Literally anyone who has even come in brief contact with me would know my passion for marketing. I have always dreamt of working for brands that touch people in their everyday lives and in that way get closer to people, understand their problems and come up with solutions to really create an impact through my actions. It was a dream I saw when I was 12 years old and I feel so fortunate and grateful to have had the platform to realise it.
Right from my interview for IIM Calcutta where I was passionately gushing about how I wanted to work for an FMCG Company to the day I actually got the first offer, the fire never stopped. But I would be lying if I say that it didn’t waver. Often when you first enter a B-School, you are bombarded with the hype around multiple fields that you can pursue for Summers. Your seniors, your batchmates and even your teachers will have a wide variety of suggestions on what is more suitable for you, what pays you the most money, which field has the sacred “work-life balance” and so many more jargons that you would have heard in the first month itself. However, it is extremely important to sometimes sit with yourself and introspect about the kind of work you envision doing. Granted, not everyone will have this clarity in the first go so it is equally critical to understand the perspectives of those around you, but the final decision should always come from your heart and rest with you. Personally, I felt satisfied with the path I was choosing for myself but had second thoughts about whether I was making a mistake by rejecting other fields without even trying them once or not. Along with that came the multitude of assumptions or myths such as ‘FMCG Companies prefer Freshers’ or ‘You don’t have any exit options post Marketing’ or ‘Sales is not meant for girls’ and I can go on.
It was only when I started preparing for Marketing and appearing for GD’s that I regained my original belief that this is something I really wanted to do. Going through countless nights of Go-To-Market strategies to understanding the fundamentals of how Sales & Distribution works to getting into the core of Digital Marketing strategies and finally solving GD Cases, I polished myself and gave my 100% into preparing for the coveted FMCG firms. I also focused on creating a strong CV that brought out my passion for ‘consumer love’ and communicating with people to provide solutions. I felt confident in terms of my preparation as I stepped into the Summers placement cycle but at the same time knew that I cannot predict what will actually happen. I remained calm throughout my GD’s and made sure that whenever and whatever I spoke had impact, was well thought out and did not rudely or unnecessarily undermine any of my batchmate’s points. I also actively tried not to differentiate between firms. I did have certain dream firms in mind but I gave every GD and interview to the best of my capability. I felt extremely blessed and elated when I was offered a summer internship with HUL and was enthusiastically looking forward to the time I was going to have there.
But not a lot of people know what I’m about to write next. So last summer, I interned with HUL, one of my dream companies, and met some incredible mentors and human beings. I will always cherish my internship as I got work on a very powerful brand and create an impact through my project. However, I did lose out on the PPO and felt demotivated for quite some time. When you are in a B-School, especially during such uncertain times, not getting a PPO seems like a huge loss. It did to me, at least. I’ll admit it was not easy at first, but I decided that I could not let this setback define who I was. I realized that I was never successful in case competitions before and decided to give them a fair try. I worked day and night to manage my studies and the pain of online classes along with trying to participate meaningfully in whatever opportunity that came along.
Well, I don’t want to romanticise it, but Reckitt Global Challenge came along in August when I was knee deep into my semester and hardly had time to devote to any new avenue, haha! To be very honest, I was a part of the then RB Global Challenge in my 1st year and couldn’t even reach the campus round so I wasn’t mad hopeful. However, that didn’t deter my team members or me from sitting for straight three nights and thinking of an idea that could revolutionize the face of Health and Hygiene industry and anything that brought me closer to working for an FMCG company be it for a Case Competition also motivated me. We conceptualized an idea and began laying the groundwork for defining the feasibility and scalability of our proposed product. We were extremely happy with our product ideation bit and were elated to be declared as the Campus Winners which gave wings to my journey with Reckitt that was about to unfold. We left no stone unturned in collaborating with our mentors from Reckitt who gave us immense support and the more I worked on the idea, the more my FMCG dream fuelled towards reality. We were ecstatic when we were declared the National Winners in January 2021 and I received my Reckitt PPO the same evening. I cannot even describe the feeling in words when I envisioned the opportunity to work with one of my dream companies that day. The opportunity to be able to represent India as the Top 5 teams in the Global Round was amazing and we were so grateful to be able to reach this stage.
If there was one thing that remained constant throughout my journey from HUL to Reckitt, it was my unending belief in what I wanted to do. Irrespective of how demotivated I felt or how tough the struggle got, I always had the strength to get up and work towards a dream I saw so many years back. Now as I sit here, working for Reckitt, trying to amalgamate my passion into my work, all I want to say is always be true to yourself and choose the direction that your heart guides you to. It may feel like a struggle at times but it’s always worth it! And lastly, keep dreaming, because dreams do come true!
Saumya Shrivastava
Management Trainee, Reckitt
To know more about Reckitt Career Compass: Click here!
To know more such inspiring stories of Reckitt leaders: Click here!