge and further provided me with industrial exposure. It helped me hone my skills and made me ready for the interview process.
4. Pedagogy: Real-life case studies taught in the academic curriculum and the numerous case study competitions helped me equip myself with knowledge, research insights and personal effectiveness skills to make an impact.
5. Interaction with business leaders: Events like Avartan, the business fest of NITIE, experienced phenomenal corporate participation and helped in fostering managerial excellence by bringing students and industry leaders onto a common platform. Also, multiple guest lectures where the senior leaders shared their experiences were of great help. These interactions helped me understand the company’s culture and provided a deeper understanding of the organisation’s work which ultimately made me confident and industry-ready.
Do you have any message for MBA students who are currently pursuing their MBA on how to build a profile for Asian Paints/any dream company of your choice?
I’d sum up the learnings from my experience under 3 key takeaways -
1. Gain relevant hands-on experience – In the current scenario where you might have a virtual learning environment or even a hybrid one, try to gain experience and exposure to a variety of organizations and business problems through internships and live projects.
Participate in case studies to get a 360-degree perspective to addressing and/or solving a real-world issue statement. In reality, Asian Paints runs a range of competitions across several sectors, and participating in them would be an excellent learning experience.
2. Understand the organization and its people – You would want to spend a considerable amount of time in the organization and possibly move up the ranks to become a senior leader, hence it is important to understand if the organization is the one for you.
Would you want to work in this industry? Do you think it will help you in your career and personal development? Will it align with your life choices, interests and passion? These are some questions you would need answers to before you decide to apply for and build your profile for the company. Talking to individuals both within and outside the organisation is the greatest approach to get them. Follow the company's social media accounts to get a feel of the projects they're working on and the language they're using.
3. Build your network – Build meaningful connections with alumni via LinkedIn or otherwise. These connections can help realize the drivers & focus areas within the firm and understand its culture. Looking at these alumni's professional paths might give you a decent indication of the skills needed to advance up the corporate ladder.