IIFT Interview Experience || Ft. Pranay Ambulkar, IIFT Delhi

Me- I'm from Chandrapur, Maharashtra. I completed my engineering from Shri Ramdeobaba College of engineering and management. Post that I joined Ideas91. It was a procurement and sourcing company. I had 2 roles. Category management where I used to manage a product category and look for suppliers. Understand which markets they sell in and then offer products to clients accordingly. The second role was key account management where we had to handle our clients and offer them products from the category manager and convert orders.It also involved logistics involved in international Trade and payments

P1-What did you do exactly? Can you elaborate more?
Me-We basically bought goods from China and India and sold them in the Middle East and US markets. It involved the entire back-end process of procuring goods from finding vendors buying from them and then finding clients and converting them. It involved international Trade terminologies and processes too. We also used to do factory audits and inspections of goods.

P2-Which other calls I had and Which college would u choose if u get selected in IIFT and SPJIMR both?

Me-I will select IIFT because I have a background in trade. I want to know more. What I experienced during my employment is that whatever I was doing, I was doing mistakes too. Also, everything I was learning was very limited. For example, if I used an Incoterm, I knew only that one and I didn't know how to use the rest 10-11. That's why I wanted to get a thorough understanding of what trade is and how it actually takes place and I feel that I will be able to learn this only at IIFT. Also, there are port visits and a lot of exposure at IIFT related to trade and you get an opportunity to work on projects on which the government is working as college comes under the Ministry of commerce.

I will also get an opportunity to clear my concepts and compare my practical knowledge with the theory and get a comprehensive understanding of the domain.

P1-What is OBOR?
Me-It is the belt and road initiative. It was initiated by China to reuse the silk route for trade till Europe. It involves a road route and a maritime route. I'm also aware of some investments in Kenya where they built a railway line from Nairobi to Mombasa and The Hambantota port in Sri Lanka.

P2-What do you know about IIFT and why IIFT?
Me-It is the best college for trade in India. Established in 1963.
There are some compulsory courses for trade and electives to specialize in trade. Notable alumni are working in Dabur (Mr. Malhotra), ITC, and many many companies worldwide.
There are 6 clubs

Blash
Socrates
Capital
Brandwagon
Opsigma
Systemix

P1-What is the average package at IIFT?
Me-I think it's around 18-20 LPA and the overseas package was as high as $150000.

P2-Why would a client buy goods from a trading company like you and not from the supplier directly?
Me-Sir, it's because the supplier is getting more clients from us so we will get a better price from him than the client himself will. We will have more buying power and we can negotiate the price. Apart from that if there's an issue, because our relationship with the supplier is good, we will be able to negotiate the issues and provide optimum solutions.

Verdict- Converted IIFT-Delhi